Particle Filter Load spec question...

[Grungy]

My 2011 Sportwagen TDI manual transmission had the check engine light come on, some time ago. (MIL?)
I ran codes using my Ross-Tech VCDS and it said that the idle control flap was sticking.
I did nothing about it for months, as I was just too busy.

It had the DieselGate fixes at 150,000 miles in January 2018.
The DPF was replaced at 165,000 miles, under the DieselGate extended warranty, saving me a whole bunch of money.
It's now at 250,000 miles, and is 11 years and a week old, so out of all of the warranties.

Check engine light is still on, and the car occasionally stumbles.
Ran the codes again.
This time it tells me a pile of stuff, and I'll include a copy of the report below.
What I think I have learned in this latest exploration of the problem is that regeneration, to burn the soot in the diesel particle filter into ash, does not automatically happen when the check engine light is lit.
I have instructions for doing an emergency regeneration, but there is a stern warning:
"If the Particle Filter Load is above Specification the Particle Filter needs to be replaced since the car may burn down when regenerating."
Stern enough to give me pause.
Run VCDS several more times.
Basically the same error codes.
What I cannot find is the spec for the particle filter load.
There is a spec listed in the instructions for the "newer CR-TDI engines", but none for what I believe is what I have [1.4l/1.9l/2.0l R4 & R5 PD/PPD-TDI.
What is the spec for the particle filter load?

Do I need to and can I safely run the regeneration cycle listed at http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/Diesel_Particle_Filter_Emergency_Regeneration ?


Address 01: Engine (CJA) Labels: 03L-906-022-CBE.clb
Part No SW: 03L 997 030 C HW: 03L 906 019 DA
Component: R4 2.0l TDI G000SG 9983
Revision: 12H14--- Serial number:
Coding: 0050072
Shop #: WSC 51067 001 1048576
VCID: 2E58ECD8B944AEFF6D-807A
VINID: 0E69DD70745A19274704910920BEA8D61C

4 Faults Found:
008194 - Particulate Trap Bank 1

P2002 - 007 - Efficiency Below Threshold - MIL ON
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 11100111
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 67
Reset counter: 255
Mileage: 389417 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2027.11.26
Time: 19:51:24

Freeze Frame:
RPM: 2047 /min
Speed: 121.0 km/h
(no units): 76.5
(no units): 35.7
(no units): 1.75
Pressure: 182 mbar
Pressure: 92 mbar

001025 - EGR System
P0401 - 001 - Insufficient Flow - MIL ON
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 11100001
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 154
Reset counter: 255
Mileage: 390803 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2027.12.08
Time: 07:37:58

Freeze Frame:
RPM: 1771 /min
Speed: 105.0 km/h
Voltage: 13.76 V
Load: 95.7 %
Load: 100.0 %
Mass Air / Rev.: 335.0 mg/str
Mass Air / Rev.: 345.0 mg/str

001025 - EGR System
P0401 - 002 - Insufficient Flow - Intermittent
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00100010
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 3
Reset counter: 255
Mileage: 402854 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2022.09.17
Time: 08:31:41

Freeze Frame:
RPM: 1771 /min
Speed: 104.0 km/h
Voltage: 13.83 V
Load: 95.7 %
Load: 100.0 %
Mass Air / Rev.: 345.0 mg/str
Mass Air / Rev.: 350.0 mg/str

009231 - Exhaust Gas Recirculation System
P240F - 000 - Response too Slow - MIL ON
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 11100000
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 1
Reset counter: 255
Mileage: 402605 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2028.04.21
Time: 23:24:16

Freeze Frame:
RPM: 1610 /min
Speed: 96.0 km/h
Load: 74.1 %
Mass Air / Rev.: 0.0 mg/str
Mass Air / Rev.: 20.0 mg/str
Mass Air / Rev.: 295.0 mg/str
Mass Air / Rev.: 385.0 mg/str

Readiness: 1 3 0 0 0

The following is all I can get from the sensors, with labels.

 

[oilhammer]

You'll need another DPF and a low pressure EGR filter tube. I'd say check your tailpipes for soot, but you probably already knew that... and there may still be some from the last time. You can take the tube loose and check, though, if you want to verify.

 

[Grungy]

You'll need another DPF and a low pressure EGR filter tube. I'd say check your tailpipes for soot, but you probably already knew that... and there may still be some from the last time. You can take the tube loose and check, though, if you want to verify.

Thanks for the response.
It's not an answer to my questions, however.
I edited to make sure that both have question marks now.

 

[oilhammer]

It most certainly is the answer. The ash load is irrelevant as that is not your problem. That's not how these DPFs fail. They crack INTERNALLY, in the substrate, and allow the exhaust to go straight from the engine right on past... and into the low pressure EGR tube, and into the deNOx catalyst. This also throws off the ECU's ability to monitor the DPF, because it does so by an algorithm from gathering data from the differential pressure sensor and the temp sensors, neither of which are capable of giving the correct values because the insides of the DPF are physically BROKEN.

There was a TSB about this BEFORE the whole Dieselgate fiasco. It is only made worse now, because the DPF is just being taxed even more in a pointless attempt to make the engine produce less NOx, which means it is forced to use more fuel, which means it will produce more soot, which means the DPF will have to regen more, which means it will fail even faster.

This subject comes up here, on this site, what seems like weekly now. It was a problem FIVE YEARS AGO.... it is worse today. It is super common. Like, I see one in our shop just about every week now, and now that a lot of these cars have blown past the warranty extension, it is on the owner's dime. This is also why the deletes are so popular, and why the people that make the delete parts are backed up because they cannot meet demand, and why the DPFs and related parts keep on going on backorder, because the problem keeps happening.

I see you are new here, so I would please advise you to do some research, here on this site and abroad. Or, you can spend 10 minutes and take a look at the inside of the EGR filter pipe. It should be clean... like, NO soot at all. Nothing. If it is black, at all, the DPF is bad. Period. End of story. Drop the mic.

 

[Grungy]

I see you are new here, so I would please advise you to do some research, here on this site and abroad. Or, you can spend 10 minutes and take a look at the inside of the EGR filter pipe. It should be clean... like, NO soot at all. Nothing. If it is black, at all, the DPF is bad. Period. End of story. Drop the mic.

I've been trying to do my homework, and have found surprisingly little consistent information.
That's why I came to the forum.
If I am reading between the lines of your second response correctly, any effort to replace faulty parts with similar factory parts is useless, as the mods made in the exorcism will only cause them to fail again, sooner than the original design. Instead of getting roughly 150k miles out of an ash can, I'll get what - 90k?

I found this explanation of how to replace what would appear to be the "EGR filter pipe" so that I can examine it for soot, as you suggest.

VW 2.0 CR TDI EGR Filter Replacement – Complete DIY Guide – eEuroparts

EGR filter replacement is one of those repairs that can completely change the way your car runs. Here's how to do it!

eeuroparts.com

Is that the part you mean for me to check?
If I find soot in it, what would you suggest that I do next?
Have the vehicle towed to a shop that sounds like they know what they're doing?
I saw what my then-trusted dealer had to do the first time to replace the ash can, and that is not something I can do in my driveway.
(then-trusted because I had a friend who worked there, and he has since retired)

I like this car.
I thought I'd get at least another 250k miles out of it before the wheels fell off.
But I also prefer to spend more time looking at the shiny side, rather than underneath it.
That time is reserved for my '60 double-double door panel.

 

[oilhammer]

Repeated DPF failure is very likely, yes. Sorry, I didn't design it, I just fix them. It sucks. This isn't the only automotive blunder out there, but I realize it is a bad one for your situation. Like Subie engine head gaskets every 90k miles, or GM 4L60E transmissions that are on borrowed time after 80k miles, or the Hyundai/Kia Theta II engines that have their rods fall off routinely every 70k miles.... I could go on and on (and on, and on).

And again, this is why [illegal] deletes are so popular for your car. People get tired of the expense, and just want to drive what is otherwise a nice car.

By buddy and mentor has a '63 double door panel we rescued after sitting in a basement garage for 30 years. One of the last of the forty horsers!

As I stated above, if there is soot in that EGR pipe, the DPF is bad. Up to you what to do next. Big job, expensive part. I do a lot of them. Every one I do galvanizes my resolve to keep my older TDIs happy and healthy and on the road.

 

[Grungy]

Which EGR pipe?
What I'm reading says there are two - one goes to an EGR in front of the engine, the other to a different EGR behind the engine.
Which one?

 

[oilhammer]

Post #2, post #4.... "low pressure" EGR tube. The one post-DPF, underneath the car, going from the exhaust downpipe up to the EGR valve/cooler assembly that is bolted to the backside of the engine block, sort of underneath the turbocharger.

The regular, or as we now call them, "high pressure" EGR is the one on the front side of the engine, that goes directly into the intake. That tube comes directly out of the turbocharger's exhaust manifold (all one piece), and goes around the end of the head and directly to the valve that is in between the intake throttle and the intake manifold. It has no cooler.

The high pressure EGR system is generally not an issue on that engine. It is the low pressure one that is, and only because the DPF fails, not the EGR system itself.

This is the DPF assembly removed, see the little round hole near the top of the pic? That is where the low pressure EGR tube attaches. This assembly is laying on the floor on its side in the photo.

This is the backside of the engine, with the DPF removed. See the round hole in the EGR cooler with two bolt holes on either side at angles? That is where the other end of the EGR tube attaches.

 

[x1800MODMY360x]

I assume that the low side egr isn't expecting soot/PM to flow into it unless the DPF is cracked, thus clogging and causing problems.

 

[oilhammer]

Correct. And the little filter tube gets clogged up. Now oddly enough, this little tube got a change for the Dieselgate fix. The original one had a big soda can size (almost) deal in it, with a bracket that hung via a nut on the turbo support bracket bolt's stud (as can be seen clearly in my second pic above). The new style has no "can", just a little flex section with a bump... but something must still be inside it, because they clog up just the same.

Keep in mind, this issue is specific to just the CBEA and CJAA engines (the only CR TDIs sold here withOUT SCR).