Hyundai i30 GDI Turbo petrol - Petrol particulate filters

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Wed 27 Nov 2019 20:46
Hyundai i30 GDI Turbo petrol - Petrol particulate filters - Galad

I traded in my Golf TDI in June this year for a new Hyundai i30 1.4T GDI (petrol) as my daily commute has drastically reduced to just 3 miles in each direction with a longer run of 15-20 miles at weekends. With just 3k on the clock a warning light popped up on the dash yesterday which the handbook says concerns the build up of soot in the petrol particulate filter. I really had to dig deep into the handbook (over 500 pages!) to find the meaning of this and given the importance of the issue I would have expected a more explicit warning at the front. I'm quite sure that many other owners much less informed than me wouldn't know what to do.The dealer never mentioned the implications of driving styles to me. Anyway, the handbook advice is to drive the car for 30 minutes at 50mph in 3rd gear above 1,500 revs. The exhaust gases need to be hot enough to deal effectively with the soot. I promptly hit the motorway and after 30 minutes, to my relief, the warning light eventually went out.

I’ve been using regular petrol (not supermarket) and I’m now going to switch to BP Ultimate with a weekly Italian tune-up on the motorway to keep the filter clear. In the circumstances, it seems to contradict the fuel saving devices fitted to the car.

I appreciate that the technology is still quite new but can anyone advise if there are likely to similar issues to DPFs in terms of the impact of failed regenerations as I intend t keep the car for at least 7 years? I certainly wasn’t expecting a new petrol engine to have particulate filter issues especially for a car that’s just 7 months old with only3k miles. It also begs the question why modern diesels aren't fitted with similar warning lights to alert the driver that regeneration is imminent/required and not to switch off the engine?

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Sun 16 May 2021 20:02
Hyundai i30 GDI Turbo petrol - Petrol particulate filters - Tristan Baker
I note no one replied to this. I bought my i30 1 Turbo 12 months ago and have had the DPF warning light on 3 times and don’t have 6,000 miles on the clock yet. Whenever I try to regenerate it doesn’t work and have no cause to go on the motorway, or time. I have however driven 50 miles today in line with the guidance and had no luck.

I don’t believe it is fit for purpose and am exceptionally disappointed with the car.
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Sun 16 May 2021 21:02
Hyundai i30 GDI Turbo petrol - Petrol particulate filters - DavidGlos
I thought these GPF / petrol particulate filters were supposed to regenerate passively even under less than ideal conditions - shorter journeys, urban running etc. Can’t surely be an issue that’s isolated just to Hyundai (and presumably Kia) petrol engines?

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Sun 16 May 2021 21:09
Hyundai i30 GDI Turbo petrol - Petrol particulate filters - Rerepo
I note no one replied to this. I bought my i30 1 Turbo 12 months ago and have had the DPF warning light on 3 times and don’t have 6,000 miles on the clock yet. Whenever I try to regenerate it doesn’t work and have no cause to go on the motorway, or time. I have however driven 50 miles today in line with the guidance and had no luck. I don’t believe it is fit for purpose and am exceptionally disappointed with the car.

I guess this is a little 3 cylinder engine with a turbo bolted on to squeeze adequate power out of the thing.. Now they've bolted a soot filter on too! Sounds like a car to avoid! The irony is that all this tech is supposed to improve efficiency and reduce emissions - but to keep the thing working properly you have to go on uNeccesary high speed journeys! I suppose the dealers will be happy though - they'll tell you its the way you use the car and charge you £150 if you want a forced regeneration...

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Sun 16 May 2021 23:37
Hyundai i30 GDI Turbo petrol - Petrol particulate filters - Big John
Now they've bolted a soot filter on too! Sounds like a car to avoid!

Every newish direct injection petrol car will probably have a particulate filter now (GPF, PPF, OPF etc)

Edited by Big John on 16/05/2021 at 23:38

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Mon 17 May 2021 08:49
Hyundai i30 GDI Turbo petrol - Petrol particulate filters - Bolt
Now they've bolted a soot filter on too! Sounds like a car to avoid!

Every newish direct injection petrol car will probably have a particulate filter now (GPF, PPF, OPF etc)

According to Honda, most ppfs are very small compared to Diesel pfs and the particulates build up quicker if not driven far, as the filter doesn't heat up enough to do its job.

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Wed 6 Jul 2022 21:52
Hyundai i30 GDI Turbo petrol - Petrol particulate filters - youngalistai

I haven't had petrol particulate filter problems didn't know I had one! I've had my hyundai 1.4 gdit i30 for 2.5 years and generally it's been ok I guess but the bombshell is it has a Gdi engine that have a life of about 30.000 before they need to be de-carbonised I'm on 50.000 and it's pinking and high oil consumption due to the engine burning it. If you can find any garage that will do this I would grateful if you give me a name please! because no one wants to do the job where I am in devizes in fact no one knows about Gdi engines here but they all drive tractors don't they?.

Edited by youngalistai on 06/07/2022 at 21:55

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Mon 11 Jul 2022 10:09
Hyundai i30 GDI Turbo petrol - Petrol particulate filters - ronald bennett

Not sure about petrol particulate filters but if diesel engines are your thing then the DPF problems can be avoided. My wife wanted a Kia Sportage and after much research i decided on the diesel as the petrol version is quite thirsty. After 30 months there have been no problems with the DPF or oil dilution which is caused by failed regenerations. I bought an obd2 reader which is permanently plugged into the obd socket. I use the Carscanner pro app on my i phone which gives readings of miles since last regen, soot content in the dpf, exhaust temperature and egr. Depending on use, ie short journeys, the engine does a regen between every 130 to 200 miles and when the soot reaches about 15 grams. During a regen the exhaust temp reaches nearly 700c and the egr valve shuts down. It takes about 10 -15 miles to complete so you know not to shut the engine down. .

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Mon 11 Jul 2022 21:28
Hyundai i30 GDI Turbo petrol - Petrol particulate filters - bazza

To younalistai, yes the pinking or pre-ignition is most probably caused by carbon build up in the cylinder head and you've probably got build up on the inlet valve upstream surfaces too. The high oil consumption is probably the main cause, as these engines recirculate exhaust gas through the egr , hence causing carbon oily build up. The best way to decoke is to dismantle and manually clean as per the old days, by there are techniques such as walnut blasting that can be successful. I would try that first, but the problem will eventually return if the engine continues to burn excessive oil. It seems that Hyundai are well known for high oil consumption if you look at the owner forums.

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Sat 30 Jul 2022 11:13
Hyundai i30 GDI Turbo petrol - Petrol particulate filters - Galad

My 3 year old i30 GDi petrol uses a litre of oil every 6 months but I'm getting 42mpg around town by changing up to a higher gear quickly. My journeys are predominately urban, 2 to 4 miles and the particulate filter light comes on every 6 months or so requiring a 30 minute motorway drive in 4th gear at 60mph.

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Mon 12 Sep 2022 19:58
Hyundai i30 GDI Turbo petrol - Petrol particulate filters - youngalistai

Thanks for your reply the only place I know that does walnut blasting is "terraclean "if you anyone else please let me know as "terraclean" don't have brilliant reputation. It would cost a lot of money to do the carbon clean at a garage and to be honest no one is interested in doing it because their are no real good garages left here in Wiltshire. I don't have the knowledge to do it myself. Now you've confirmed that it really is all true about Gdi engines mine has now done over 50.000 and I would get rid of it but I got this pre-ignition noise which will obviously affect the price and the only way of getting rid of that noise is to have it de-coked it's a bit a quandary really.

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Mon 12 Sep 2022 20:29
Hyundai i30 GDI Turbo petrol - Petrol particulate filters - youngalistai

What I don't get is why all the garages I've been to claim theve "never heard " of these engine and their complete lack of interest in doing the job most say it will take lots of time removing the stuff that's bolted on top of the head and they don't "do" head de-carbonising and would have to send it out. Doesn't seem like there's any garages that want to do engineering now they just want to change an old part for a new one.

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Tue 13 Sep 2022 18:52
Hyundai i30 GDI Turbo petrol - Petrol particulate filters - Big John

How do you know your gdi needs decarbonising? - Is there anything that can be removed on the inlet manifold so you can insert an inspection camera to look/see. Whilst you are looking see if you can see any oil dripping down the valve just in case that's the oil burning issue - common if oil breathers/pipes and or PCV valve are blocked /have failed. Especially common with low mileage engines because cold engine condensation / oil fumes = oil mayonnaise. Basically if crankcase becomes pressurised it'll push past seals etc - inc valve seals.

My direct injection 2014 Skoda 1.4tsi is driving just as well as it did from nearly new but has always had a bit of pre ignition under some circumstances (hard to hear due to good soundproofing ) - goes away if I use higher octane petrol, eg Tesco Greenenergy 99 RON. It's now over 8 years old and has 106k miles on the clock.

Edited by Big John on 13/09/2022 at 19:19

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Wed 14 Sep 2022 13:24
Hyundai i30 GDI Turbo petrol - Petrol particulate filters - youngalistai

I'm going to try another garage and ask the guy if the sound it makes at low speed is in fact pre-ignition noise ....No I'm not sure if it's a carbon issue but from what I read about GDI engines it's not good. I personally don't have the time or facilities to take the car apart it's now done over 50.000 miles so I will try this guy and he seems ok but like most garages now he won't take apart anything and none of them have camera's to look down the manifold. Its too complex for them like in another message I sent. All they are interested in is changing service parts that's their bread and butter and they don't want to get involved in anything else.

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Thu 15 Sep 2022 23:35
Hyundai i30 GDI Turbo petrol - Petrol particulate filters - Big John

and none of them have camera's to look down the manifold.

Blimey I wouldn't be without mine. I've just used to convert my Skoda Superb Headlights from tourist to uk spec. I've also used to view underfloor wet-room leaks, behind kitchen unit plumbing issues etc...... Think mine was about £30 from Aldi!

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Fri 16 Sep 2022 19:01
Hyundai i30 GDI Turbo petrol - Petrol particulate filters - youngalistai

Ok thanks

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Sat 24 Jun 2023 18:20
Hyundai i30 GDI Turbo petrol - Petrol particulate filters - Mark Carpenter

I know i'm reviving an old thread here but I just thought I would share my recent experience with this issue.

I bought an i30 with the 1.0 GDI-T turbo at the beginning of February. Was fine to begin with but after a few months I started getting the bunny hopping and hesitation that other people have described, accompained by a slight drop in the MPG

I tried to book it in with the dealer I bought it from (who are useless by the way AND the only franchised Hyundai dealer within about 15 miles) but they couldn't look at it for 8 weeks. Yes, 8 weeks. Sheesh what a joke. It was only happening every so often so I did't worry about it too much and just booked it in for when the MOT was due

Unfortunatley the problem got much worse a few weeks ago and the car was jumping around all over the place MPG came down again and sounded kind of rattly at low throttle imputs which I could hear clearly with the window open. Tried the dealers again, basically no help at all didn't even bother to ask what the actual problem was etc told me they were now booking in people for September so basically go away and wait until you already booked in. Top customer service from a company i'd happily recommend (yeah i don't think so)

Last week I suddenly had a warning light appear on the dashboard and the MPG plummented. Got the book out and discovered it was the exaust particulate filter which I didn't even know was a thing on petrol engines only diesels, or that my car even had one.The book tells you to drive at more than 50mph in a gear higher than 3rd for at least half an hour and hope the light goes off which sounds like you got a 50/50 chance of it working which is not great. Doing some research it seems these Hyundai / Kia GDI engines suffer from this problem far more than any other makes and there appears to be an updated procedure being advised to clear them as they only actually burn off the build up under deceleration. Basically get the engine properly warmed up then jump on the motorway and bring it up to speed with decent revs on (2500-3500) Then just lift completely off the accelerator for at least 5 seconds and allow the revs to drop naturally. Keep doing this over and over again until the light goes off. This worked perfectly for me and after only about 10 minutes the light went off and all the bunny hoping and everything else it was doing dissapeared. Instantly the MPG shot up from about 40 on the current trip to 51. It even sounds different you can tell it's now running properley again

If like me you pretty much only do short or slow speed journeys you will have this happen to you. I guess this probably explains why the previous owner only had the car for 7 months as they probably got fed up with it as they were doing very low mileage. My advice is as soon as you get any sort of odd behavior don't wait for the light to come on, just hit the motorway and do the lift procedure for a few minutes and see if the car starts running properley. I'm not impressed the dealers never told me about this filter when I bought the car. I guess they just wanted my money and not give me any kind of reason to walk away

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Sun 25 Jun 2023 08:19
Hyundai i30 GDI Turbo petrol - Petrol particulate filters - JONATHAN_11_80

Try running it on shell v power. My focus has a gpf I am doing 30 miles a day to and from work not seen a warning yet. The Gpf need to be very hot to regenerate 600c so it won't if its driven sedately.

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Sun 25 Jun 2023 10:12
Hyundai i30 GDI Turbo petrol - Petrol particulate filters - Andrew-T

Basically get the engine properly warmed up then jump on the motorway and bring it up to speed with decent revs on (2500-3500) Then just lift completely off the accelerator for at least 5 seconds and allow the revs to drop naturally. Keep doing this over and over again until the light goes off.

I can't say I like the idea of many frustrated Hyundai owners taking to the motorways to carry out this procedure ! It may explain some of the things we see I suppose ....

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