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New Member FR TDI 184 DPF

dutumarcel

Active Member
Aug 30, 2021
16
8
Hi everyone,

New member here! I am in the process of acquiring a new (for me) leon 2.0 tdi 184 manual. The car is a 65 plate and has done a touch under 35k miles. At this age and mileage, I am worried the dpf is at the end of its lifespam.

This would be my first ever diesel car, and of course my first ever car with a dpf. I have been doing a lot of reading and it is my understanding that an impotant factor when assessing a dpf's remaining life spam is the ash level.

My question to you is, what is an acceptable ash level for this particular engine, at this particular mileage and age?

I do short journeys during the week (5-7 mi/trip, 1-2 trips a day) and long runs in the weekend (100 + mi) and I'm averaging over 20k a year in my 1.0 80ps Fiesta so I thought the Leon FR 2.0 tdi 184 would be a suitable upgrade. I am just trying to ensure I am getting a good car! The dealer said the car belonged to the boss's wife and was always serviced on time with them. I asked them about the ash content and they said they are happy to show me the live data on the diagnostics when I go see the car. When I first saw it, it hadn't been prepped for sale but it looked in really good condition and the engine turned over smoothly with no errors on the dash or weird noises.

Would be very appreciative of your thoughts!

Cheers!
Marcel
 

Compo1

Active Member
Jul 19, 2010
277
65
The DPF is no where near end of lifespan think around 100,000

Saying that my old mk2 170PD is now with another family member at close to 150,000 and still on the original DPF but its always had 20 mile work runs.
 
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Jay5959

FR 184
Apr 26, 2020
499
256
Dpf on 35k is not an issue at all. With that age of car I would make sure the cambelt and water pump has been done before buying. With the short journeys you’ll likely notice dpf regens from time to time, a long journey every now and then should sort it out though
 
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dutumarcel

Active Member
Aug 30, 2021
16
8
The DPF is no where near end of lifespan think around 100,000

Saying that my old mk2 170PD is now with another family member at close to 150,000 and still on the original DPF but its always had 20 mile work runs.
sounds promising! thank you for the reply!
 

dutumarcel

Active Member
Aug 30, 2021
16
8
Dpf on 35k is not an issue at all. With that age of car I would make sure the cambelt and water pump has been done before buying. With the short journeys you’ll likely notice dpf regens from time to time, a long journey every now and then should sort it out though
Thank you for your reply! I already have it budgeted to be done if I do get the car! I am 100% certain the seller (arnold clark branch in Irvine) is unwilling to negotiate on that. This would be the 7th car I am considering, all before having had issues and the sellers not budging at all on the price to account for the shortcomings or to fix the issues. Given the mileage and the condition I'll probably bite the bullet on this one.

Cheers!
 
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BillyCool

Active Member
Jan 16, 2020
694
274
Leicestershire, UK
Hi everyone,

New member here! I am in the process of acquiring a new (for me) leon 2.0 tdi 184 manual. The car is a 65 plate and has done a touch under 35k miles. At this age and mileage, I am worried the dpf is at the end of its lifespam.

This would be my first ever diesel car, and of course my first ever car with a dpf. I have been doing a lot of reading and it is my understanding that an impotant factor when assessing a dpf's remaining life spam is the ash level.

My question to you is, what is an acceptable ash level for this particular engine, at this particular mileage and age?

I do short journeys during the week (5-7 mi/trip, 1-2 trips a day) and long runs in the weekend (100 + mi) and I'm averaging over 20k a year in my 1.0 80ps Fiesta so I thought the Leon FR 2.0 tdi 184 would be a suitable upgrade. I am just trying to ensure I am getting a good car! The dealer said the car belonged to the boss's wife and was always serviced on time with them. I asked them about the ash content and they said they are happy to show me the live data on the diagnostics when I go see the car. When I first saw it, it hadn't been prepped for sale but it looked in really good condition and the engine turned over smoothly with no errors on the dash or weird noises.

Would be very appreciative of your thoughts!

Cheers!
Marcel

Sorry - bit late to the party. My 2014 184 has done 112,000 and my DPF ash level is 44.8g.

Ref regens - when I used to do 40 miles a day iy would regen about 180 miles, Now I do shorter 5-7 mile journeys, it does it about 120 miles.

A Carista dongle and VAG DPF app help monitor this stuff without posh diagnostics.
 

dutumarcel

Active Member
Aug 30, 2021
16
8
Sorry - bit late to the party. My 2014 184 has done 112,000 and my DPF ash level is 44.8g.

Ref regens - when I used to do 40 miles a day iy would regen about 180 miles, Now I do shorter 5-7 mile journeys, it does it about 120 miles.

A Carista dongle and VAG DPF app help monitor this stuff without posh diagnostics.
Thanks for the reply mate, never too late! I'll probably go ahead and order that dongle. My current scanner although more capable, it's faffy to use just to see dpf info. My ash level is 15.7g at the moment, mileage 37900 so I assume it's good.
 

BillyCool

Active Member
Jan 16, 2020
694
274
Leicestershire, UK
Thanks for the reply mate, never too late! I'll probably go ahead and order that dongle. My current scanner although more capable, it's faffy to use just to see dpf info. My ash level is 15.7g at the moment, mileage 37900 so I assume it's good.
Yeah - proportionately, what you have roughly equates to a 3rd of where mine is at, so all good.

VAG DPF is really good as you can have it running live on your phone when driving (I have a cradle on my dash), so you can see real time regen info. It's well worth the money. The dongle will also talk to other apps. I also use InCarDoc Pro and that was helpful to get real time (accurate) coolant temps when my pump went stupid. The car dash display sits at 90 for anything within the roughly 80 to 95+ range so no good for diagnostics.
 
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dutumarcel

Active Member
Aug 30, 2021
16
8
Yeah - proportionately, what you have roughly equates to a 3rd of where mine is at, so all good.

VAG DPF is really good as you can have it running live on your phone when driving (I have a cradle on my dash), so you can see real time regen info. It's well worth the money. The dongle will also talk to other apps. I also use InCarDoc Pro and that was helpful to get real time (accurate) coolant temps when my pump went stupid. The car dash display sits at 90 for anything within the roughly 80 to 95+ range so no good for diagnostics.
Thanks man! That's good to know. I thought the water temp was correct in this car. In my Fiesta, when the dash said operating temp, the actual temp was about 75. Is the oil temp indicator accurate, or is it just a calculated value based on driving data?
 

BillyCool

Active Member
Jan 16, 2020
694
274
Leicestershire, UK
Thanks man! That's good to know. I thought the water temp was correct in this car. In my Fiesta, when the dash said operating temp, the actual temp was about 75. Is the oil temp indicator accurate, or is it just a calculated value based on driving data?
I'm not sure about oil temp. I think it's more accurate and `real time` though baed on what I've experienced.

With water temp, people always say "it's rock solid on 90", even though it actually constantly fluctuates (like oil temp) based on engine load. Car dashboard temp guages are set up that way so people don't freak out when they see the water temp briefly spike. :)
 

SuperV8

Active Member
May 30, 2019
1,543
685
I'm not sure about oil temp. I think it's more accurate and `real time` though baed on what I've experienced.

With water temp, people always say "it's rock solid on 90", even though it actually constantly fluctuates (like oil temp) based on engine load. Car dashboard temp guages are set up that way so people don't freak out when they see the water temp briefly spike. :)
Yes Oil Temp displays actual measured oil temps - coolant temp is pointless unless you are actually overheating! As there are oil to coolant heat exchangers I would expect both to be 'similar'
All cars are the same - even older cars like the SD1 with actual gauges when the temps get upto around 90 the gauge is not linear and much less sensitive to temp variations.
 
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