My Dpf Story

[Matt222]

Hi,

I've had my 220d for about 3 months now, and until Sunday just gone, its been a pleasure to own and drive.

On the Saturday I drove to see my parents who live 130 miles away, stayed the night and set off Sunday morning back home.

I had done about 25 - 30 miles when the cruise control turned off, I looked down at the dash and the yellow engine symbol was on, the triangle ! was lit, and CHECK VSC was showing. The car was driving fine at first so I wasn't greatly panicked, until it started to lose power!

I managed to get off the motorway and call my breakdown services to help, but! All the mechanic could tell me was his computer said " P2002 Particulate trap below threshold. Bank 1" and reset the fault. This lasted for about 4 miles. Anyway I crawled home using hazards and the hard shoulder a lot for an engine restart.

About 20 miles form home after restarting the engine before coming onto the motorway I noticed the "Limp mode" had stopped cutting in and I could now pass the caravans and horse boxes that had been overtaking me. All the warning lights where still on though.

The next day when I started the car no warning lights indicated on the dash and it drove fine. I phoned my local garage and they said try putting in a DPF cleaner and taking it for a hard drive down the motorway.

So cleaner in and a full tank of fuel I set off.

10 miles at 60 mph over 3000rpm then 10 miles at 80 mph over 4000 rpm then some hard acceleration driving.

I have now done over 150 miles since and fingers crossed all seems ok.

I am sharing my story in the hope it helps others not faint when they are told they're looking at around £2000 to fix this.

If my fix doesn't work I'm strongly considering getting the DPF removed.

[Tegs200]

Had exactly the same thing happen on my previous Ford Kuga and what finally put me off modern diesel cars which is a shame, you use to be able to drive them however you wanted but now they are suppose to advise you to buy petrol if your only doing short trips lol and that is how ridiculous these filters are and why main dealers are reluctant to cover them under warranty because they now how problematic they are and there is nothing they can do as someone from the eu have said its saving the planet.

But if it was me and I was planning to keep the car I would 100% have the dpf removed and enjoy trouble free and much improved motoring , good luck.

[stevet]

Has anyone removed the DPF yet on the IS220/200D?

[Matt222]

I would like to here from anyone whom has had the DPF removed too.

Does it effect the emissions for MOT purposes?

Does it improve performance/mpg?

Does it damage the car in any way?

Do I have to take the car to a specialist?

I would be greatly thankful of any information..

Thanks for the luck Tara,

My previous car was a MK4 Golf TDi, it was a 1998 model. I bought when diesel was cheaper and I never had any major problems with it, except last year when it caught the rust disease underneath, hence why I got rid.

I never new such thing as a PDF existed until the other day, and after reading about it I'm now looking at trading my Lexus in for something else!

[stevet]

I had a 2008 Alfa Brera 2.4 Diesel and had the DPF/EGR removed. Performance and mpg was vastly improved. Passed MOT without any problems but I did get a puff of smoke when first accelerating hard.

[blackcts]

DPF removal is entirely possible, the only problem is that the denso ecu on the IS cannot be cracked, so tuners get round this by fitting an emulator. I have checked with a local tuner and they have done lots without any problems.

Matt is your car burning much oil by any chance?

£2,000 for a new dpf is probably lexus prices, although you can buy new OE DPF's for the IS220d for under £500 and id say for a couple of hundred quid for fitting you would be sorted. So its not the end of the world, although a £700 bill isnt pleasant either.

That said if the car is healthy, low ash oil and branded diesel is used along with a good revving on a motorway once a week, it really shouldnt give any bother tbh.

[normski2]

I would like to here from anyone whom has had the DPF removed too.

Does it effect the emissions for MOT purposes?

Does it improve performance/mpg?

Does it damage the car in any way?

Do I have to take the car to a specialist?

I would be greatly thankful of any information..

Thanks for the luck Tara,

My previous car was a MK4 Golf TDi, it was a 1998 model. I bought when diesel was cheaper and I never had any major problems with it, except last year when it caught the rust disease underneath, hence why I got rid.

I never new such thing as a PDF existed until the other day, and after reading about it I'm now looking at trading my Lexus in for something else!

Have a good search through this forum there are a few people who have removed the DPF. There is a company in Taunton, think they were called P and P, who specialise in this. Talk to them. There was another in Birmingham, don't know the name though.

From my own experience I'd pretty much agree with Blackcts last paragraph too.

[blackcts]

I would like to here from anyone whom has had the DPF removed too.

Does it effect the emissions for MOT purposes?

Does it improve performance/mpg?

Does it damage the car in any way?

Do I have to take the car to a specialist?

I would be greatly thankful of any information..

I havent had my DPF removed but:

Does it effect the emissions for MOT? - No - As far as I know the dpf is gutted out so it will still be there if the MOT tester checks (which it isnt a requirement as yet AFAIK)

Does it improve performance/mpg? - not sure about performance, but you should be an increase in mpg due to the car not regenerating

Does it damage the car in any way? - No, definately not - all the emulator does is emulate a healthy working D-CAT system, its not like the cars ECU is changed in any way - the dpf will be gutted out, but chances are its already scrap if you are going down the road of DPF removal. If you ever decided to get a DPF fitted down the line, all that would need to be done is remove the emulator from the car, disconnect the Battery (to clear information stored the ECU) and follow lexus service procedures with regards to fitting the new DPF (can be found on eBay or lexus website, think access is like 3 euro per hour).

Do I have to take the car to a specialist? - definately, you will need to find someone who has done this before and knows what they are at.

Cheers

[sokisoki3]

new promo lexus dpf removal video

a bit of theory about lexus dpf system http://pandpauto.co.uk/lexus-dpf-removal.html

and summers special offer http://pandpauto.co.uk/special-offers.html

dont hesitate to give us a ring I will give you free advice and I will answer your questions. Best regards

[normski2]

new promo lexus dpf removal video

a bit of theory about lexus dpf system http://pandpauto.co.uk/lexus-dpf-removal.html

and summers special offer http://pandpauto.co.uk/special-offers.html

dont hesitate to give us a ring I will give you free advice and I will answer your questions. Best regards

There ya go! Thought the name was P and P. There's your invite.....so phone him.

[Matt222]

_{Thank you all for your advice.}

_{I am not as stressed about the DPF anymore}

_{I'm going to take blackcts advice and pick the revs up once a week and leave things alone whilst I have no fault. It is nice to know there's options available and they're not all seriously costly if things go wrong.}

_{Oh and I checked my oil last night and it hasn't lost a drop since I last looked, a month ago.}

_{Cheers :)}

[dr j]

Hi,

I've had my 220d for about 3 months now, and until Sunday just gone, its been a pleasure to own and drive.

On the Saturday I drove to see my parents who live 130 miles away, stayed the night and set off Sunday morning back home.

I had done about 25 - 30 miles when the cruise control turned off, I looked down at the dash and the yellow engine symbol was on, the triangle ! was lit, and CHECK VSC was showing. The car was driving fine at first so I wasn't greatly panicked, until it started to lose power!

I managed to get off the motorway and call my breakdown services to help, but! All the mechanic could tell me was his computer said " P2002 Particulate trap below threshold. Bank 1" and reset the fault. This lasted for about 4 miles. Anyway I crawled home using hazards and the hard shoulder a lot for an engine restart.

About 20 miles form home after restarting the engine before coming onto the motorway I noticed the "Limp mode" had stopped cutting in and I could now pass the caravans and horse boxes that had been overtaking me. All the warning lights where still on though.

The next day when I started the car no warning lights indicated on the dash and it drove fine. I phoned my local garage and they said try putting in a DPF cleaner and taking it for a hard drive down the motorway.

So cleaner in and a full tank of fuel I set off.

10 miles at 60 mph over 3000rpm then 10 miles at 80 mph over 4000 rpm then some hard acceleration driving.

I have now done over 150 miles since and fingers crossed all seems ok.

I am sharing my story in the hope it helps others not faint when they are told they're looking at around £2000 to fix this.

If my fix doesn't work I'm strongly considering getting the DPF removed.

Hello, check my post on maintenance. DPF cleaners that mix with fuel are ok but you may have other problems. The error code is common to a number of problems and you have to check each. The fifth injector actually works quite well, most problems have to do with the pressure differential sensor. the inlet and outlet hoses clog easily and give erroneous readings.

[dr j]

This is not an easy car to have the DPF removed. It´s not just a cheap bolt-on can like BMW has. It is literally welded together with the Cat converter. It is cleaned by a complex fifth injector system. There is a pressure differential that will read an error when no DPF is there to cause positive pressure. The system is complex but is probably the best by far. I have 268 000 kms on mine and exhaust flux through the DPF is normal.

On another note, I don´t particularly like diesel engines because of their pollution, and the DPF solves that somewhat. It´s a ****ty fuel and no matter what you do it will end up clogging something over the long haul.

[ChumpusRex]

The French manufacturers must have had some problems with DPFs, because they've come up with an interesting system.

The car comes from the factory with a tank of DPF cleaner installed in the car. Every time you fill with fuel, a shot of cleaner is injected into the tank. This keeps the DPF reasonably trouble free - until the cleaner runs out (about 40k miles).

It's a heck of a job to refill the tank, and the cleaner is very expensive, nearly £200 for a 2 litre fill up.

It would be interesting to know if any one has just tried manually dosing another DPF equipped car with the cleaner. It seems to do something on the French cars, once the cleaner runs out, you run into big time problems with the DPFs and big fuel consumption due to constant regeneration.

[dr j]

The French manufacturers must have had some problems with DPFs, because they've come up with an interesting system.

The car comes from the factory with a tank of DPF cleaner installed in the car. Every time you fill with fuel, a shot of cleaner is injected into the tank. This keeps the DPF reasonably trouble free - until the cleaner runs out (about 40k miles).

It's a heck of a job to refill the tank, and the cleaner is very expensive, nearly £200 for a 2 litre fill up.

It would be interesting to know if any one has just tried manually dosing another DPF equipped car with the cleaner. It seems to do something on the French cars, once the cleaner runs out, you run into big time problems with the DPFs and big fuel consumption due to constant regeneration.

It´s not a system that´s exclusive to French cars, German cars use the same system in general. The fifth injector also isn´t exclusive to Toyota/Lexus, Alfa Romeo also use it. The DPF cleaner is basically a detergent/combustion mixture that increases the exhaust temperature and attempts to clean the DPF. The vehicle also adjusts the injection for a higher combustion.

It sounds decent in theory, but most French cars have their DPF´s replaced at about 100 000 kms or they are simply removed as Mercedes owners and BMW owners do with theirs. The system isn´t failsafe and DPF saturation occurs earlier than planned.

The Fifth injector causes a DPF burn until the temperature reaches about 800ºC (not sure about the exact temp). This system is also eventually insufficient. Dousing the DPF with a cleaner as used in the French cars isn´t a solution, as it must be mixed with fuel and has to go through the combustion process.

For the Lexus, the DPF cleaner foam made by Wurth is probably the best option. It´s a foam that fills the space ahead of the DPF and basically sticks to the soot. When the car is taken for a run, the soot is released. The only problem is that the nozzle doesn´t fit the hole for the temperature sensor that is used to inject the foam. My solution was using a smaller nozzle, like that from a WD 40 can. It doesn´t spray it as well, but it does the job.

[dr j]

The French manufacturers must have had some problems with DPFs, because they've come up with an interesting system.

The car comes from the factory with a tank of DPF cleaner installed in the car. Every time you fill with fuel, a shot of cleaner is injected into the tank. This keeps the DPF reasonably trouble free - until the cleaner runs out (about 40k miles).

It's a heck of a job to refill the tank, and the cleaner is very expensive, nearly £200 for a 2 litre fill up.

It would be interesting to know if any one has just tried manually dosing another DPF equipped car with the cleaner. It seems to do something on the French cars, once the cleaner runs out, you run into big time problems with the DPFs and big fuel consumption due to constant regeneration.

It´s not a system that´s exclusive to French cars, German cars use the same system in general. The fifth injector also isn´t exclusive to Toyota/Lexus, Alfa Romeo also use it. The DPF cleaner is basically a detergent/combustion mixture that increases the exhaust temperature and attempts to clean the DPF. The vehicle also adjusts the injection for a higher combustion.

It sounds decent in theory, but most French cars have their DPF´s replaced at about 100 000 kms or they are simply removed as Mercedes owners and BMW owners do with theirs. The system isn´t failsafe and DPF saturation occurs earlier than planned.

The Fifth injector causes a DPF burn until the temperature reaches about 800ºC (not sure about the exact temp). This system is also eventually insufficient. Dousing the DPF with a cleaner as used in the French cars isn´t a solution, as it must be mixed with fuel and has to go through the combustion process.

For the Lexus, the DPF cleaner foam made by Wurth is probably the best option. It´s a foam that fills the space ahead of the DPF and basically sticks to the soot. When the car is taken for a run, the soot is released. The only problem is that the nozzle doesn´t fit the hole for the temperature sensor that is used to inject the foam. My solution was using a smaller nozzle, like that from a WD 40 can. It doesn´t spray it as well, but it does the job.

Most cars have their DPFs removed and their ECU´s remapped. The DPF/FAP has been around since about 2005 and really no DPF is as long lasting or problem free as advertised. My cousin was head mechanic at Citroen and the DPFs last about 100 000 kms. He studied the fifth injector system on my car and said that it was the better of the two systems. The best solution? Buy a petrol car lol.

But seriously, after some headaches my car is running fine and I´ve just passed the 268 000 km mark.

[dr j]

I would like to here from anyone whom has had the DPF removed too.

Does it effect the emissions for MOT purposes?

Does it improve performance/mpg?

Does it damage the car in any way?

Do I have to take the car to a specialist?

I would be greatly thankful of any information..

I havent had my DPF removed but:

Does it effect the emissions for MOT? - No - As far as I know the dpf is gutted out so it will still be there if the MOT tester checks (which it isnt a requirement as yet AFAIK)

Does it improve performance/mpg? - not sure about performance, but you should be an increase in mpg due to the car not regenerating

Does it damage the car in any way? - No, definately not - all the emulator does is emulate a healthy working D-CAT system, its not like the cars ECU is changed in any way - the dpf will be gutted out, but chances are its already scrap if you are going down the road of DPF removal. If you ever decided to get a DPF fitted down the line, all that would need to be done is remove the emulator from the car, disconnect the Battery (to clear information stored the ECU) and follow lexus service procedures with regards to fitting the new DPF (can be found on eBay or lexus website, think access is like 3 euro per hour).

Do I have to take the car to a specialist? - definately, you will need to find someone who has done this before and knows what they are at.

Cheers

Agreed.

The removal however will be a pain in the "#" because the cat converter and the DPF are in the same unit.

It won´t be long before emissions testing include particulate testing and only DPF equipped cars will pass.

Here (Portugal) they have discussed using the OBD port for vehicle analysis. That in itself will be a problem.

In Australia vehicles with detectable smoke in their exhaust are fined. DPF gutted vehicles have disgusting black smoke on acceleration.

My advice - go for a petrol car. Diesel is dead in the long run.

[SM1]

Beware: It seems that DPF removal is no longer a (legal) option

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-rules-for-mot-to-test-for-diesel-particulate-filter

[normski2]

This is worth reading chaps

http://www.oilem.com/dpf-removal-to-become-an-mot-failure-2/

[Carl911]

I had the issue about three months ago. Car goes into limp mode and restricts you to 40mph.

Anyway, I took it to my garage where I get all it's servicing done and they do the dpf clean. They told me it was completely blocked but run some chemical stuff through it and all has been perfect ever since. Cost was about £220 all done so not as bad as all that.

Given that it's taken nearly eight years to get that blocked, hopefully I'll have a fair few years ahead before it ever needs doing again.

There seem to be a few places starting to do the dpf clean now it's a more recognised issue ,

[dr j]

I have just passed 300 000 kms, and my dpf is fine. The pressure differential sensor as stated clogs easily. There is a dpf cleaner from wurth that works well as far as the dpf itself, but once the metalic tube leading to the sensor clogs, the error appears. The car may or may not go into limp mode. A substitute was made for the outlet tube as it had a bend that was exaggerated and LED to easier clogging. But regular maintenance ie, disconnecting the hose and applying compressed air to the metallic section leading towards the dpg usually unclogs it.

Any questions feel free to ask.

Cheers