Diesel cars shouldn't do short journeys….

Got a new 1.6Tdi Octavia a month ago.

Once or twice a week after a short journey, say 5-8 miles, when we get stop the fan is on full belt trying to cool the engine, and there is a strong smell of something being very hot under the bonnet.

MrsMC queried this with the dealership, and been told that the engine is tuned for low emmissions and long journeys, and shouldn’t do too many short journeys, which is why it does this. When it happens we need to head off and “blast a couple of junctions on the motorway” to get the engine running properly.

MrsMC is less than happy at what she felt was a patronising reply, so God help them when and if the manager calls her back as she requested. I’m just thinking they were bullshitting her, I’ve driven lots of cars for work over the recent years and never had this sort of issue.

The car will do 12-15000 miles a year of mixed driving. If it can’t cope with shorter journeys like commutes to work, then either they should have queried the lower mileage when we set up the finance package and discussed it with them, or it’s unfit for purpose.

Alternatively, it’s just been running in (now done 1000 miles in it’s first month) or it’s got a problem that does need looking at.

What are the wise forums thoughts before MrsMC goes for their jugular?

If it was only happening occassionally, I’d say it was the DPF doing a re-cycle – your issue sounds like it’s happening too often for that though

Yup short journeys is rubbish for cars not just diesels.

That said it’s rare that our diesels do this on a short journey.

then either they should have queried the lower mileage

But you’re doing the average mileage per year. I really don’t get this as it could mean you’re doing a 2 or 3 big journeys per week.

New diesels with particulate filters don’t like lots of short journeys as the DPF will clog, they need longer runs to get to full temperature and clear. Sounds like your mixed driving should do this ok – it’s only a permanent life of short runs that could be a problem.

A few Years ago DPF would regenerate when approaching loaded or blocked. But the euro 5/6 now will regenerate as often as the appropriate factors are attained I.e engine temp/fuel level driving style etc.
It sounds to me your just happening to stop as the DPF is mid regeneration and it’s something you would miss when driving but if it’s mid generation you will hear the fans and smell the particulates being burned off due the the very high temp the exhaust has to get to do its job.
To be honest it’s a very common question, and I think it was just explained to your mrs in a poor way.

Dealers should now be trained to understand your likely usage cycle before selling you a diesel, and making very clear that the type of driving you are describing is unsuited to a diesel. As already stated sounds like DPF cycle – the “hot” smell is very noticeable and distinctive. Solution is as they describe – sustained higher speed driving (motorway speeds) allows DPF to get to high enough temperature for a long regeneration cycle. As already said, sounds like they could have made a better effort explaining it…
If it’s a significant issue and is likely to be ongoing “problem” I’d have a word with them about their sales process and consider asking for swap to petrol – they should have checked your usage before ever selling you the car.

This from Volvo website:

Diesel cars are equipped with a particle filter, which results in more efficient emission control.
The particles in the exhaust gases are collected in the filter during normal driving. So-called “regeneration” is started in order to burn away the particles and empty the filter. This requires the engine to have reached normal operating temperature.

Filter regeneration takes place automatically and normally takes 10-20 minutes. It may take a little longer at a low average speed. Fuel consumption may increase slightly during regeneration.
Regeneration in cold weather
If the car is frequently driven short distances in cold weather then the engine does not reach normal operating temperature. This means that regeneration of the diesel particle filter does not take place and the filter is not emptied.

When the filter has become approximately 80% full of particles, a yellow warning triangle is shown in the combined instrument panel, and the message Soot filter full See manual is shown in the information display.

Start regeneration of the filter by driving the car until the engine reaches normal operating temperature, preferably on a main road or motorway. The car should then be driven for approximately 20 minutes more.

NOTE
The following may arise during regeneration:

a smaller reduction of engine power may be noticed temporarily
fuel consumption may increase temporarily
a smell of burning may arise.

If any of you would like a Customer Service role at the local Skoda garage, i will provide you with a recommendation!

Thanks for clarifying that, it makes sense to me now.

The fan also runs in conjunction with the air conditioning being on.

My Golf with the 1.6 does it all the time, you soon get used to it.

Damn my next car will be petrol diesel is getting overly engineered.

I have a 2010 golf 1.6tdi that does this, like you I noticed the smell, higher idle rev’s etc..
I bought the car 2nd hand in 2013 and within 4 months of owning it had to spend £400 getting a independent vag garage to chemically clean dpf and update software. I know have to give it a long run every week or so.
Kind of makes buying a small diesel economical car really uneconomical.

The Volvo discription is very good.
All sales staff have been warned and explained about evaluating the customers needs/driving usage. But in reality if the customer wants a diesel then the sales won’t say anything incase the customer walks and most sales staff attitude is once it’s drove out of the dealership it’s after service problem to deal with.

The VAG ECU uses the fan as a way to let you know it NEEDS to regen.
If when you turn the engine off the fan is running at high speed and LOUD – go back out and do the regen cycle as per the handbook.
It does actually tell you that IN the handbook if you read it.

A few Years ago DPF would regenerate when approaching loaded or blocked. But the euro 5/6 now will regenerate as often as the appropriate factors are attained I.e engine temp/fuel level driving style etc.

This. Given the need for DPFs to meet current regs, it makes more sense for them to start a regen whenever they can rather than wait and get clogged up.

I reduced the regen frequency on my Astra by not using too high a gear, only use third in a thirty limit for instance. Better that than watching the instantaneous fuel consumption drop from 50 to 30 for a while every few days.

The VAG ECU uses the fan as a way to let you know it NEEDS to regen.

That’s bizarre. Was there no room for a little light on the dash?

Yup. Just change a bit later to get the revs up a bit.

I keep my re-gens down by occasionally doing 100mph, erm on the autobahns

Also I use Sport mode on the auto box and it runs higher revs before changing up. Only smelt my Navara doing it once so far

Cougar – Moderator

That’s bizarre. Was there no room for a little light on the dash?

Couldn’t Say Cougar – but then think about how many ignore lights..

Getting out and hearing the fan roaring is a bit harder to ignore.
My A3 had a fail because on that a few years back – had an argument with the tester over it until he eventually agreed to read the handbook.

My mate just got a 1 year old Superb. The dealer told him that there is some kind of dpf regeneration that happens with the engine off, with a fan blowing air into the dpf and burning fuel. Never heard of that before.

hammyuk – Member

The VAG ECU uses the fan as a way to let you know it NEEDS to regen.
If when you turn the engine off the fan is running at high speed and LOUD – go back out and do the regen cycle as per the handbook.
It does actually tell you that IN the handbook if you read it.

How many people actually read the handbook? OK I do as I’m a sad engineering type 😳

To me, it’s pretty simple, they’ve sold you a car that’s not fit for purpose. If the car isn’t capable of fulfilling normal everyday tasks, they need to tell you up front. If they fail to do so, then they should be giving a full refund and apology.

I appreciate it’s hard to make a euro 6 diesel. That’s not an excuse, if you can only make the car work by crippling it, I suppose that’s just how it is but you need to tell people that you’ve crippled it. This is a manufacturer issue not a driver issue.

My Octavia was doing it when I first got it, sometimes once a week. A few spirited drives and no problems since. I read on Briskoda that the car won’t start a DPF cycle until the engine is warmed up and dong around 2000rpm, which if you have an automatic you need to drop a a gear or two manually as they are programmed to get into the highest gear asap. Sport mode as suggested above would help. A good Italian tune up works wonders.

Should have bought a VW. They’re all E6 compliant and guaranteed to meet all future compliance levels with a little software update…:-D

The Volkswagen Group has confirmed vehicles fitted with Euro 5 and Euro 6 EA288 engines are not affected by the ongoing diesel scandal.

😆

OTOH, I could sell you a lovely euro 3 mondeo that’s absolutely fine for short journeys, but not so good for long distance because it can only go about 200 miles before a bit falls off.

North wind, that’s just your Mondeo. Mine was and still is the best car I’ve had.

It is fit for purpose as long as you follow the instructions.

molgrips – Member

It is fit for purpose as long as you follow the instructions.

No it isn’t. It’s a car, its purpose is to drive you places. Suddenly we have cars that think your job is to drive it places. Instructions or not, if a car can’t do regular short journeys it’s worthless to a great many people. This isn’t abnormal usage, it’s just car stuff

It’s like a TV that you can’t just watch BBC on, every 25 minutes you have to switch to Gay Rabbit for a bit.

Fairly sure theres quite a few on here that would no problem doing that though…..

Ahh – interesting about the revs, glad I popped back. We have the DSG autobox and it changes up really early for economy, but obviously using Sport mode may keep the revs higher and reduce the issue.

It’s not just the DPF filter that’s affected by regular short runs; being an inherently lazy git, and having a shonky knee, I started driving to work, which is about a mile away. Yes, I know, bloody daft, really. Anyway, the car, a 51 Octavia, started to really suffer from the limp-mode syndrome, because the turbo just wasn’t getting hot enough for soot to burn off, clogging the waste-gate. Stopped being lazy, and walking to work, and the car runs so much better now.

The wife trundles to work in out XC60 diesel. Volvo sold probably a handful of petrols, so diesel was what we bought. All it needs is a regular Italian tune up , which can scare many a motorist in front of………. er now behind us. We did 14k miles this year and currently been fine in this theory and practice and also the V50 diesel before that was fine.

Instructions or not, if a car can’t do regular short journeys it’s worthless to a great many people.

It’s perfectly fit for purpose just not all purposes i.e. only short journeys. Should have bought a petrol.

I bought my first diesel in 23 years of driving recently, by far the best option is to schedule in a fortnightly twenty minute motorway blast with the engine at 2,500 rpm or above.

That’ll clear the DPF at the required temperature.

Diesel…it’s a false economy.

Higher revs, and the occasional thrash. No problems with mine and my commute is 8 miles.

Just a thought… maybe it’s a stealth attempt by a secret subversive environmental organisation to force everyone to get walking or cycling on short journeys: Engineer the cars to be useless for journeys of say less than 6 miles so everyone ends up driving…

I’m off now to cycle to work with my (recycled) tin foil helmet on.