Technical Watchdog DPF Article

[pearce_jj]

Just watched the above - some good general points raised but the detail on the 500 regeneration was incorrect. It was stated that the car needed to be running at 3,000 rpm for 15-20 minutes and that if the car stopped in traffic, the process would have to start over.

However regeneration even in traffic is possible (just keep the engine running) and there is no need to run the engine at certain revs. This said the process is paused when totally 'lifted off' the throttle, hence for expedience personally I will run a lower gear on undulating land to avoid lift-off.

But generally there is no need to adjust driving and the filter will regenerate fine in 5th at 40/50/60mph.

Sorry if this has been raised already (I must have missed it).

 

[grimwau]

Wonder why it has taken them over 2 years to get to grips with this? Back in 2008, I for one informed them as to the problems and I know that the Qashqai forums were full of it as well.

They didn't even mention the premature oil changes that were necessary due to the numerous regenerations.

 

[RobinPJ]

I hadn't seen this. Here it is for those who want to see it (again):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2011/10/diesel_particulate_filters.html

 

[D4nny8oy]

Just watched the above - some good general points raised but the detail on the 500 regeneration was incorrect. It was stated that the car needed to be running at 3,000 rpm for 15-20 minutes and that if the car stopped in traffic, the process would have to start over.

However regeneration even in traffic is possible (just keep the engine running) and there is no need to run the engine at certain revs. This said the process is paused when totally 'lifted off' the throttle, hence for expedience personally I will run a lower gear on undulating land to avoid lift-off.

But generally there is no need to adjust driving and the filter will regenerate fine in 5th at 40/50/60mph.

Sorry if this has been raised already (I must have missed it).

Sounds like the typical Watchdog "we're all doomed" crap TBH. If they bothered to research Fiat's DPF (5 mins on here would suffice), they'd see it can regenerate while stationary... so no need for the sweeping statement that you'd have to regularily drive at 3krpm for 20 mins or face a £1000 bill. They're all morons on that show.

Speaking with people who work on other brands, Fiat's system is by far the most reliable. I've heard Merc dealers are replacing theirs every third service!

Granted there's the odd one or two which cause issues, but once the underlying fault is corrected, the customer goes away happy.

 

[grimwau]

Speaking with people who work on other brands, Fiat's system is by far the most reliable.

Despite the problems I had with mine I have to agree that, by following the advice given on here, the DPF never failed to regenerate correctly. It was just a pain to have to take it for weekly runs to clear the light and the premature oil/filter changes triggered by the regeneration algorithm that made it impractical as a city car.