At their core, Diesel Particulate Filters (DPF) are a good idea. These cylinder-like, exhaust system devices capture the diesel’s harmful soot particles, then periodically burns them off in a high-temperature combustion process called, regeneration. If a DPF fails to regenerate (an automatic operation), it will eventually become clogged and require immediate attention.
Read: Cleaning DPF Filter with Liqui-Moly DPF Anti-Clog
A typical cause of a clogged DPF, is not giving your diesel an 80km/h-plus highway stint at least once a fortnight. Another common cause is any one of a myriad unrelated induction issues that commonly occur. Due to the general lack of diagnosis capability of dealership service departments, combined with a lack of time allocated to drilling down to a problem’s root cause, the solution for many dealership service departments, is to simply replace a clogged DPF – which can cost up to $14,000, each! Considering DPF’s are designed to last the life of the vehicle, early replacement could simply be treating the symptom of an underlying problem, rather than rectifying the actual cause. Without addressing the root cause, you could well be up for yet another DPF in the not too distant future. Talk about suffering a DPF near death experience. A preferable option is to seek the advice of an experienced diesel expert to diagnose the actual problem – check the EuroMechanica endorsed workshop locator to find the nearest one to you. In many cases, Liqui-Moly’s specialised DPF cleaners are able to resurrect clogged filters. And if your diesel vehicle does actually require a brand new DPF, there are cost effective alternatives to the prohibitively-expensive factory/dealer offering.