VW Polo Bluemotion - diesel particulatefilter cleaner - rexmedorum

Hi All,

when I bought my VW Polo Bluemotion I did frequent short tips for the first few weeks and did get the DPF light several times. I have since gone on to a long commute and it's all fine now, but I may at some point move closer and am a bit worried that say 30 min trips (mainly A roads) wouldn't be enough.

I saw the following product: JML Diesel particulate filter cleaner.

Has anybody heard of/ tried ths product and do you think it would work / be dangerousfor the car??

VW Polo Bluemotion - diesel particulatefilter cleaner - Cris_on_the_gas

don't bother just every week or so get the engine up to normal operating temperature then give it some beans in the lower gears for a bit on a quiet road. You might actually quite enjoy the drive too.

VW Polo Bluemotion - diesel particulatefilter cleaner - rexmedorum

I'm sure I'd enjoy it, not so sure whether I'd always have the time though..

You think it won't work? Or just that it's a risk?

VW Polo Bluemotion - diesel particulatefilter cleaner - Collos25

Don´t waste your money.

VW Polo Bluemotion - diesel particulatefilter cleaner - injection doc

"I'm sure I'd enjoy it, not so sure whether I'd always have the time though.."

When it blocks and your without your car you will need even more time !! so worth making the effort.

The cat need to get up to 700 degrees for about 20 mins so it does need a good blast to burn off the soot!

VW Polo Bluemotion - diesel particulatefilter cleaner - abc2xyz

I have a BMW 530D - the car has done slightly over 100,000 miles. The particulate filter light came on. Not knowing anything about this I researched the subject and asked a mechanic friend.

Basically it catches the soot produced by your engine and colder temperatures and burns it off at higher temperatures when you are crusing down the road at 50 mph.

The cost of a replacement filter on the BMW is £1500 before fitting! I ws somewhat horrified.

Long story short, my mechanic friend took the filter apart and washed in in a petrol solution. Loads of black muck came out of it. This turned off the light and worked for a month. Light on, so I bought the filter product JML particulate filter cleaner. After a 50 mile trip down the motorway this also worked and turned off the light. A month later the light was back on. Finally using the grey matter in my head I deduced that the soot was created at lower temperatures and decided to try one last thing.

I used JML cleaner again and this time I only used the premium diesel sold by Shell. More expensive, but you recover the costs in my case I get about 50 miles more out of a tank.

No more lights on after 6 months - still fine. I believe a combination of factors caused my problem. The age and mileage of the filter and also supermarket diesel.

Hope this helps anyone with filter issues.

VW Polo Bluemotion - diesel particulatefilter cleaner - RT

Just how hard does a car need to be driven to get the DPF hot enough to burn the soot off - is cruising on a motorway at 70 enough?

How often does the DPF need to generate - every 500 miles ?

VW Polo Bluemotion - diesel particulatefilter cleaner - unthrottled

There's no simple answer to this. Passive regeneration takes place when the entry temp of the gas is over about 250C. But the rate that the soot is being deposited will be greater than the rate that it is being burned off. As the temperature rises further, a tipping point is reached (around 350C) whereby the rate of oxidation is equal to the rate of soot deposition. Above this temperature, there is a net loss of soot, but it is slow and doesn't occur equally across the trap (the front and centre is hotter than the rear and peripheral regions).

70mph should be enough for passive regen in most vehicles (maybe not a 530D!), but there is still a scheduled active regen every few hundred miles to make sure the trap is properly purged.

Use the highest gear possible-this gives the highest EGTs-and uses the least fuel. Driving round in a low gear simply turns diesel into noise and reduces the effectiveness of passive regen.

VW Polo Bluemotion - diesel particulatefilter cleaner - Railroad.
If your VW won't regenerate normally search the forums for people near you who have VCDS. They will be able to use it to carry out a forced regeneration, exactly the same as the dealer does. I've done a few of them now.