Has anyone had this done? Did it work any long term problems??

Thanks
J

Done it on my Citroen C5 but had to have the software modified too. Runs much better now.

Why would you want to go and do that ?

Mates car needs a new one, 1500 quid that’s why!

according to honest john it became an MOT failure in Jan this year (although i thought it was only the cat. conv.).

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/askhj/answer/29278/can-i-remove-my-dpf-

Many of the tuning companies offer a ‘DPF delete’ service – removes it and reprograms the ECU accordingly.

Alternatively you could just take it off yourself and clean it..

Would be interested to see what the actual test is.. I would imagine it would only fail if the warning light failed to go our or the emissions were too high as a result.. many DPF’s are hidden away behind shit-shields under the car and so it would not always be possible to confirm its physical presence on a car.

If you remove it, won’t it a) let crap into your injectors and b) cause the car to fail its MOT on emissions?

</notanexpert>

The cost of them is insane. I did one recently for a Ford Focus which cost £1000 from Ford.

Most MOT testers would have to be on it to notice a DPF delete. I know the testers at my work certainly wouldn’t notice.

Cleaning it yourself isn’t really an option, they self clean provided the car is driven correctly.

No (it’s on the exhaust side of the engine system) and no (with a well maintained, modern car it is unlikely to get close to the emission limits, especially after the ECU modification).

Yes it is, although they can sometimes be a pain to get off/on due to their location. I’ve not needed to do it myself but my neighbour has done it several times on his Peugot (approaching 300k when he finally killed it).

If you get a ‘new’ one through a dealer it may well be a returned and reconditioned (cleaned) unit anyway…

Offroading – Member
The cost of them is insane. I did one recently for a Ford Focus which cost £1000 from Ford.

Tell me about it, I just got a quote for a large van I was going to buy (6.5ton) to make it LEZ compliant £2.6k!, its that or buy a van new than 2006, it was only going to be use to drive out of London on w/e as a private vehicle, 99% of the time parked. Grrrr!

No… and no

Fair enough, then.

*goes back to computer threads*

they self clean provided the car is driven correctly

Which if you read the VW manual, means an extra 20 – 30 mins at 2000 rpm just to get it hot to regenerate in some cases and dpf VW’s are not recommended for town tootling as its not driven correctly… ….

Mine was taken off my T5 at 5k miles. Its run faultlessly for another 65k miles and passed mots like that. The software was reprogrammed, the egr valve electronically turned off and finally the ecu remapped at the same time.

Job done. No regen, O2 sensor or other fault codes. The options for removal are a replacement pipe or beat the contents out of the old one. Software will need re programming either way, just taking it off will throw fault codes I think…

HTH

The only problem is if you have too much soot on the test. Mine has virtually none without the DPF and i take it for an italian tune up before the test just to make sure.

The following is copied and pasted from a user called “jeebowhite” on fordownersclub.

1st email:

“From: dft.gsi.gov.uk
Sent: 25 February 2011 14:06
To: Jeebowhite
Subject: FW: Vehicle Roadworthiness Question regarding Diesel Particulate Filter

Dear Jeebowhite
Your email of 18 February about removing the particulate filter from a diesel car was passed to the International Vehicle Standards Division and I have been asked to reply.

Under Regulation 61A of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, it is an offence to use a car on the road that has been modified and, as a result of the modification, does not meet the emissions requirement that applied to it when new. This is likely to be the case if a diesel particulate filter is removed. A copy of Regulation 61A is attached for information.

I hope this is helpful.”

“jeebowhite” reply

“Good Afternoon and thank you for your reply. Until such a time as you are able to confirm the below information I will certainly not be taking the option of the removal.

Some companies have offered a “guarantee” that when they remove the DPF they will re-calibrate the ECU to ensure that it passes the emissions test for MOT. One specific company has offered a two year guarantee to ensure that this is the case.

If a vehicle is modified and passes the emissions test at a time of MOT, does this class as sufficient coverage to ensure that act 61A has been adhered to? And would the emissions have to meet exactly the standard as it was when it left the factory, or is a case that the vehicle must still pass the emissions, whereby as long as the vehicle does not fail the emissions test, then is this considered legal as per the quoted below?

I wonder this as I know as years go on the vehicles will lose efficiency and emissions will likely change as the vehicle and components age, and I don’t understand how the vehicle must abide to section 61A as it will age and surely will not be as efficient as the date it left the factory?

Does this mean that in fact the DPF removal service offered by some companies is in fact an illegal?

Kind Regards

Jeebowhite “

reply given back
“From: dft.gsi.gov.uk
Sent: 28 February 2011 12:40
To: Jeebowhite
Subject: RE: Vehicle Roadworthiness Question regarding Diesel Particulate Filter

Dear Jeebowhite
Thanks for your further email of 25 February about the diesel particulate filter on your car. Please see my response (below in bold italics) to your questions. I hope this is helpful.

Yours sincerely

Department for Transport

________________________________________
From: JeeboWhite
Sent: 25 February 2011 14:22
To: dft.gsi.gov.uk
Subject: RE: Vehicle Road worthiness Question regarding Diesel Particulate Filter

Good Afternoon and thank you for your reply. Until such a time as you are able to confirm the below information I will certainly not be taking the option of the removal.

Some companies have offered a “guarantee” that when they remove the DPF they will re-calibrate the ECU to ensure that it passes the emissions test for MOT. One specific company has offered a two year guarantee to ensure that this is the case.

If a vehicle is modified and passes the emissions test at a time of MOT, does this class as sufficient coverage to ensure that act 61A has been adhered to? No it does not.

And would the emissions have to meet exactly the standard as it was when it left the factory, or is a case that the vehicle must still pass the emissions, whereby as long as the vehicle does not fail the emissions test, then is this considered legal as per the quoted below? The requirement is that the vehicle must not be modified in a manner which increases its emissions beyond the emissions standard it was required to meet when new.

I wonder this as I know as years go on the vehicles will lose efficiency and emissions will likely change as the vehicle and components age, and I don’t understand how the vehicle must abide to section 61A as it will age and surely will not be as efficient as the date it left the factory? As noted above its modifications that increase emissions that are prohibited. Normal gradual deterioration would be acceptable.

Does this mean that in fact the DPF removal service offered by some companies is in fact an illegal? Yes we believe that it is.

Kind Regards

Er, they seem a bit confused.. they are stating that it is illegal to remove the DPF, but then go on to say it’s only illegal if it fails the emissions test at the time of manufacture.. so it’s not illegal to remove it as long it passes the test (which many/most do with a suitable remap).

removed it from a 306 Dturbo. Went better and never had any issues with the smoke test at MOT.

No what it means is that it is illegal if the modification makes the car dirtier than the law in place when it was manufactured even if it passes the MOT.

As someone above said though, it’s unlikely the MOT tester will go looking for absence of a DPF.

But MOT requirements are almost certainly going to be more stringent now than when it was manufactured, therefore if it passes the test now…

MOT requirements and the requirements placed on new cars are two different things.

MOT requirements allow for people like me who drive old cars that despite maintenance will have had ‘some’ degradation in emissions.

So… (made up numbers)… lets say that:
~in 2000 when my car was new the allowable particulate emissions were 10 ‘smogs’
~ when it was new my car emitted 8 ‘smogs’
~ it now emits 12 ‘smogs’
~ by 2009 the allowable particulate emissions have been reduced to 5 ‘smogs’
~ a 2009 car new emits 3 ‘smogs’
~ a 2009 car (A) with DPF emits 4 ‘smogs’
~ a 2009 car (B) without DPF emits 6 ‘smogs’
~ the current MOT allows 15 ‘smogs’

My car and car A are legal. Car B is technically illegal and should fail MOT.

The trouble the authorities (VCA) have is that it is easy to test at the MOT for gaseous emissions (that are reduced by the catalyst), but very difficult (expensive) to test for particulates. DPFs only filter out the particulates, that are not measured in the MOT. They are measured though during the manufacturers certification testing (which is witnessed by the VCA). The Cert testing happens with the car aged to circa 90k miles, so the deterioration is already taken into account.

It is illegal to modify your car by removing the DPF, but the likelihood of getting caught is tiny.

Hi there,
I’ve been involved with a few blocked or fault code showing dpf’s. Some times you can force a regen via the obd, or in more severe cases where the main dealer says they need to replace ( at great cost) the dpf, we have removed cleaned and refitted the filter with good results.

The treatment we use is by forte but there others and one of the cheapest is cillit bang in the green bottle!! just soak the removed dpf, then was out with hot water( pressure washer) it’s worked on a volve D5, a mazda 3 and a couple others I can’t remember.

Worh a try before throwing 1500 quid away!

Ade

If you remove it, won’t it a) let crap into your injectors and b) cause the car to fail its MOT on emissions?

No but it will pump out lots of nasty damaging particles to hurt people’s lungs (and your own).

If you remove the EGR you will produce a lot more irritant nasty chemicals too to knacker our air quality. The same stuff you also breathe.

my car doesn’t have one, should I feel terrible about that?

Look inside your heart, the answer is there 🙂

No answer in there, just loads of diesel particles.

You say MOTs are more stringent now, I asked the garage to give their opinion on the cOndition of my front disks as there’s surface rust on the centre section and the vents are full of rust. They said MOT checks have slackened an that unless it’s likely to fracture under heavy braking there would be no cause to fail.

Can’t find my before and after smoke test readings but think a lot depends on the car and then reprogramming the ECU

As molgrips points out, its a difficult one. Reading around the VWT5 forum, gummed up egr valves have choked engine intake manifolds with gummy deposits decreasing efficiency and increasing consumption, also causing turbo failure, both costing hundreds to correct.

A well remapped engine will pass all the smoke tests and will be more efficient too….

@taff: 306 dturbo doesnt have a DPF.

Also the law about removing cats etc changed for cars after a certain age.

eg when you replace a cat on a car made past a certain date you have to have a type approved one which costs a few £ more.

After, I think, 2001 you cannot remove a catalytic converter as it will fail the mot. But there is no proper emissions test for diesels made before 2004. So you can technically bash the crap out of the insides of your 2001-2004 diesel and as long as there is not plumes of smoke out the back you will probably get away with it. After 2004 diesels have tougher emissions tests.

With regards to DPFs and original emissions tests your cars road fund licence is based on emissions tests done for that car and engine type by the manufacturer. If you alter that to produce more emissions then your car no longer qualifies for that licence bracket.

All this DPF stuff sucks and I am glad I don’t have one but I do wish they would clamp down on people putting shitty remaps on diesels that just turn out loads of black soot.

i was considering getting mine removed (C30). Im at 73K with no problems….so far. Change interval is 75K

Its my 2nd ever diesel, first with a dpf, they forgot to mention it in the sales pitch.

I know of a garage who will remove it and remap ecu. The independent i use for repairs recommend taking it out and cleaning it first, and advise “giving it some welly regularly”. Theres a 3mile average speed section on my way to work, i often do 3rd gear at 50mph in that.

@jonk

take it for an italian tune up before the test just to make sure

LOL

back box fell off my HDI estate at the weekend as the rear flange on the centre section rotted off. Not had a chance to fix it yet but it’s not that loud as the estate overhang encloses it and you can’t tell from the outside but it certainly makes the engine rev more freely. With the back box on it was like hitting a brick wall as soon as you got to 4k rpm. Now it flies all the way up to the red line – need to be careful doing that though on a diesel 😳

I can only imagine decatting the HDI must have a similar result.

i asked one of the de-dpf companies about how it worked with the new mot. they remove the internals so that it looks ok. it is then expected to pass the mot test. My diesel would go from 170bhp to ~210.

Can someone explain how removing the DPF on VAG diesel units would make a visible difference as all I have seen under hard acceleration belch out black clouds of soot!!

The DPF was part of the reason I’m buying a 9 month old Euro 4 Navara, rather than a new Euro 5.

Oh, that and the fact they removed the electric operation of the passenger seat, the sunroof and the rear cup holders (very important for holding my bottle of vinegar)!