Engine: D5: Soot Filter driving me crazy...HELP !

[Bill_56]

Originally Posted by v40jlt4

...2day I drove to the mountains for 40 minutes in 2nd gear, so between 3000 and 4200rpm. That must have cleaned out the DPF...

Not necessarily. High engine speeds create high exhaust temperature which will facilitate DPF regeneration. But if the car's not due a regeneration you can't make it regenerate, no matter how you drive.

Sometimes engines run hot, such as HGV's on Motorways, or normal cars at German Autobahn speeds, that permit passive regeneration whereby the DPF won't clog up to begin with. But that's a different matter to active regeneration.

In fact, 'thrash' driving, when the car doesn't need to regenerate, may actually make things worse as it produces more soot, increasing the chances that the car will need to regenerate soon afterwards. But the regeneration may not begin until you've ended the thrash and are now stuck in slow traffic...

[RoyMacDonald]

Driving up a mountain will make the engine run hot. Try cycling up one and see how much heat you generate. In the old days cars were always boiling over on mountains.

I'm just wondering how high you are though? Get high enough and even an engine in perfect form can have problems from lack of air.

[v40jlt4]

Originally Posted by Bill_56

Not necessarily. High engine speeds create high exhaust temperature which will facilitate DPF regeneration. But if the car's not due a regeneration you can't make it regenerate, no matter how you drive.

Sometimes engines run hot, such as HGV's on Motorways, or normal cars at German Autobahn speeds, that permit passive regeneration whereby the DPF won't clog up to begin with. But that's a different matter to active regeneration.

In fact, 'thrash' driving, when the car doesn't need to regenerate, may actually make things worse as it produces more soot, increasing the chances that the car will need to regenerate soon afterwards. But the regeneration may not begin until you've ended the thrash and are now stuck in slow traffic...

Again, internet didn't work yesterday, hence no replies.

Oh crap, that's not what I expected. But thanks for the insight. Not sure now what to do. as I cannot find a strech of road here and really do not want that limp mode thing again.

From sight, I cannot see any leaks, IC pipes, hoses, but then again I can't see much without taking it to the shop. Car drives ok now. But I do not dare to go past 4000rpm.

We're not that high atm, about 700meters (2100feet or so)

If I could find a streched road here I'd floor it and let the 20 minute regeneration process run. But that limp-mode like driving is killing in the mountains. It does not produce enough power to climb, creating a large traffic jam behind me. Its impossible to get to that 50mph like that.

There should be warning message in the car when regeneration starts. You can see mpg drop when you're on the highway, but over here,..

Anyway, all these special things that I need to take care of just to keep the car running are just redecilous. I think they've taken all of this (EGR that fills the intake with crap, soot filter with problems) one step too far. Now I really, really really miss my 10 yr old tuned T4 :-(

But again, thanks for aal the help. I'll keep you posted. But first prio is to empty the dieseltakn and try to buy the best stuff available here

[Bill_56]

As others such as Roy have suggested, it may still be that your DPF problems are being caused (or at least, exaggerated) by some other sort of failure. I didn't mean to exclude that possibility.

But neither would I exclude the possibility that the DPF has just chosen a bad moment to try and regenerate.

I liked & agree with Dynasaur's comment

That's a lot of worms in one can.

Good luck!

[RoyMacDonald]

2100 ft is about a 5% reduction in air pressure.

Trouble is the RICA tune takes out Volvo's built in tolerance to crappy diesel, it also increases the engines air requirement.

Also the EGR shouldn't be a problem. You have to look at what caused the EGR to soot up in the first place. I know they can soot up but most people clean them when that happens and often report improved MPG.

Can you post a chronological order of events before the DPF gave trouble, including the high mpg, EGR problem, RICA tune, blocked air filter, MAF replacement? Also are you auto or manual? (The MAF affects the autobox.)

Bet the views are nice though.

[chunderground]

Originally Posted by mhon72

And use a decent branded diesel fuel.
On the subject of which, anyone used the Shell V-Power diesel? I've had good experience with the petrol but what about the black stuff?

I had problem with oil level rising last winter so switched to low soot fuel v-power / bp ultimate which I am still evaluating. The test will be when we get to the winter months. The performance is much better with v-power but 6p per litre extra cost. Thought at first that mpg had improved but several tankfulls on mpg is much the same. I will continue to use it as I am not too bothered about fuel cost and like the extra oomph.
I will report back when I have gone through a winter using the stuff. So far the oil level has not risen and have not noticed the engine going into regeneration but after all it is summer and that may be the reason why things are better.
Average speed 22mph average mpg 24mpg on readout.( not good compared to other posters here )

[RoyMacDonald]

I'm wondering if you have a long term air leak which could cause build up of soot in the system. See this post by Clan......http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showpo...62&postcount=5

[v40jlt4]

Originally Posted by RoyMacDonald

2100 ft is about a 5% reduction in air pressure.

Trouble is the RICA tune takes out Volvo's built in tolerance to crappy diesel, it also increases the engines air requirement.

Also the EGR shouldn't be a problem. You have to look at what caused the EGR to soot up in the first place. I know they can soot up but most people clean them when that happens and often report improved MPG.

Can you post a chronological order of events before the DPF gave trouble, including the high mpg, EGR problem, RICA tune, blocked air filter, MAF replacement? Also are you auto or manual? (The MAF affects the autobox.)

Bet the views are nice though.

Views are great, so is the weather! wifi&internet suck, first time online in about 2 days or so.

The car ws rica'd when I bought it. I gave it the sports tune almost immediately (to get performance a little bit clsoer to my destroyed T4).
MPG has always been bad. EGR didn't really cause a problem, it was just very dirty. I cleaned it but that didn't cure mpg. My car is manual. After that, blocked air filter was found and fixed, no impact on mpg. After that, MAF replaced, no change. Then we went on holiday. In the mountains I use most available HP all the time.
So the soot filter full really came like a surprise (wasn't the first time a floored it).

Sometime else I forgot, it's barely noticable. If I accelerate very quitely, in every gear there's a light hesitation around 1450 rpm, very odd.

I drove to cannes and back (2 X 60miles of mountains). NEVER floored it, but drove quite fast, no trouble. Still on the "old" diesel.

Don't have the guts to floor it. If the car runs like it does now, it'll get me trough the holidays. Fingers crossed and still lookinf for better diesel somewhere around here.

[RoyMacDonald]

Originally Posted by v40jlt4

Views are great, so is the weather! wifi&internet suck, first time online in about 2 days or so.

The car ws rica'd when I bought it. I gave it the sports tune almost immediately (to get performance a little bit clsoer to my destroyed T4).
MPG has always been bad. EGR didn't really cause a problem, it was just very dirty. I cleaned it but that didn't cure mpg. My car is manual. After that, blocked air filter was found and fixed, no impact on mpg. After that, MAF replaced, no change. Then we went on holiday. In the mountains I use most available HP all the time.
So the soot filter full really came like a surprise (wasn't the first time a floored it).

Sometime else I forgot, it's barely noticable. If I accelerate very quitely, in every gear there's a light hesitation around 1450 rpm, very odd.

I drove to cannes and back (2 X 60miles of mountains). NEVER floored it, but drove quite fast, no trouble. Still on the "old" diesel.

Don't have the guts to floor it. If the car runs like it does now, it'll get me trough the holidays. Fingers crossed and still lookinf for better diesel somewhere around here.

I looked at you mpg again and I don't think 34 mpg is too bad for a 185 bhp with a RICA sports tune driven hard.

However I still think there is something wrong somewhere. I agree the hesitation is odd. I'm still thinking air leak somewhere at the moment, which would make the engine produce extra soot.

[v40jlt4]

Originally Posted by RoyMacDonald

I looked at you mpg again and I don't think 34 mpg is too bad for a 185 bhp with a RICA sports tune driven hard.

However I still think there is something wrong somewhere. I agree the hesitation is odd. I'm still thinking air leak somewhere at the moment, which would make the engine produce extra soot.

I only get that 34mpg when I drive like a snail. Or in this case 75mph on the highway for 500 miles or so continuously.

Hard to find any leaks now. Will instruct my shop to thoroughly check the entire system when I get back.