It is illegal to tamper with or remove an emissions control device. If the DPF is removed your vehicle will not pass an opacity SAE J1667 Snap-Acceleration Smoke Test Procedure used for roadside inspections in most States. In Ontario diesel trucks are subjected to a more comprehensive and accurate exhaust gas analysis to meet emissions standards. Your truck will not pass the emissions test with the DPF removed. The fines vary for each province and state. In Ontario the fine is approximately $500 and in some states fines can be thousands of dollars per offence. If you run in California, it’s important to know that fines can run as high as $10,000 per day per offence.
Yes. As a DPF loads with Diesel Particulate Matter (PM) and ash during normal operation, exhaust flow is restricted creating higher backpressure and temperatures. This can cause several conditions that often lead to expensive engine damage. Some of the engine failure modes caused by a restricted DPF are: Uncontrolled detonation. Burned valves. Cylinder head gasket failure. Turbo Failure EGR system failure Fuel contamination of the engine oil.
Other than a dashboard indicator light, the most common indicators that a DPF needs to be serviced are reduced engine power, increased fuel consumption, frequent regenerations within a short time period and elevated exhaust temperatures.
No. The ash and soot are hazardous waste materials that must be disposed of properly according to regional environmental regulations. Cleaning your own filter with compressed air, chemicals or water puts these hazardous materials into the air, groundwater or sewer system which is illegal and could prove to be quite costly if caught. Besides that, you can’t clean a DPF without specialized equipment. If you want proof, put some on some protective gloves, smear on some soot and attempt to clean your hands.
If cleaned properly there is no limit to the number of DPF cleanings that can be performed. The key to this statement is that the DPFs must be cleaned by properly trained emissions personnel using the appropriate cleaning methods. It’s very common for inexperienced personnel to destroy an otherwise good DPF using improper cleaning methods even when using the most sophisticated DPF cleaning equipment.
When and how often a DPF needs to be serviced depends on several variables. Engine RPM, duty cycle, idle time, fuel quality, engine oil quality and maintenance procedures can all have a tremendous influence on how frequently a DPF needs to be serviced. The most common methods for triggering a DPF service light are based upon the hours of operation, mileage or backpressure differential in the exhaust system. Always use the OEM service manual recommendations as guideline for your application. You may need more frequent cleanings based upon application and duty cycle.
Yes. The regeneration process leaves residual sulphated ash as a by-product of combusted engine oil. The main purpose for performing a cleaning is to purge the residual ash from the cells of the DPF. In addition, the efficiency of a vehicles’ regeneration is dependent upon its duty cycle. Most vehicles operating conditions don’t promote perfect regeneration that would ensure that a DPF is completely purged of unburned PM (particulate matter) therefore must be cleaned periodically.
Yes. Consuming engine oil with a DPF equipped engine will poison or cause irreparable damage the catalyst coating on the DPF substrate material. The trace elements that are by-products of excessive amounts of combusted engine oil attach to the catalyst coating creating a “mask” preventing the oxidation process from taking place reducing efficient regeneration regardless of exhaust temperatures. Once a DPF has been poisoned, it must be replaced. A DPF with a high concentration of oil saturated PM is highly susceptible to an Runaway Regeneration.
Yes, because no SAE CJ-4 plus oils contain additives with considerably higher levels of sulphated ash, phosphorus and sulphur. This will cause premature DPF plugging decreasing exhaust flow which increases backpressure and reduced regeneration efficiency. This can lead to engine damage and voiding the engine warranty.
Under normal circumstances an engine can be shut off during regeneration without any harm to the DPF. Once the engine is shut down, the conditions that support regeneration will subside and regeneration will cease. However, caution must be exercised when parking a DPF equipped vehicle to ensure that the exhaust outlet is not exposed to any combustible substances or materials that could be damaged or catch fire by exposure to excessively high temperatures such as shop ceilings, trees and grass etc.
An Active DPF system can increase fuel consumption over older non DPF equipped engines because they use additional fuel to stimulate higher exhaust temperatures post combustion. The fuel penalty with this type of system can be as high as 5% of fuel consumption. As well, as a DPF becomes loaded with soot/PM and ash, exhaust flow is restricted reducing engine power and performance and increasing fuel consumption.
An “uncontrolled or runaway regeneration” is a spontaneous uncontrolled thermal event where a high inject. It is often caused by high soot load accumulations followed by a period of low power or idle condition. This raises the oxygen content in the flow restricted exhaust. Exhaust gas temperatures can spike to temperatures above 20000 C (36320 F) during an uncontrolled regeneration event causing immediate and irreparable damage to the DPF.
The Duty Cycle of a diesel engine typically refers to the period of time that an engine operates at a specific engine load factor. In the context of diesel emissions it is often referred to as the period of time that a diesel engine operates within the temperature range allowing Passive Regeneration.
Active Regeneration is utilized on vehicles that have a low duty cycle. It refers to the process where exhaust gas temperatures between 3500C-5000C (5720 F-9720 F) cannot be sustained during normal operating conditions. In this instance, an auxiliary ECU controlled system is utilized to increase the exhaust system internal temperatures into the 3500C-5000C (5720 F-9720 F) range to burn off the accumulated soot/particulate matter from the DPF. Active regeneration systems inject diesel fuel into the exhaust stream (post combustion) or into the combustion chamber during the exhaust stroke creating a controlled thermal event that rapidly raises the exhaust temperatures above 3500C-5000C (5720 F-9720 F) to burn off the accumulated soot in the DPF.
Passive regeneration refers to the automatic process that takes place in the exhaust system/DPF during normal vehicle operation when exhaust gas temperatures operates between 3500C-5000C (5720 F-9720 F) for sustained periods of time. The temperature at which passive regeneration begins to occur is dependent upon the types and blending percentages of the precious metal coating on the DPF substrate.
A Regeneration or “Regen” refers to the process where accumulated soot/particulate matter that collects in the DPF is oxidized and burned in the exhaust system leaving residual ash which is a by-product of the combustion of engine oil.
Diesel Particulate Matter (PM) is often referred to as soot. It is the solid component of diesel exhaust that is visible as black smoke. It is comprised of unburned microscopic hydrocarbon particles as well as sulphated ash which is a by-product of engine oil additives that have been burned during the combustion process.
If you see any black smoke or soot residue at the stack or tail pipe outlet, your DPF has failed and is allowing Diesel Particulate Matter (PM)
to bypass the DPF and must be replaced. There are several other types of DPF failures that are not as easy to detect because there are
no visible signs. Some other common conditions that may indicate that your DPF may not be functioning properly are frequent DPF plugging
or your engine may be experiencing shorter intervals between regenerations,
We do not exchange filters. Each DPF has its serial number recorded and is tracked throughout the entire cleaning process. We ensure that each customers’ DPF is returned to them with a complete service report for maintenance tracking purposes.
The turn around time for a basic cleaning is 4 hours.