Evening all

My 08 1.6 TDCi Focus has gone into limp mode and Forscan has given me the following fault readings which indicate a problem with the DPF.

PCM DTC P2458-21 Diesel Particulate Filter Regeneration Duration
PCM DTC P242F-E1 Diesel Particulate Filter Restriction – Ash Accumulation

There were these two as well:

EPS DTC U1900-20 Missing Message for Engine Speed
FACM DTC P2409-60 Fuel Cap Sensor/Switch Circuit Range or Performance

I found a company called Terraclean who offer a service where they clean and make lovely again your DPF.

Has anyone on here had any experience of using this service?

3rd hand reviews I’ve heard suggest it’s snake oil, my thoughts are if it was any good it would be well known to be and offered by dealers/ garages etc. Dpf is easy to clog, a forced regent might fix it or a good thrash on the motorway, but if it’s already in limp mode it might be a bit late. He other issues I’m not sure about.

I had it done just to see what difference it made and to see if it could sort out a rough idle. It did but only after it still had a weird lump about 10 minutes from cold that went suddenly one day after stalling completely. Overall the engine ran smoother and quieter – noticeably so.

Basically the fuel line is removed and replaced with a set up that contains a solvent that will then be blasted over the back of your valves and into the combustion chmaber for about 15 – 20 minutes. If your engine is old or your rings are coked to shit it could cause further problems. BMW Austrailia has a service bulletin highlighting the issue which is basically rough idle, surging or flat spots etc. (I have a copy if you can’t find it through Googling) and excessive coking and build up from the PCV. The coking can be bad on many direct injection engines so I assume it’s a sort of fix, though as I understand it a walnut blast is a better fix for that issue.

Whether or not a Terraclean is the correct treatment for the issues you’re having is a decision I would entrust to a good mechanic.

Here’s the symptoms taken from that MINI service bulletin to give you an idea of what that sort of service will sort. Bear in mind the bulletin is for petrol engines…

Deposits found in the injection and induction system may cause the vehicle to experience a variety of drivability complaints, eventually leading to the Service Engine Soon lamp to be illuminated. Some of the possibilities are listed below.

Fuel Injectors

Deposits at the fuel injector’s tip can impact fuel flow, disturbing the air/fuel mixture ratio.
Symptoms are the following: Hesitation or stumble during acceleration, or even loss of power; poor fuel efficiency; increased emissions of HC and CO; and “Service Engine Soon” lamp illumination due to misfire faults, or lean mixture adaptations.
Intake Valves
Deposits at the valves and on the intake manifold ports can absorb fuel during the warm-up phase, leaning out the air/fuel mixture ratio. Carbon buildup may disturb the mixture flow at low throttle conditions and/or idle speeds.
Symptoms are the following: Poor drivability; loss of power; unstable and/or rough idle; increased emissions of HC, CO and NOx; and “Service Engine Soon” lamp illumination due to intermittent misfire faults.

Combustion Chamber

Combustion Chamber Deposit Interference (CCDI) occurs when there is a contact between carbon deposits on the piston crown and the cylinder head. The noise can be confused or misdiagnosed as a ping, knock, or other noises that could indicate a mechanical failure. CCDI occurs first as a cold start noise that can fade as the engine warms to operating temperature. The noise will reoccur at the next cold start. As deposits build, there is an increase in compression temperature that may cause pre-ignition detonations.

Symptoms are the following: Knocking; pinging; run-on; poor acceleration; octane requirement increase; increased emissions of NOx; and engine idle speed surges.

link

link

He knows what it is as he has the exact same link in his own post.

🙂

NO

NO

NO

and

NO!

Do the Following:

1) Go to a decent fuel station (shell, BP etc) and put in a full tank of the best fuel they sell (premium/sport/fast or whatever it’s called)

2) Drive you car properly. No mincing around, spend half an hour at high speed on the mway to warm it all up, then find a nice A road, somewhere you can give it some stick

3) Then back on the motorway, say at 65mph on the inside lane for another 20 mins, with the steadiest throttle input you can manage (no sudden throttle openings)

4) Finally, a short blast again, to the rev limiter, in every gear you’ve got several times (speed limits/traffic and sense permitting…)

Job done.

I thought exactly the same, but will that work if it’s already in limp mode?

An Italian tune-up…!

Edit : Thought that didn’t fix my problem.

1) Go to a decent fuel station (shell, BP etc) and put in a full tank of the best fuel they sell (premium/sport/fast or whatever it’s called)

2) Drive you car properly. No mincing around, spend half an hour at high speed on the mway to warm it all up, then find a nice A road, somewhere you can give it some stick

3) Then back on the motorway, say at 65mph on the inside lane for another 20 mins, with the steadiest throttle input you can manage (no sudden throttle openings)

4) Finally, a short blast again, to the rev limiter, in every gear you’ve got several times (speed limits/traffic and sense permitting…)

i know your background but still if the cars in limp mode this wont work.

im still totally on the fence regarding terraclean however my tale is a work colleague has used this terraclean on a big olde beamer with a clogged DPF that wouldnt Regen – he reset the codes and then he tried maxtorques post to the letter and it had zero effect other than putting it back in limp mode pretty quickly. how ever he had it terracleaned by a mate , had the codes reset- then refollowed the above instructions with much more effect , it regened this time and stank to high heaven by all accounts.

took him 6 months of dicking about to get a solution that wasnt replacing the DPF at great cost.

YMMV