2023-06-02
A Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) is apart of the diesel exhaust system that is designed to filter out harmful soot.
What is the role of a DPF?
The role of a DPF is to capture and store exhaust soot in order to reduce emissions from diesel cars. However, they only have a specific capacity, which is what can cause the DPF to get blocked with harmful soot. The DPF burns this off the filter at high temperatures, leaving behind ash. This is what is known as regeneration.
The process of regeneration is to burn off the excess soot, reducing the harmful exhaust emission, helping to prevent the black plumes of smoke which can be noticed in older diesel cars when they accelerate. Two types of regeneration are active and passive. Passive regeneration, takes place while driving using the heat of the exhaust. Active regeneration injects extra fuel, increasing the temperature of the exhaust gases, burning off the soot in the DPF.
How to know when your DPF is blocked.
A light will appear on the dashboard, which usually looks like a piped box with dots in the middle, it is best to check your handbook as each light varies between manufacturers.
How to maintain a DPF.
Making a journey on the motorway at a detained speed , between 30 to 40 minutes, will keep your DPF in good condition. Another way that can contribute to maintaining your DPF is to never run your vehicle on an empty tank of fuel. Some vehicles do not regenerate their DPF if it is running low on fuel. Finally, make sure you use the recommended manufacturers oil due to others containing additives which may damage the cars DPF.
How long does a DPF last?
It will last up to 100,000 miles. However, if it is on a poorly serviced vehicle it may fail sooner. Performance modifications and low quality fuel can also damage a DPF, make sure your vehicle is well maintained so it can regenerate correctly reducing the risk of damaging the DPF.
Are these covered by an Autoserve GM product?
Low-mileage drivers of some diesel models may face additional service cost due to oil dilution problems with their vehicles. These are not covered by a Guaranteed Maintenance (GM) contract. Problems with oil dilution can usually be corrected by taking the affected vehicles on lengthier journeys, thereby allowing DPF’s to function properly.
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