Advice with DPF light and repair.

Hello all and Good afternoon. I have recently had to take my car back in because the DPF light was on and I find this odd due to the fact that they had just replaced it in march. I wanted to know some of your opinions on how they are fixing this problem again. They have had my car over 2 weeks and said they have to regenerate my filter by driving it on the expressway at a high rpm, but I find this odd after they " so called installed a new one in march " Please advise me on what you all would do if you had this occurrence arise.


thanks from Jim

I wouldn't spend a dime until I figured out what VW was doing with these cars later this month!


High rpm highway driving to make it regen could do it, depending on your drive cycle...

Brag251 said:

Hello all and Good afternoon. I have recently had to take my car back in because the DPF light was on and I find this odd due to the fact that they had just replaced it in march. I wanted to know some of your opinions on how they are fixing this problem again. They have had my car over 2 weeks and said they have to regenerate my filter by driving it on the expressway at a high rpm, but I find this odd after they " so called installed a new one in march " Please advise me on what you all would do if you had this occurrence arise.
thanks from Jim

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Get out on the highway more often.

Drive a good 30 or so minutes at highway speeds to stretch it's legs out.

And don't be scared to give it the beans! One of my test drives involved a German salesman who said and I quote "These diesels like it rough" Just as I approched the street he shifted the DSG to "S" and said "GIVE IT HELL!"

Planted the throttle to the floor and gave the car a proper workout

This gets repeated so often that these cars really don't like to be babied. They love to get a good workout.

From the sound if it you don't drive long distances? or interrupt the regeneration process often which will indeed cause the DPF light to light up.
You'll know a DPF is happening because the RPM gauge will be up around 1,000 RPM or so. Normally it's around 750-800RPM at idle. If you see that high idle and the radiator fans are running full steam drive the car for another 10-20 minutes.

Hi and thanks for advice. They recently replaced the filter in march and fortunately I called VW Corporate and raised Hell back then and all they charged me was for the part but I am not putting a dime into this freaking car anymore ( it's not worth the fix ) I am wondering what they are planning to do for us owners this month? I hear that we are getting $5,00 but highly doubt that could be possible and also buying the cars back at blue book value. Oh about the long distance I drive 2,000 miles a month as my daughter lives 45 miles away so I still cannot see how the darn filter could be acting up unless they never changed it from the get go.

did your repair in march not come with any sort of warranty? i believe it is normally 12/12,000.

If you are driving 2000 miles per month , that isn't the issue. Did they give you a list of what items were replaced? I would make sure you keep it for further negotiations. I wouldn't let anyone drive my car hard to clear up this issue for sure. I have an 09 TDI JSW and have had no issues and I don't drive it hard,so I don't believe the rational for the problem.

How is you mpg and running quality? Smooth idle, and good acceleration?
Trucking learned the hard way, a streaming injector could be dumping tons of unburnt fuel into the filter, in the form of heavy smoke and soot...Leading to a rapidly clogged DPF.....even if regens are happening very frequently.
In the pre DPF days, heavy smoke would be the tell....but with a filter, we never see it.
Same goes for other issues, like timing aka "overhead" by many heavy diesel talk....
Usually there are other signs...like low mpg's hesitations, poor starting, low on power or an odd idle.
It's a shame that after 6 years we are still in the early days of techs just swapping parts that might be masking the issue....but tech turnover at dealers tend to be high, and not many folks are diesel trained...
My suggestion...ask if they ever looked at the reason why the regens are not happening automatically or why they are not completeing...a good scanner to monitor the motor is useful here...
I hate to say..did the dealer look at the flap that lets extra air into the system to allow for regens ? VW has had lots of issues with it...lots if threads about it here...that would be my first thing too look at.

Many dealers give lifetime warranty on a repair you pay for. Even if you only paid part of it, I would think it should fall under that warranty if the dealer you went to has that policy.

millerman61 said:

Many dealers give lifetime warranty on a repair you pay for. Even if you only paid part of it, I would think it should fall under that warranty if the dealer you went to has that policy.

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I was always under the impression that such things only came with the dealers that offered their own lifetime warranties. And the problem with these is that they require every single bit of required maintenance to be performed on time and by them, with one little oversight invalidating the warranty outright.
And, of course, I assume that (like every other warranty) this would exclude anything designated as a "wear part."

ATR said:

Get out on the highway more often.

Drive a good 30 or so minutes at highway speeds to stretch it's legs out.

And don't be scared to give it the beans! One of my test drives involved a German salesman who said and I quote "These diesels like it rough" Just as I approched the street he shifted the DSG to "S" and said "GIVE IT HELL!"

Planted the throttle to the floor and gave the car a proper workout

This gets repeated so often that these cars really don't like to be babied. They love to get a good workout.

From the sound if it you don't drive long distances? or interrupt the regeneration process often which will indeed cause the DPF light to light up.
You'll know a DPF is happening because the RPM gauge will be up around 1,000 RPM or so. Normally it's around 750-800RPM at idle. If you see that high idle and the radiator fans are running full steam drive the car for another 10-20 minutes.

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Exactly, this is the thing about TDIs that I think is an instinct which should be followed.

Babying any car with a turbo is not a good thing. Always "open her up" and use the ramps to go up as high as 4000 RPM, let it cook.

Once you're at highway speed try to keep it at 2500 RPM for a while as it helps the DPF. I sense 80 mph is TDI's favorite speed, usually do that on I-380 in the Poconos, nice open road, a lot of high strength concrete, straight and everybody does 75 minimum.

Reminds me of the German Autobahn where there are no speed limits.

This TDI's EA189 engine is awesome, will miss it if bought back.

I suspect my TDI's problems began with its prior owner as I bought CPO, will never know how it was driven before. This is key.

When I replaced my DPF last year the dealer said they get even 2015s in for DPF jobs usually from very conservative drivers who baby their TDIs with too much local driving. The highway is where the TDI wants to be, not bumper to bumper.

ATR said:

And don't be scared to give it the beans! One of my test drives involved a German salesman who said and I quote "These diesels like it rough" Just as I approched the street he shifted the DSG to "S" and said "GIVE IT HELL!"

Planted the throttle to the floor and gave the car a proper workout

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Occasionally, it's necessary to give "the beans" to idiots that follow too closely to get them off my tail. Gives the car a proper workout at the same time. Win-win.

Hi all and sorry for delay but we have been busy at firehouse. I picked up car today and the light is off ( so far ) and the guy said it needed to be regenerated. I am a little concerned on the fact that they had my car for 2 weeks to regenerate it? I mean what the Hell is going on here ? I have all documentation and have kept every service record and yes ( 12,000 mile warranty ) but hopefully I get rid if this money pit between that time. I have owned a VW for over 12 years and my "04" Jetta TDI had no problems and I regret trading it in. My next step is to fix darn trunk actuator.

Your driving doesn't seem to meet the needs of the dpf regen requirements. You need to get it out on the highway every so often and cruise for a while. You will have to take and active role in seeing it gets what it needs to regen when required. These newer ones aren't anything like the 2006 and earlier models. Lots of info here on this.

Brag251 said:

Hi all and sorry for delay but we have been busy at firehouse. I picked up car today and the light is off ( so far ) and the guy said it needed to be regenerated. I am a little concerned on the fact that they had my car for 2 weeks to regenerate it? I mean what the Hell is going on here ? I have all documentation and have kept every service record and yes ( 12,000 mile warranty ) but hopefully I get rid if this money pit between that time. I have owned a VW for over 12 years and my "04" Jetta TDI had no problems and I regret trading it in. My next step is to fix darn trunk actuator.

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The CR TDIs are a passing sh!tstorm, for VW. Their own doing, but if you have Vag Com, you know. I believe either measured soot, or ash, values can trigger the DPF service light. It can take a fair amount of mechanic time, to perform a driving regen. They may have forced one, at idle, which is also possible. If they weren't aware of that, maybe this is why they kept your car. Simply driving these cars is practically necessary to be sure codes won't come back, and why "light went back on" is such a chronic issue.

Lightflyer1 said:

Your driving doesn't seem to meet the needs of the dpf regen requirements. You need to get it out on the highway every so often and cruise for a while. You will have to take and active role in seeing it gets what it needs to regen when required. These newer ones aren't anything like the 2006 and earlier models. Lots of info here on this.

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2000 miles a month isn't good enough?

My vote was inadequate diagnosis/repair of initial problem by dealer.

Well hopefully the DPF is good now. I drive quite a bit especially on the expressway at speeds far above 70 ( I doubt that my driving is the problem ) however I do think the dealer has had a few problems with repairs as I have had to take my car back in for recent repairs done in the shop.