Altea FR (or any with DPF)

[Jacey Boy]

Our car went into limp mode on saturday after the DPF light being on for over a week, this filter is a pain in the butt, normally it clears within a few days but didnt this time and has now shoved the car into limp with warning lights.

So its going into the dealer today for it to be cleared, this is what the dealer is telling me anyway but I wonder if its something else?

 

[psjb]

Hi jacey boy, a friend of mine who has a A4 170 was told when the light came on to drive at 2000 revs no more to clear it.
Seems a bit of a pain but hope this helps.

phill

 

[Jacey Boy]

Got the car back, it was the DPF, I think its crazy that you need to drive the car to clear the filter, it seems it doesnt like the town stop/start driving.

All back to normal now

 

[Tam]

You need to be VERY careful.

If your dpf warning light comes on, you must follow the instructions in the manual to clean/clear this (i.e. drive it harder!), failure to do this will lead to "limp mode" and the possibility of DPF failure. If it fails because you did not clear it, then its a £1500 for a new one, payable by you!!

http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=146732 for other peoples experiance of this filter.

 

[Jacey Boy]

I wasnt told it wouldnt be covered under warranty, just that i need to clear it by driving it to get it very warm

 

[Tam]

There's actually a seat issued leaflet on the DPF which clearly states what is covered and what's not, and how to clear it - evidently its becoming an issue for a few people now.

These DPF's just were not designed for slow town driving where they don't get hot enough to burn of what they catch.

 

[Lambfoot]

What's a DPF?

 

[muddyboots]

There's a sticky post in the TDI section about emergency DPF regeneration, it's a link to a page I found on Ross-Tech's site (the makers of vag-com).
Might be an interesting read.

 

[muddyboots]

What's a DPF?

Diesel Particulate Filter

It's designed to filter the soot out of a diesel engine's exhaust.
Over time they start to clog up, and the residue needs to be burnt off - however this needs the exhaust temps to be quite high before the ECU can do the burn off, and if you only ever potter around in town this might not happen.
If it gets too clogged, it can't be burnt off (too dangerous ? ) and you need a new DPF.

That's my understanding anyway, I'm open to further education

 

[Jacey Boy]

Well since buying the car (May 07) we have done 1200 miles, and most of our driving is around town, we have seen the DPF warning twice now

 

[Lambfoot]

Dpf

Course it is! I knew that really, it's just that at my age I forget faster than I learn. Thanks for the education guys, I don't think I've got a DPF, (2.0 TDi Sport with DSG) but I will now know what it is if that light comes on.

 

[Jacey Boy]

Nope the 140 TDi doesnt have the filter, its only the 170BHP versions

 

[mavbritton]

We bought an XL 2.0 170 a few months ago and the dealer told me at the time that if the light comes on amber, you have 20 miles or so to get somewhere where you can stay at above 60 or 70 mph for 10 mins or so. If it doesn't clear and goes red, big trouble! I'm on about 6K at the moment and haven't seen it yet.

 

[Bondiblu]

Nope the 140 TDi doesnt have the filter, its only the 170BHP versions

Thats not entirely true, it's not only the 170bhp version. The NEW 1.9 TDI DSG Stylance also has a DPF

 

[alex1]

Can anybody confirm exactly which models have the DPF?

We have a Aug 07 1.9 TDi and have been hearing about the DPF issues for a while. DPF is covered in the manual we got with the car, but I had assumed that the DPF part was simply there as the manual covers all models, but the reference to the fact that "The NEW 1.9 TDI DSG Stylance also has a DPF " has made me think - which models do or don't have the DPF?

Is there any easy way of telling - the V5 doesn't indicate a Euro IV or Euro III classification which was the basis for fitting the DPF I thought.

Incidentally the engine is a BXE variant if that makes any difference.

Regards
Al

 

[Tam]

just look on the seat web-site.

As stated - the 1.9TDI DSG has a DPF and the 2.0 TDI(170) has a DPF

 

[Lambfoot]

Thats not entirely true, it's not only the 170bhp version. The NEW 1.9 TDI DSG Stylance also has a DPF

I think Jaceyboy was referring to the 2.0 140 vs 170.
He's right, I don't have one. (Mines Jan 2005)
I had a look at the regeneration procedure anyway, surely driving between 18 & 37 mph in 4th for 15-20 minutes, (Assuming you can find somewhere to do it!) is going to produce enough pollution to cancel out the benefit of the filter anyway?

 

[Rallye Dale]

You can make sure the light does not get chance to come on by making another light on the dash come on

Traction light

 

[Jacey Boy]

So badically you have to drive the car hard to get it warm, which makes your mpg go down which makes having a diesel pointless

 

[googies]

Not dirve it hard. The regen for the DPF is at 1400 rpm so no hard driving. A good blast now and then is what being said just to not give it the chance and blow the cobwebs out.