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Advice & Tips - What is a DPF?

This is the term used for Diesel Particulate Filter commonly found on the majority of modern diesel cars.

Diesel engines as a result of the combustion process produce solids of carbon also referred to as particulates.

When the engine is running these solids are expelled into the exhaust system and would be pushed out into the atmosphere if it wasn’t for the DPF.

Because of the ever tightening emission laws that have been introduced, more ways have had to be found to enable the reduction of these particles.

Redeveloping the engines and fuel system to make them more efficient has helped tremendously, even then particles are still produced, so as much of these as possible have to be collected and prevented from leaving the exhaust system.

Hence the design and fitment of the DPF combined with the driving and regeneration cycles that have been introduced into the engine management system to assist with their collection and removal.

The system tends to work well generally, but in certain circumstances such as when the vehicle is used for short journeys, and frequent stop starts, this can overwork the DPF to the point that the DPF can struggle to keep itself clean and eventually may lead to it clogging up.

This could cause the engine computer to put an engine management light on and possibly put the vehicle into a reduced power mode.

A visit to the workshop for a forced DPF regeneration and maybe even a very expensive DPF replacement may be required.

You could help reduce this happening by using the best quality branded fuel that you can afford, and taking it on a longer run at a higher road speed than you would do normally.

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