Ford focus dpf

[Byrnew]

Hi all ,

Do the newer focus 2019 /2020 give dpf issues.  Is there a way to know if they are regenerating so the car does not get knocked off to interrupt this process . I had a 09 honda accord a few years back and had issues and the car just went straight into limp mode with no warning to twll me to get it to a motorway to run it to start thr regeneration process , apparently an issue with that honda model . Any information on the focus dpf system in that year would be appreciated.

 

Thanks  

 

Wayne .

[unofix]

I have a 2019 Focus 2.0 diesel which has done just over 14,000 miles. It mostly does short journeys of 6 miles or less, in and around town. Once or if it's lucky twice a week it gets an 8 mile run on a motorway. So far I've had no problems regarding the dpf, or regen. I've no idea if or when it has done the regeneration but the car runs well and seems not to have any dpf problems.

[Wino]

Similar to what @unofixposted above but with the 1.5 diesel. Short trips daily and no issues with the Dpf at all.

You can tell at times when it's going through the regen process as the revs are slightly higher but other than that as stated earlier no issues so  far at 19k.

 

[isetta]

I have 2015 fiesta 1.5tdci.  Using forscan software if shows me how many miles since last regen. I don’t know if forscan does the same on newer focus.so if I’m worried about regens I can check

[Byrnew]

19 hours ago, unofix said:

I have a 2019 Focus 2.0 diesel which has done just over 14,000 miles. It mostly does short journeys of 6 miles or less, in and around town. Once or if it's lucky twice a week it gets an 8 mile run on a motorway. So far I've had no problems regarding the dpf, or regen. I've no idea if or when it has done the regeneration but the car runs well and seems not to have any dpf problems.

Hi thanks for the reply thats reassuring.  

[Byrnew]

8 hours ago, Wino said:

Similar to what @unofixposted above but with the 1.5 diesel. Short trips daily and no issues with the Dpf at all.

You can tell at times when it's going through the regen process as the revs are slightly higher but other than that as stated earlier no issues so  far at 19k.

 

Hi thanks for thr reply thats good to hear. Hopefully it stays like that and no issues 

[Byrnew]

1 hour ago, isetta said:

I have 2015 fiesta 1.5tdci.  Using forscan software if shows me how many miles since last regen. I don’t know if forscan does the same on newer focus.so if I’m worried about regens I can check

Hi thats a good tool to have. Its such a shame that thr car manufacturers didn't put some sort of light to let people know when the car is regenerating so there not knocking the engine off during it and causing all of these dpf issues 

[Wino]

11 hours ago, Byrnew said:

Hi thats a good tool to have. Its such a shame that thr car manufacturers didn't put some sort of light to let people know when the car is regenerating so there not knocking the engine off during it and causing all of these dpf issues 

Theres not much need to have a dash light as the regen process occurs under very nominal driving conditions for the mk4. No need to go for a long motorway drive or give the beans like the older models. A simple tootle around town for 30 mins is often enough.

[TomsFocus]

Listening for the high speed cooling fan is probably the best way to tell a regen is in progress.  If you reverse park, you can generally smell it as well.

Though even if you cut off a few regens in a row, it should be fine as long as you then do a longer journey.  Sometimes you can't help but to cut them off.  I live a mile from the supermarket for example.  Would never dream of driving for an extra 15 minutes to complete one that's started on my way there.  I would prefer a dash light myself, but lights and gauges confuse most drivers, which is they fit as few as they can get away with.

[unofix]

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

but lights and gauges confuse most drivers,

That seems sadly to be the case. If only they had thought to fit an oil pressure warning light on the 1.0 Ecoboost cars !

Oh, wait a minute they did. It's just that 90% of owners seem to think it's an oil level light 😧

[TomsFocus]

1 hour ago, unofix said:

That seems sadly to be the case. If only they had thought to fit an oil pressure warning light on the 1.0 Ecoboost cars !

Oh, wait a minute they did. It's just that 90% of owners seem to think it's an oil level light 😧

Indeed!  Tbf, a drippy oil can isn't the best pictogram though.  I doubt many people under 50 will have even seen oil in cans that shape, rather than plastic bottles.  (Bit like a floppy disk still being used as a save icon!)  With digital screens there should at least be a text warning to go with it saying 'pressure'.  Even then, I don't think most people would know how critical oil pressure is to delicate old ICE engines though. 

[unofix]

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

With digital screens there should at least be a text warning to go with it saying 'pressure'. 

It doesn't seem to help even when it does say "STOP - oil pressure" some still think it's ok to drive.

 

[Byrnew]

On 8/27/2022 at 7:41 AM, Wino said:

Theres not much need to have a dash light as the regen process occurs under very nominal driving conditions for the mk4. No need to go for a long motorway drive or give the beans like the older models. A simple tootle around town for 30 mins is often enough.

Hi, Cool thanks for the information.  Has the light ever came on to let you know to take it for a drive ? Juat wondering does ford g9ve that warning before it clogs completely and puts it straight into limp mode like the honda accords . Thanks 

[Byrnew]

On 8/27/2022 at 9:08 AM, TomsFocus said:

Listening for the high speed cooling fan is probably the best way to tell a regen is in progress.  If you reverse park, you can generally smell it as well.

Though even if you cut off a few regens in a row, it should be fine as long as you then do a longer journey.  Sometimes you can't help but to cut them off.  I live a mile from the supermarket for example.  Would never dream of driving for an extra 15 minutes to complete one that's started on my way there.  I would prefer a dash light myself, but lights and gauges confuse most drivers, which is they fit as few as they can get away with.

Hi thanks for thr reply. When I had my first diesel woth the dpf 09 Honda I know nothing about them so now woth the information I can look out for thr signs so I know when its regenerating. Do thr focus habe the stop start system do you know ? I always read that if the car has one and its regenerating the stop start wobt cut iut thr car will stay on if you come to a stop . 

 

Thabks 

[Wino]

9 hours ago, Byrnew said:

Hi, Cool thanks for the information.  Has the light ever came on to let you know to take it for a drive ? Juat wondering does ford g9ve that warning before it clogs completely and puts it straight into limp mode like the honda accords . Thanks 

No. I take it for a drive as and when I need to. Not clogged up in almost 4 yrs since owning the car almost from new and up until 3 months ago it used to do a huge 3.2 miles a day, 4 days a week, 12.8 miles per week. The mk 3 I had previously had no issues either, nor the mk 2 just for clarification.

[Byrnew]

1 hour ago, Wino said:

No. I take it for a drive as and when I need to. Not clogged up in almost 4 yrs since owning the car almost from new and up until 3 months ago it used to do a huge 3.2 miles a day, 4 days a week, 12.8 miles per week. The mk 3 I had previously had no issues either, nor the mk 2 just for clarification.

Thanks David. So not allot of daily / weekly milage and no issues which is great to know . 

[TomsFocus]

11 hours ago, Byrnew said:

Do thr focus habe the stop start system do you know ? I always read that if the car has one and its regenerating the stop start wobt cut iut thr car will stay on if you come to a stop . 

Yes they have stop start.  No, it won't cut the engine if it's doing a regen.

Stop start rarely seems to work on the Mk4 anyway though.  battery charging is an absolute minimum to keep emissions down, so if it doesn't 'sense' spare capacity, it won't cut the engine when you stop.

 

Conversely to David, I had no end of DPF problems with a Mk2 on the old additive-type DPF.  Replaced it once and still had problems so gutted it and mapped out (not recommended now).  I then bought a Mk3 with the coated-type DPF and had no DPF issues at all.  I've owned a 2.0 TDI Golf with a coated DPF for 4 years now and had no DPF problems with that either.

[TomWood]

So the MK4 will do a regen all by itself and you can just drive them normally and don't have to go ragging them on a dual carriageway etc to clear it? also i noticed a few have said about doing mostly short journeys but i thought this was terrible to do in a diesel? only reason i ask is because i made my own thread about the 1.5tdi and mentioned i do mostly short trips but an occasional long trip now and again and want the 1.5tdi as it seems the best option for MPG with the auto box compared to the 1.0 or 1.5 ecoboost so i can just drive the car normally and don't need to take it out on motorway once a week giving it a bit of a rag?

[TomsFocus]

Ragging hasn't really ever been necessary for DPF's.  Bit of an old wives tail that spread across garages and the internet.  Even on the Mk2 diesels there was a 'failsafe' regen that would be triggered every 500 miles if the pressure differential sensor hadn't triggered a regen in that time.  I also did plenty of testing on my own Mk2 (that kept having DPF issues) and found that even cruising at 90mph didn't create enough heat in the DPF to burn off.  It really needed the 'active' regen to be triggered, which retards the timing and closes off the EGR/IC etc to get maximum heat into the DPF. 

One hard pull gets the differential pressure up, which in turn triggers the regen process, there's no need to keep 'ragging' after that.  The active regen will work at slow speeds, but they must be constant speeds.  If it's all stop start for roundabouts and junctions they struggle to regen and take ages.  Hanging one gear lower than usual helps keep the revs up and the exhaust flowing, and may even be built into the software for an auto-box.  

I've done low mileage on diesels for years.  BUT I was fully aware of the DPF issues and that I'd need to keep an eye out for regens, more so than people doing motorway commutes.  As mentioned above, the old Eolys type DPF couldn't really cope with low mileage, but the coated DPFs on both my 2012 Golf & 2012 Focus were fine.

[Wino]

3 hours ago, TomWood said:

So the MK4 will do a regen all by itself and you can just drive them normally and don't have to go ragging them on a dual carriageway etc to clear it? also i noticed a few have said about doing mostly short journeys but i thought this was terrible to do in a diesel? only reason i ask is because i made my own thread about the 1.5tdi and mentioned i do mostly short trips but an occasional long trip now and again and want the 1.5tdi as it seems the best option for MPG with the auto box compared to the 1.0 or 1.5 ecoboost so i can just drive the car normally and don't need to take it out on motorway once a week giving it a bit of a rag?

No ragging around needed. A simple steady drive around town for 20 mins is enough. So basically drive it around as normal and no special trips required and it doesnt stop you putting it into sport mode and giving it a blast.

[Byrnew]

10 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Yes they have stop start.  No, it won't cut the engine if it's doing a regen.

Stop start rarely seems to work on the Mk4 anyway though.  Battery charging is an absolute minimum to keep emissions down, so if it doesn't 'sense' spare capacity, it won't cut the engine when you stop.

 

Conversely to David, I had no end of DPF problems with a Mk2 on the old additive-type DPF.  Replaced it once and still had problems so gutted it and mapped out (not recommended now).  I then bought a Mk3 with the coated-type DPF and had no DPF issues at all.  I've owned a 2.0 TDI Golf with a coated DPF for 4 years now and had no DPF problems with that either.

Hi Tom, thanks for the reply.  Very interesting to hear about that start stop and battery charging.  Imagine me thinking it was regenerating and driving aroind in circles waiting on it to cut out 😁  and a coated dpf more news to me . Are all modern dpfs coated ? 

[TomsFocus]

1 minute ago, Byrnew said:

Hi Tom, thanks for the reply.  Very interesting to hear about that start stop and battery charging.  Imagine me thinking it was regenerating and driving aroind in circles waiting on it to cut out 😁  and a coated dpf more news to me . Are all modern dpfs coated ? 

Yeah, modern DPFs are all coated.  Peugeot & Citroen persevered with the Eolys type for another few years after Ford, but even they gave up on it around 5 years ago.

Most modern diesels now use AdBlue which you may not be aware of?  There's a second filler hole for that next to the diesel hole and you'll need to top it up every few thousand miles.  You do get a dash warning for that if it gets low.  Can either be bought in large bottles or on pumps at some fuel stations.