Hi everyone

Please can anyone advise as to the best option once you've been hit by the dreaded DPF & 'limp home' issue

A bit of history: I have a 1.6 TDCI which I drive on the motorway pretty much every working day. It's just over 3 years old, out of warrenty and done 55k. A few weeks back it went into limp home mode whilst joining a motorway, and then again a couple of days later. My local garage said it was a dpf issue and they regenerated the dpf and cleared the codes. However I took it down a straight road, pushed the revs high in 2nd and 3rd and I got it to die twice.So what is the best option for me from the following:

1. Leave it alone and hope it doesn't happen again - I'm not keen on this option as its pretty scary having the car die going onto the M25
2. Get the dpf replaced - But this is expensive, and can it be guaranteed it will solve the issue
3. Try and get my garage to accept liability as I don't think they changed the additive at 37.5k - I think I can safely say they will say no or something less polite
4. Get the dpf removed - I'm not sure how much this costs, or if any of you have done this
5. Trade it in for a newer petrol focus (and give up on diesel so no dpf) - I tend to get a new car every 4 years, so maybe I should just move on. Shame to do this as I still love it to death


Any help would be appreciated by this Confused man

this topic has been done to death. what id personally start with before spending money is take it for a 20 min blast down a motorway or dual carriage way...basically put it in 3rd and keep revs at 3000 for like i say 20 mins. this will hopefully clear the ash buildup in your DPF.

post back if this doesnt work. ill suggest more then.

1. Leave it alone and hope it doesn't happen again - I'm not keen on this option as its pretty scary having the car die going onto the M25
- Bad Idea, do you really want a high pressure building up and risking blowing the turbo because you thought it might "fix itself"? - £1000 for a new DPF and a further £700 for a new turbo?

2. Get the dpf replaced - But this is expensive, and can it be guaranteed it will solve the issue - Cant guarantee it will resolve the issue - it probably will if its definately a DPF issue but no guarantees really.

3. Try and get my garage to accept liability as I don't think they changed the additive at 37.5k - I think I can safely say they will say no or something less polite
- Your garage wont accept liability as they will admit they sold you a car not fit for purpose, and will mean they have to fork out for damages, plus the fact that you could still return the car even at the end - this wont happen - thats a guarantee!

4. Get the dpf removed - I'm not sure how much this costs, or if any of you have done this
Read a thread I did a while back "DPF Removal" - "I wonder...." It goes into a lot of detail - its possible, but its risky.

5. Trade it in for a newer petrol focus (and give up on diesel so no dpf) - I tend to get a new car every 4 years, so maybe I should just move on. Shame to do this as I still love it to death
You could do this, or buy a maintenance free DPF which gives you the best of both worlds...

Hi

Thanks for the replies. However it turns out that my garage did not have a clue what they were doing. I have taken it to a larger main dealer and they have diagnosed that there is nothing wrong with the DPF.

Apparently despite the other garage having given the car a full service, and more recently charged me for regenerating the DPF, they still hadn't refilled the DPF additive fluid, or picked up that there was a blocked fuel filter. I now have had the fluid added and the fuel filter replaced. Hopefully (fingers crossed) I won't have any more issues and my car will go back to being the lovely car it was to drive.

Cheers
G

if you have a receipt from the the original garage which claims they refilled the EOYLS fluid, you can claim the money back on this, especially if you have a receipt from ford to say they refilled it.

but glad you got this issue sorted.