.dpf filter has two air pressure sensors one in front of filter one at rear, these tell the ecu how blocked with soot the filter is and at a point around 80% it will tell ecu to regen the filter, it does this by changing ignition points via the injectors and runs engine rich with fuel to generate heat within the exhaust system and turbo and engine,, driving the car at 3000 revs for more than 20 miles on a motorway once a week is good to keep clear, all of the above is fine when the filter is under 75000 miles old, the problems start after this mileage as the filters are designed with 75000 as a service replacement item, the additive tank they also run needs replacing every 45k or filter will block, also bare in mind turbo's are designed to last 80-120k based on engines with unblocked dpf filters, when filters block they will soon take out the turbo, 100k car with factory filter blocked is just waiting to destroy your engine as when turbo fails those engines go in to diesel runaway, ie cant not stop them from eating own oil and reving to red line until it breaks, below link is a dpf element by far cheapest option on the psa 1.6 hdi engines, also a link for the best dpf and injection cleaner i have found its call cataclean dpf,, but nothing will clear a 75k plus filter as its the residue produced from regens that black them and will not burn a wayThanks a lot knt! I'll wait for mike's answer then!
Yes, I've seen this additive before in a Tesco's, it seems to be more popular than Wynn's, but I'll go to Halfords today to have a look at a greater range and ask for their help in choosing the one.
By the way, I came across this app & OBD2 package from Carly (www[dot]mycarly[dot]com/en/app/bmw/), and it has the ability to monitor the DPF (how many grams of soot there is in there), see that live as you're driving and even perform a force regeneration (although it just points to the ECU to do that when all conditions of temperature and mileage are met). I think that would ease my mind a little bit to monitor when it starts to become clogged (but before the light comes on) so that I can take it for a good ride on the motorway!
The Carly app will allow you to force DPF regen but pricey app.Thanks a lot knt! I'll wait for mike's answer then!
Yes, I've seen this additive before in a Tesco's, it seems to be more popular than Wynn's, but I'll go to Halfords today to have a look at a greater range and ask for their help in choosing the one.
By the way, I came across this app & OBD2 package from Carly (www[dot]mycarly[dot]com/en/app/bmw/), and it has the ability to monitor the DPF (how many grams of soot there is in there), see that live as you're driving and even perform a force regeneration (although it just points to the ECU to do that when all conditions of temperature and mileage are met). I think that would ease my mind a little bit to monitor when it starts to become clogged (but before the light comes on) so that I can take it for a good ride on the motorway!
Yes Knt, you're absolutely right; it is indeed quite pricey :/
Wow, that's greatly informative mike, thanks! So, to wrap up, keep my mini till it's hit the 70k spot (maybe a bit more, although with the low mileage I do I won't need to), change oils every 6k miles, put cataclean every 3-4 months, and give it a good go once a week (maybe I won't be able to do it every week, but definitely every two weeks, or every three weeks a big trip, say 250 miles - at the same time monitoring with the OBD2 the soot particles). If it every happens that my DPF gets clogged earlier than this, I'll go in the highway and do some miles with revs up for sure. In any case, I'm always putting Shell V-Power; this, combined with frequent oil changes and cataclean should be OK for my age of car and low mileage I suppose, right? :/
one point you may of missed with the diagnostics, autocom will run on older laptops windows 7 8 and xp so cheap i use laptop not to much money, also the other key point is a carly app is bmw/mini only, where the autocom is any car on the road with a eobd socket, so in future when you fall out with your mini and buy something else you will be buying another diagnostics for that car two lots of money, ie buy the right future proof system in first place saves a lot of money and hassle,, also autocom will do a lot more than that app will, ie encode injectors or bsm or on some cars keys as well plus all the other stuff, ie its a profession garage platform rather than a phone run app.Yes Knt, you're absolutely right; it is indeed quite pricey :/
Wow, that's greatly informative mike, thanks! So, to wrap up, keep my mini till it's hit the 70k spot (maybe a bit more, although with the low mileage I do I won't need to), change oils every 6k miles, put cataclean every 3-4 months, and give it a good go once a week (maybe I won't be able to do it every week, but definitely every two weeks, or every three weeks a big trip, say 250 miles - at the same time monitoring with the OBD2 the soot particles). If it every happens that my DPF gets clogged earlier than this, I'll go in the highway and do some miles with revs up for sure. In any case, I'm always putting Shell V-Power; this, combined with frequent oil changes and cataclean should be OK for my age of car and low mileage I suppose, right? :/
Thanks a lot for the OBD2 that you proposed! I've seen many reviews and it seems great indeed! The problem I have is that it requires computer, and in particular a PC so I can't connect it to my MAC, thus I'll have to go with the more expensive Carly app
By the way does anyone know how many grams of soot (or soot + ash combined) can a MINI R56 DPF hold? (or to put it differently, how many grams of soot would make the DPF 80% full and thus needing a regen - lights on indicating DPF regen and everything)
