DPF replacement tutorial?

4sd911

Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2022
Location
Sacramento
TDI
'14 sportwagen
Looks like I need to replace the DPF and EGR filter I have the following codes along with soot in the tail pipe.

001025 - EGR System
P0401 - 001 - Insufficient Flow - Intermittent

008194 - Particulate Trap Bank 1
P2002 - 007 - Efficiency Below Threshold - Intermittent

The car is a 2014 Jetta Sportwagen TDI

Looking for some tips on how to remove and replace. Getting to the DPF at the oil cap looks to be quite tight. What needs to come apart to access the DPF? Tried to remove the heat shield, looks like the "valve" with the 2 hoses and wires needs to come off, Should I remove the hoses from the valve to move it out of the way so the heat shield can be removed? ? Do those hoses go to the DPF?
 

4sd911

Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2022
Location
Sacramento
TDI
'14 sportwagen
The emission fix was done, DPF not replaced at that time according to invoice, beyond extended warranty. Car has 156,000 miles.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
I do them all the time, I drop the subframe assembly, steering and all, completely out of the car. Super easy, then you have much more room. Still can be tricky to get that band clamp back lined up going back together.

Between CR TDI DPFs and EA888 blown rear main seals, there is hardly a week that goes by that I do not have the subframe out of some A5 car... two so far this week, and it is only Wednesday.

A quick guide:

Lift the car, making sure you have plenty of room underneath and the car is level.
Disconnect the battery.
From inside the car, make sure the steering wheel is straight ahead, remove the lower steering shaft cover by the pedals.
Remove the steering shaft bolt to pinion, slide the shaft up and off, let it hang, make sure the steering wheel stays straight(ish)
Remove the airbox, battery, battery tray.
Remove the electric steering harness (ground is at ground lug on body, shared with ground strap to trans, power is at fuse link box, communication connector in a clip near backside of headlight)
Unclip the harness, feed it back and stuff it down in the hole between the trans and firewall (this will come down with subframe).
Remove front wheels, lower splash shield, and side shields (NCS/NMS cars, the whole fender liner comes out as they are all one piece).
Remove the sway bar links' upper attachment points to struts.
Remove tie rod end attachment points to knuckles.
Remove exhaust hanger bolts at rear of subframe, and roll mount bolts at transmission.
Support the subframe, remove the six big bolts that hold it to the body and lower it down (note their locations, as some cars use different bolts/lengths in different spots).
Be sure to watch the harness you removed from above so that it doesn't get hung up on anything on the way down.
Remove the right (long) axle heat shield from engine block.
Remove inner CV joint from right axle from transmission and turn the knuckle/swing the axle back and out of the way, secure it however you like (you needn't remove the outer joint bolt).

^^^I usually have this done inside of 30 minutes^^^ Sometimes the upper links' nuts won't come loose, and I have to cut them off and replace the links... these commonly wear anyway, and are cheap.

The DPF:

Unplug both the EGR and DPF pressure sensors (the EGR one is protected by a little space blanket).
Remove the Torx bolt for each (DPF one is the easily seen black one, the EGR one is a backside one going into the valve cover).
Remove the smaller of the two hoses from the EGR sensor (the one on the valve cover).
Both sensors will come out with the remaining hoses attached with the DPF.
Find the wires for the two temp sensors and oxygen sensor at the top of the DPF, follow them over to their connectors in the bracket near the brake master cylinder, disconnect all them, and feed them over towards the passenger side.... these also will all come out with the DPF.
Note: one wire comes in with these at a bracket towards the back of the turbo, this is NOT getting removed, so make sure that wire stays in place.
Remove the three nuts from the upper heat shield, and pull the heat shield off (it'll be a squeeze).
Under where the DPF pressure sensor hoses make the bend, sort of between the DPF and engine, is a single bolt, that is a mounting bolt, remove it.
Go under the car: remove the right plastic underbody shield, then find and unplug the orange connector for the lower EGT sensor, and fish the wire out of its clips in the heat shield. This sensor will also come out with the assembly.
Remove the low pressure EGR tube (two bolts to the EGR cooler, one tiny V-band clamp to DPF).
Remove the V-band clamp at back end, where it attaches to the deNox catalyst.
Loosen V-band clamp at turbo.
Remove lower DPF bracket (two upper nuts, two lower nuts).
Work the DPF off of the turbo with a couple twists, then carefully lower it out the bottom of the car, taking care that all your wires, hoses, and sensors are all coming with you and not getting tangled or caught on anything.

Now you have to swap over the sensors, and the one pipe, from the old DPF to the new DPF. This can be a pain, and it all has to fit exactly, so pay attention, take pictures as to the sensors' orientation.

Tip on V-band clamps: you often have to loosen the bolt, swing it completely out of the way, then tap each segment off of the exhaust to get them loose. They can be a pain. There is also a steel gasket in there, note its position.

Plan on just getting all new clamps, gaskets, and maybe that upper mount bolt.

Going back together, make sure the DPF is fit properly to the turbo before completely tightening down the mounting fasteners. Then, going back and forth, tighten that V-band clamp down. If you do not do it right, you'll have an exhaust leak.

Once you get the car all back together, you need to reset the DPF with VCDS or similar. Let the car know it has a new one, login, adaptation, etc.
 
Last edited:

Falco4758

Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2022
Location
Chicago
TDI
Mk6
I just found out my 2011 is still under warranty. You get with 4 years or 48 k from the day the ecu was fixed. Mine was fixed in April of 2020 so I still have 2 years or 23k. When was ur ecu fixed ?
 

4sd911

Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2022
Location
Sacramento
TDI
'14 sportwagen
oilhammer, thanks for the info, very good instructions to get the job done. I've decided not to mess with this biggest reason not being able to lift the car up and down as needed. Don't have a estimate yet but it looks like somewhere around $3500 at the dealer.

I'd consider selling it after fixing it but doesn't have much value to sell, better off as a usable car. I should of sold this back to VW rather than having it fixed. Diesel is $6.15 at Sams club right now, $0.95 more than regular! I going to start looking for a hybrid. Ford Maverick looks interesting.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Because it is bad. Cracked internally (like most of them eventually do). Sooty tailpipes, low pressure EGR pipe plugged up setting insufficient EGR flow DTC. Super common. Was common before Dieselgate, there is even a TSB about it. Worse now. I see these constantly.
 

TurboABA

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 24, 2010
Location
Kitchener, ON
TDI
RIP-2010 Jetta 6spd 2014 Touareg Execline
So you're suggesting that he's checked the soot\ash loads, attempted to perform service regens and fix any other parts of the system which would impede a functioning DPF to regenerate and otherwise still have functional life at that kind of milage? I guess I missed all those details in his post.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
The only detail you missed was the EGR flow DTC and the sooty tailpipes. Case closed. DPF is bad. Regeneration isn't the issue. Read up on the details of this very common problem.
 

Shoveltrev

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2015
Location
Hutchinson ks
TDI
2002 new beetle deceased, 2003 jetta . 2002 jetta , 2012 sportwagon
anytime i see a sooty tailpipe on a dpf equiped vehicle the dpf is for sure no good / cracked . ive had a not cracked dpf plugged tite and still had no soot in the tailpipe . oilhammer is correct . if the tailpipe is sooty tne dpf is trashed and i wont give my customer false hopes or waste their money doin stationary desoots . this is acrossed all light duty diesels in america . its not just a vw thing.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
TurboABA, I am not sure what your issue is. This is my "office":



I kinda do this stuff for a living. I have no "god complex", I am just passing what I feel is helpful information along. I have no idea what YOU do for a living, but I sincerely don't think I would spend a bunch of my time trying to tell you that you are doing in wrong, or are dishonest, or in some way incapable of whatever it is you do.
 

4sd911

Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2022
Location
Sacramento
TDI
'14 sportwagen
Update, the cars at a VW dealer and confirmed bad DPF. I expect to get the car back on Tuesday.
 

DivineChaos

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Location
Minnesota
TDI
mk6 jetta sportwagen tdi
TurboABA, I am not sure what your issue is. This is my "office":



I kinda do this stuff for a living. I have no "god complex", I am just passing what I feel is helpful information along. I have no idea what YOU do for a living, but I sincerely don't think I would spend a bunch of my time trying to tell you that you are doing in wrong, or are dishonest, or in some way incapable of whatever it is you do.
It's just what he does apparently.
 

burgeme71

Member
Joined
May 14, 2022
Location
NoVa - Northern Virginia
TDI
2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDI 6A
That's what I was dreading - I, too, have the P2002 and P0401 code right now and have cleaned out the high pressure EGR valve and butterfly, taken off the low pressure EGR filter - to no avail - the codes return.

I spent over $8K getting the HPFP replaced (not under warranty) and now 4 months later - it looks like I'll be sinking another $4500 into this darn car for the DPF and EGR filter.

So the queston is - if I get the DPF and EGR filter replaced - can I expect to do this same dance in another 130K miles or so? Is that the cost of owning one of these TDI's? Yes, they may last a very long time but you've also thrown several thousands of dollars into this car just to keep it going.

I'm only 7k miles out of my extended warranty - the local VW dealership says they can't do anything.
 

x1800MODMY360x

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2021
Location
AZ, USA
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL
The DPF is rated around 150kish miles, it depends on how much ash load is in the filter before replacing it.
 

burgeme71

Member
Joined
May 14, 2022
Location
NoVa - Northern Virginia
TDI
2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDI 6A
Currently it sits at 138ml oil ash volume (at 134K+ miles). I just hate to think that in another 130-150K miles you're going to have to spend another $4500 for another DPF - this does not make these vehicles more economical than anything gas related - not even factoring in today's gas vs diesel price discrepancy.

CP4 HPFP - ~$3K just for the kit - add in labor etc.
DPF, EGR valve, EGR cooler - ??? who knows how much all that is ...... the benefit of extra mpg just doesn't seem to be there with these kinds of ownership costs.
 

4sd911

Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2022
Location
Sacramento
TDI
'14 sportwagen
First time I took my car to the dealer for the DPF they told me it was out of warranty. After considering doing the work myself I gave up and took it back to the dealer expecting to pay for the replacement. Much to my surprise this time they told me it was covered under warranty and they fixed it without cost to me. I did tell them I understood it was out of warranty but he said it will be covered, i did not question them anymore.

Now I going to check into changing the HPFP before it goes down and destroys the system. The car is at 160,000 miles.
 

x1800MODMY360x

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2021
Location
AZ, USA
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL
The best I can say for the HPFP, is either convert it to CP3 or use fuel additives and never run low of diesel.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
I can count on one hand how many failed HPFPs I have seen. But the number of cracked DPFs would easily be in the hundreds.
 

burgeme71

Member
Joined
May 14, 2022
Location
NoVa - Northern Virginia
TDI
2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDI 6A
@oilhammer - in your experience, have you seen a customer return for DPF issues after you've replaced the DPF? Or is this really a wear item that should be expected to be replaced every ~120-150K miles?

I also have a question regarding the two differential pressure sensors. Am I correct in assuming that (in VCDS) the DPF sensor is named 'Particle Filter Offset' and the EGR filter is named 'Particle Filter'? One of my sensors was reading '0 mbar' continuously - idling, driving etc. I thought maybe the sensor was bad and tested it by swapping positions of both of the sensors. The '0 mbar' stayed with the same sensor position - meaning it didn't follow the sensor itself - ie - the sensors seemed to be working correctly. (All 4 hoses did not show signs of wear and were not blocked.)

Assuming this is the case - that the '0 mbar' reading points to my DPF - is this another indication that the DPF is shot?
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
The DPFs in these cars don't follow a failure mode that has anything to do with ash load or what not. They crack internally, causing the raw exhaust to bypass the substrate and go straight past.... so once again, if you have sooty tailpipes, your DPF is bad.

See post #8 in this thread.
 

BarnyardsTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2010
Location
Sacramento California
TDI
2010 Golf w/DSG, Malone Stage 2 (all emissions intact), HID's, Sunroof, Dynaudio, NAV
Just did mine this past weekend. Followed instructions on Rawteks site and other pearls of wisdom found on TDIClub. I was on 4 jack stands and used hand tools. Only had to disconnect the passenger drive shaft from the DSG. It came out with very little prying of the heat shielding. Got all my parts from ID Parts. Saved $900-$1200 in labor. My 2nd DPF failed within about 50k miles (warranty). This is the 3rd DPF for this car.
 

burgeme71

Member
Joined
May 14, 2022
Location
NoVa - Northern Virginia
TDI
2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDI 6A
@BarnyardsTDI - will probably go the same route as you. I did find Rawteks instructions and will combine that with @oilhammer instructions from above to help me through the process. According to my local VW dealership, if I were to do it myself, I'd be savings quite a few more $$ than you have quoted above - they gave me an estimate of $4500-$5000 to R&R the DPF.

Thanks guys for all of your insight and great advice to this - it does make it a little easier.
 

greengeeker

Vendor
Joined
Feb 8, 2006
Location
Cambridge, MN
TDI
2002 Jetta GLS
I do them all the time, I drop the subframe assembly, steering and all, completely out of the car. Super easy, then you have much more room. Still can be tricky to get that band clamp back lined up going back together.

A quick guide:

...

Once you get the car all back together, you need to reset the DPF with VCDS or similar. Let the car know it has a new one, login, adaptation, etc.
Alignment when you're done?
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
If the test drive makes me feel it needs one, then yes. But I am pretty good about getting it all back as I found it.
 

BarnyardsTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2010
Location
Sacramento California
TDI
2010 Golf w/DSG, Malone Stage 2 (all emissions intact), HID's, Sunroof, Dynaudio, NAV
@BarnyardsTDI - will probably go the same route as you. I did find Rawteks instructions and will combine that with @oilhammer instructions from above to help me through the process. According to my local VW dealership, if I were to do it myself, I'd be savings quite a few more $$ than you have quoted above - they gave me an estimate of $4500-$5000 to R&R the DPF.

Thanks guys for all of your insight and great advice to this - it does make it a little easier.
Wow!! My quotes were from independent shops around Austin charging $100/hr-$140/hr for labor. Definitely give it a try.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Book time for a CJAA Sportwagon is 6.7hr (Alldata). We've taken to just charging a flat 6hrs for all the CBEA/CJAA DPFs, regardless of what they are in. It is no giant money maker for me, but I can usually break even. Occasionally I have to mess with a stuck sway bar link or one of the sensors or pipes in the exhaust that give me a fight, but I deal with it.
 

Razor B

Active member
Joined
May 11, 2011
Location
Southern Maryland
TDI
2011 Golf, 2002 Jetta
Because it is bad. Cracked internally (like most of them eventually do). Sooty tailpipes, low pressure EGR pipe plugged up setting insufficient EGR flow DTC. Super common. Was common before Dieselgate, there is even a TSB about it. Worse now. I see these constantly.
anytime i see a sooty tailpipe on a dpf equiped vehicle the dpf is for sure no good / cracked . ive had a not cracked dpf plugged tite and still had no soot in the tailpipe . oilhammer is correct . if the tailpipe is sooty tne dpf is trashed and i wont give my customer false hopes or waste their money doin stationary desoots . this is acrossed all light duty diesels in america . its not just a vw thing.
Thanks for the helpful thread. My 2014 Jetta started throwing the DPF fault last year. After reading this thread I realized that it started after I ran the fuel level nearly out a couple times. I didn't realize this was an issue. I have some soot in the tail pipe but it's not excessive. I've used additives (Lindman's and domestic brands), several different types of vegetable oil (peanut and grape seed oil worked best), and driven the extra miles to get 45 cetane at the boat place every 4-5 tank fills. I've gotten the light to go out about 4 months of the past 10, but it's been on a lot in the past 3 months.
Do you think the increased frequency you're seeing of these failures has anything to do with the quality of the fuel lately?
A lot of the pumps I've seen in the Northeast have 40 cetane min and you used to be able to get 42 a lot easier 2-3 years ago. I was considering getting the pipe changed, but my fuel economy is still at 40mpg and it doesn't seem hindered. With the limited soot on my tailpipe, I'm considering running a couple more tanks with additives in the warmer weather to see if that helps with the Regen. Any suggestions or do you think that I'm just wasting time until I have to get mine replaced?
 
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