If you’ve got a later model diesel four-wheel drive, chances are, it’ll be equipped with a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF). There is a lot of confusion surrounding the system; how it works, where it is, what it looks like, what does it even do, and how a burn-off/regeneration works. Then there are the more risqué of questions; can you delete it, is it illegal to remove it, can you trick your ECU into working without it, and if you remove it, what fine can you get lumped with.
We thought we’d knock together this write up for you and answer all the questions you’ve ever wanted to know about the DPF system. So buckle up and grab a hold of the Jesus bar, as this is a pretty deep rabbit hole!
Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about your DPF system
GUIDE DPF: Part 1
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE
CLICK BELOW TO NAVIGATE THE ARTICLE
WORDS BY WES WHITWORTH
What is a DPF?
The overarching question – what is a DPF? To put it as simply as possible, it closely resembles a muffler somewhere along your exhaust system, that contains a filter element, that filters out diesel particulates (not just a tricky name) and often a catalytic converter. They look a lot like petrol catalytic converters, however, they’re adorned with sensors and actually catch particulates from your exhaust; then they burn them off.
WHAT IS A DPF AND HOW DOES IT WORK?
The humble DPF – note the tubes that connect up to sensors that measure airflow/restriction and the temperature sensor ports
How does a DPF work?
How a DPF works however, is a completely different kettle of fish to the petrol catalytic converter. Aside from physically capturing diesel particulates, the DPF stores them until the vehicle’s exhaust reaches a set temperature, and the vehicle is able to burn them off to their most inert properties. Doing happy laps of Newtown is not going to be enough to get your exhaust to an appropriate burn-off temp; think sitting on 100km/h for 20 minutes instead.
With this in mind, and with more and more diesel four-wheel drives being relegated to grocery-getting and school duties, many manufacturers are opting for an automated burn-off cycle, where the ECU will increase temperatures with fuel loading and other tricks, and force the engine to undertake a ‘DPF regen’. With ongoing issues with DPF systems on ‘city-based’ four-wheel drives, some manufacturers (read: Toyota), are even including a ‘DPF Regen’ button, so you can manually control it.
WHAT IS A DPF AND HOW DOES IT WORK? CONT'D
GUIDE DPF: Part 1
Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about your DPF system
If you’ve got a later model diesel four-wheel drive, chances are, it’ll be equipped with a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF). There is a lot of confusion surrounding the system; how it works, where it is, what it looks like, what does it even do, and how a burn-off/regeneration works. Then there are the more risqué of questions; can you delete it, is it illegal to remove it, can you trick your ECU into working without it, and if you remove it, what fine can you get lumped with.
We thought we’d knock together this write up for you and answer all the questions you’ve ever wanted to know about the DPF system. So buckle up and grab a hold of the Jesus bar, as this is a pretty deep rabbit hole!
THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE
WORDS BY WES WHITWORTH
CLICK BELOW TO NAVIGATE THE ARTICLE
What is a DPF?
The overarching question – what is a DPF? To put it as simply as possible, it closely resembles a muffler somewhere along your exhaust system, that contains a filter element, that filters out diesel particulates (not just a tricky name) and often a catalytic converter. They look a lot like petrol catalytic converters, however, they’re adorned with sensors and actually catch particulates from your exhaust; then they burn them off.
WHAT IS A DPF AND HOW DOES IT WORK?
The humble DPF – note the tubes that connect up to sensors that measure airflow/restriction and the temperature sensor ports
How does a DPF work?
How a DPF works however, is a completely different kettle of fish to the petrol catalytic converter. Aside from physically capturing diesel particulates, the DPF stores them until the vehicle’s exhaust reaches a set temperature, and the vehicle is able to burn them off to their most inert properties. Doing happy laps of Newtown is not going to be enough to get your exhaust to an appropriate burn-off temp; think sitting on 100km/h for 20 minutes instead.
With this in mind, and with more and more diesel four-wheel drives being relegated to grocery-getting and school duties, many manufacturers are opting for an automated burn-off cycle, where the ECU will increase temperatures with fuel loading and other tricks, and force the engine to undertake a ‘DPF regen’. With ongoing issues with DPF systems on ‘city-based’ four-wheel drives, some manufacturers (read: Toyota), are even including a ‘DPF Regen’ button, so you can manually control it.
WHAT IS A DPF AND HOW DOES IT WORK? CONT'D