Category Archives: Daily Blog

DPF & Terraclean Daily Blog Page

DPF Cleaning

We are DPF Specialists, and use 3 different methods for clearing your Dpf.
Every DPF issue is different and in 80% of cases the Dpf doesn’t require cleaning even when the faults may lead you to believe it does, we will assess the best and most cost effective method to clear you Dpf and also assess the reason you have having a problem this is a vital part to prevent it from happening again.
  • Leading Dpf Specialist
  • No Hard Sales Of Services Not Required
  • DPF On Vehicle Soot Cleaning
  • DPF Off Vehicle Ash & Soot Cleaning
  • DPF Regeneration
  • Mobile Service

Call Bernie on: 07825 599 348

Terraclean

TerraClean

A1 Terraclean
Mobile Terraclean Service
North East 07825 599 348

Terraclean is a Decarbonisation process administered via your fuel system this enables the clean to reach more places including the injection system.

It restores injector atomisation and remove’s tars and lacquers that build up inside which improves injector response times and fuel vaporisation for a cleaner more complete burn during combustion.

  • Restores Lost Economy
  • Restores Lost Performance
  • Reduces Emissions

Prices: Up to 2 litre £110 / Larger than 2 Litre £130

Testimonials

 

DPF Regeneration

DPF regeneration normally takes place automatically, but sometimes for various reasons this may fail to take place leading to the DPF blocking and illuminating a warning light on the dashboard.

  • We are able to carry out forced regeneration’s with our advanced Diagnostics.
  • There is always another reason for Regeneration failure we are able to carry out assessments to identify the causes.
  • Severely blocked Diesel particulate filters are not able to regenerate we also carry equipment to clean them while not having to remove them from the vehicle.
  • We operate a mobile service at a location to suit you.

Call Bernie on: 07825 599 348

2014 Nissan Juke Blocked Dpf in Darlington

Today’s first Job was to Diagnose a Dpf issue on a Nissan Juke, It had been to another garage for repair and they had tried to clean the Dpf with 3 bottles of Dpf cleaner supplied by a well known motor factors but failed to clear the blockage the customer was told the dpf will need to be removed to be cleaned as they couldn’t clear it with the product supplied to them, the customer decided to book with us instead as we specialize in this type of work.

We confirmed the dpf was in fact blocked and carried out a Terraclean Dpf clean which reduced the soot content enough that we were able to test and carry out a regeneration which was successful.

2014 Ford Transit DPF

I was booked to clean a blocked Transit DPF in Stockton-on-Tees because the customer was told the DPF was blocked by another garage & required cleaning.

Diagnosis

I always start with a fault code scan and I have to bear in mind some fault codes may not be present as they have often been deleted beforehand which isn’t a good idea if you don’t understand what has caused them.

I was presented with the following codes:

P2033 – Exhaust Gas Temperature Sensor Circuit High Bank 1 Sensor 2
P246C – Particulate Filter Restriction – Forced Limited Power (Bank 1)
P2463 – Particulate Filter Restriction – Soot Accumulation (Bank 1)

I then view actual live data to establish the calculated soot level, and also measure the exhaust differential pressure so I can decide if the DPF does require cleaning, in this case it could be cleared with a regeneration, the temperature sensor fault is however preventing a regeneration taking place, many people would just replace the sensor (this would have wasted about £200), I went further to establish if the error is the sensor itself or the wiring that its connected to, I first verified the ecu wasn’t receiving any data from the sensor by monitoring live data on the computer with the engine running and compare the temperature of the other 2 sensors and confirmed it wasn’t seeing any data, and to test the wiring I used a sensor simulator which confirmed it still didn’t see any data, I then tested the wiring further down the harness and found continuity to the ecu, so the fault had to be in the harness plug there was no visual sign of a break so I gently pulled on the wires in the back of the plug the signal wire broke free as it was only the insulation that was intact the copper wire inside had broken, I carried out a repair on the wire and retested to confirm the fix.

The moral of this story is that you need to understand the system to be able to correctly assess the problem, before you can fix it, in this case a clean wasn’t required despite another garage saying it did and it wouldn’t have solved the issue.

Nissan Juke Blocked Dpf

This car had been to other garages before me and had £600 spent on it and no further forward, in fact the car was losing more power every day.

My Diagnosis

Initially I scanned for faults and found a fault for differential pressure sensor which is what monitors the dpf pressure and calculates the soot content. so I checked the pressure and found it to be 960 mbar at idle which is severely blocked, I preceded with a Terraclean Dpf clean and afterwards the back pressure was 60 mbar at idle my eventual target is below 10 mbar, my next step was to establish the reason the dpf became blocked, I then identified poor boost performance from the turbo which one garage had told the owner it needed replacing, so I set about with further tests to confirm this but I identified a blocked vacuum pipe which was stopping the turbo being activated.

The Repair to original cause

I cleared the vacuum blockage and normal service resumed, I then drove the car and the car did a successful regeneration with no further issues. If I had been contacted when the problem first started this would have been a very inexpensive repair

Mobile TerraClean & DPF Cleaning North East 07825 599 348

Blocked DPF 2011 Skoda Octavia – Middlesbrough

Saturday 16/03/2019

Faults Stored on Engine Control Unit:

P0237 – Boost Pressure Sensor Signal Too Low

P2463 – Diesel Particulate Filter Partially Clogged

I was booked to clean the dpf on this vehicle, I always carry out my own Diagnostics which involves more than just reading the fault codes these are only meant to give you a starting point where to start looking for a problem.

The DPF is always the victim so it is important to find the cause first as cleaning alone doesn’t solve the problem, in this case the owner bought the car with the boost issue but no dpf issue at the time, the garage that sold him the car said they would fix the problem and they replaced the Map sensor & turbo vacuum transducer (N75 Valve) which didn’t solve the problem the owner continued to use the car unaware that the DPF can not regenerate with this issue which led to the DPF becoming blocked, the garage wrongly informed the owner that the dpf issue needs to be fixed before they can fix the boost issue that they had so far failed to fix.

My diagnosis involved testing the Map sensor circuit as the ecu wasn’t being provided with the manifold pressure signal so the car was driving in super limp mode, in my tests I established there was no 5v reference voltage going to the sensor so I tested this by providing a 5v feed to the sensor which confirmed the sensor was ok, I then Cleaned the dpf as it was to blocked now to carry out a Forged regeneration, I then carried out a forced regeneration with my Professional diagnostics equipment the car is now fixed and fault free.

The owner had taken the car to several so called specialists with diagnostic tools well capable of doing the work but what they lacked was expertise to use the equipment to find and fix the real problems.

Kia Sportage – P2002 – Diesel Particulate Filter Efficiency Below Threshold

Thursday 14th March 2019

P2002 is just one example of one of the many DPF fault codes, the code is set by the engine management when it sees something unexpected, but it doesn’t offer any information as to what the actual cause was, at this point many garages will make assumptions based either on the fault code description, or information they find on forums, the problem with this is the fault code can be generated for many different reasons, this will invalidate the majority of the solutions offered on forums.

Today I was booked to fix this problem on a Kia Sportage it had been to an independent garage where it was fitted with a new sensor but this didn’t solve the issue so the garage refereed the car to the local Kia Main Dealer who did correctly diagnose the problem as blocked pipework but didn’t have a solution they could offer apart from replacing the DPF the dealer then recommended Terraclean as they knew we have a solution for this problem, I carried out my tests to confirm the fault and there was indeed a restriction in the pipe work which I cleaned and retested with flow test and driven test to confirm 100% fix.

2012 Peugeot Partner Van with a blocked DPF and in Limp Mode

Fri 19th Jan 2018

A Company in Consett with a van off the road with DPF problems contacted me through a recommendation from a garage familiar with my work.

The Company had been given a quote of £1400.00 to rectify the problem with a replacement DPF, they didn’t want to invest this much money in a repair on a near end of service van.

First of all, I carried out a pressure test which confirmed the filter was blocked and also scanned the following faults:

  • P1490 Particle Filter. Detected Overloaded
  • P242f Particle Filter. Detected Clogged
  • P1435 Multiplexed additive pump. Can network fault or Pump fault
  • P1434 Multiplexed additive pump. Can network fault or Pump fault

The soot buildup was too excessive to allow a forced Regeneration.

I used the Terraclean DPF Cleaning System to remove the soot then tested the exhaust pressure to confirm the filter was clear.

Afterwards I did a road test to confirm the filter was clear and able to regenerate as normal.

To deal with the Additive fault I had to carry out tests on the system and found a configuration problem.

Cost of Repair and Diagnostics and reconfiguration £280.00 a saving of £1120.00 and peace of mind that the problem has been rectified properly.

Engine Diagnostics

TerraClean Peugeot 207 1.6 Petrol – Stockton-On -Tees

Sat 27th Jan 2018

Before the Terraclean Engine service the customer commented the car is running fine, but on occasion, it would sometimes produce a small amount of white smoke when the engine had warmed up.

First we checked the oil and coolant levels and also scanned the engine management for fault codes, but revealed nothing.

During the Terraclean service we monitored the engine with live data with our diagnostics equipment, and observed an occasional random misfire on cylinder 2 which seemed relevant and can be caused by several things, after the service the misfire didn’t occur again, we advised it would be a good idea to renew the spark plugs and change the air filter

Mobile DPF Cleaning Ltd

2008 Mondeo 2.0 TDCI DPF Problems

Sat 27th Jan 2018

A customer from Stockton-On Tees that had previously used our services booked with us again after we had correctly diagnosed and repaired a simple problem with a turbocharger on his Previous car.

The customers new car had just developed a fault and illuminated the engine management light, another garage had scanned the engine for faults and revealed a fault for the DPF P2002 – DPF Efficiency, this code doesn’t identify the actual problem it simply means the engine management saw data that it doesn’t expect to see so the cause can be one of many things, in this case it was a perished hose causing a lower than expected pressure reading.

I replaced the hose then the customer took advantage of a Terraclean service at the same time as this saved him the cost of my call out and diagnostics so made the repair very economical and he will now benefit from improved fuel economy.

Sat 27th Jan 2018

A customer from Stockton-On Tees that had previously used our services booked with us again after we had correctly diagnosed and repaired a simple problem with a turbocharger on his Previous car.

The customers new car had just developed a fault and illuminated the engine management light, another garage had scanned the engine for faults and revealed a fault for the DPF P2002 – DPF Efficiency, this code doesn’t identify the actual problem it simply means the engine management saw data that it doesn’t expect to see so the cause can be one of many things, in this case it was a perished hose causing a lower than expected pressure reading.

I replaced the hose then the customer took advantage of a Terraclean service at the same time as this saved him the cost of my call out and diagnostics so made the repair very economical and he will now benefit from improved fuel economy.

TerraClean

2011 Nissan Qashqai DPF Light & Engine Management Light

25 Feb 2018

A very big problem in the motor trade is misdiagnosis leading to wasted money and failed repairs.

Today we had an example where the customer wanted to book us to do a DPF clean, the problem is until we have done our diagnostics which involves more than merely reading fault codes.

Once I had read the fault codes which included an indication of a blocked DPF but further testing showed this wasn’t the case, there was also a fault for an exhaust temperature sensor so infact this was the fault that caused a failed regeneration causing the other faults, in this case a clean would have been a wasted expense which is why so many fail to cure the problem.

Mobile DPF Cleaning & Diagnostics

2009 Audi A3 DPF Problem with Flashing Glow Light and EML in Darlington

If you think the services of a professional is expensive wait until you see how much an amateur costs!

March 23rd, 2018

This is a story that is typical in my days work, the customer had taken his car to a garage to solve an issue with his DPF last year and was charged £400 for 5 hours Diagnostics by a garage that doesn’t understand how the system works, which ended up with the garage not finding the fault the customer was advised to put an additive in the tank to assist regeneration which is like taking a painkiller, it doesn’t fix the fault but only relieves the symptom temporarily.

It took me 10 mins to find and fix the problem (a faulty sensor) the DPF had only a partitial blockage so we took the car on a road test during which the Regeneration took place naturally demonstrating that the car is now fixed and able to operate normally, the owner had been driving in Limp home mode for so long he didn’t even realise it was in reduced performance mode.

Simply Diagnostics Test Not Guess

Ford – Peugeot – Citroen – DPF Vaporiser Valve

We are very experienced in diagnosing and fixing the problems with cars and vans from:

Ford  Peugeot & Citroen

A common issue with these is failure of the Exhaust fuel Vaporizer causing Regeneration failure these are an expensive part and very difficult to access & remove.

We have extensive experience in diagnosing and repairing these we have invested in solutions that will save you on costly replacement, previously the solution was replacement of both the DPF and the Vaporizer which is very costly we can save you up 75% on the cost of replacement and put you back on the road much more quickly.

Common DPF Fault Codes:

P244B Diesel Particulate Filter Differential Pressure Too High

P246C Diesel Particulate Filter Restriction – Forced Limited Power

P24A4 Diesel Particulate Filter Restriction – Soot Accumulation Too High (Bank 1)

P2463 Diesel Particulate Filter – Soot Accumulation

P246B Vehicle Conditions Incorrect For Diesel Particulate Filter Regeneration

P244C Catalyst Temperature Too Low During Regeneration,Bank 1

these fault codes are a record of an a event they are not a full diagnosis, they do not state what caused the event or confirm the actual state of the DPF, which is why so many garages without the proper training and equipment misdiagnose dpf issues, and cost the customer dearly with repairs and replacements 90% of dpf cleans and replacement carried out were not actually required.

If your garage plugs a computer in to read the codes and tells you it needs a new DPF without further testing it is highly likely that they are wrong and you will be in for a large bill or a cleaning service that isn’t required also without resolving the problem and sometimes making it worse, a large percentage of our customers have been elsewhere first only to be met by failure.

DPF Cleaning

When is a DPF Problem not a DPF Fault?

Mercedes Sprinter

14/11/2018

Today I was called to look at a 2012 Mercedes Sprinter that had no power, it had previously been to a garage with a dpf issue which the owner believed they had cleaned, but in fact it had been gutted and mapped out, the problem apart from being illegal now is the van still had no power, the garage had only diagnosed and targeted the symptom of the problem which was low boost due to a vacuum transducer going faulty and venting the vacuum that controlled the turbo wastegate which resulted in the wastegate not closing so not able to produce any boost pressure in the intake, this caused the engine to run very rich and caused regenerations to fail, so what should have been a cheap fix was actually an incorrect expensive non fix for the owner, but people still look for the cheapest quote to fix a vehicle and end up paying a lot more,

If you think a good Technician is expensive wait till you hire a bad Mechanic.