Hi guys. New here but for good reason. Since having my van back from the garage after putting 20 quid petrol in it, it has been sorted but the engine and powertrain lights are on the dash . The garage say it is not a fuel related problem and so, not their problem either. Further investigation at another garage detected 4 faults relating to DPF. Advised to use DPF cleaning fluid and take for a spin. Lights have remained on and van is in limp mode.......UNTIL yesterday. My son had bought me the fluid and a cheap Motopower code scanner. So I drove up and down the dual carriageway in limp mode for a bit and pulled into a lay-by leaving van running plugged in the scanner and scrolled through the menus and pages etc looking at figures I didn't understand when to my surprise I got to page 19 on the data stream option and the lights on the dash went off and van out of limp mode??? WTF is that about then? The van drove as it should and still does as long as I plug in the scanner and go to page 19 of data stream. Can anyone explain please.

Welcome!
I suspect you are clearing the fault codes that induce limp mode BUT  the fault is still there and won't be getting better.

If it's a DPF issue it's likely a victim of something else -what fault codes are present, they may not be the full Ford specific codes  (we recommend Forscan)
Just using "cleaning fluid" likely won't fix it (never had any success with adding stuff to fuel and expecting it to clean, it may lower the temperature at which a regeneration can start but that won't IMHO, fix any incipient fault)
The DPF may be getting more and more soot build up and if this goes too far, it can't be regenerated and you'll need a new one, Ouch!

I suggest a much deeper investigation before that happens...

That's my interpretation, any others?

6 hours ago, KuleHandLuke said:

Since having my van back from the garage after putting 20 quid petrol in it, it has been sorted but the engine

What engine ?

11 hours ago, unofix said:

What engine ?

If they really put £20 of petrol in a DPF equipped van then I think that's probably the issue.... 

Hi guys. Thanks for replies so far .

The van is a Transit 125 T350 RWD 2.2ltr. The 4 codes are DPF related and can't be removed using my cheap scanner nor the more sophisticated one the mechanic used at the second garage.

When I stumbled upon my surprise fix using my scanner,  I went back to see my mechanic and showed him. As the van is due for it's mot next month I asked him if there would be an emission problem and he said no.

So back to the fix. My scanner is a Motopower MP69033 model. In the main menu the are 7 options. 

Read codes

Erase codes 

View freeze frame

I/M readiness 

Vehicle info 

Data stream 

Real time curve.

When I go into data stream there is a list of values etc showing temps and % etc and due to the small screen, I have to scroll through 19 pages to read them all.

WITH ENGINE RUNNING 

But here is the spooky fix. When I scroll onto page 19, the warning lights turn off and the van comes out of limp mode.

If I scroll to another page 1 or 18, or come out of data stream,  or disconnect the scanner, the lights come on again and inti limp mode.

So now I just plugg in the scanner go to page 19 and bingo. Sorted.

Weird or what? 

1 hour ago, KuleHandLuke said:

The van is a Transit 125 T350 RWD 2.2ltr.

So about this £20 worth of petrol ...............

Have you tried putting diesel in ? 🤣

Now on to the serious stuff. There is only one code reader that you should be using on a Ford vehicle and it's Free. True you will need to buy the connecting cable or dongle but a very small price to pay for a system that is almost as good a Ford dealers.

Get yourself a windows laptop and download FORScan and connect up with the vLinker FS cable then you will be able to see all of the real Ford specific DTC's.

On 4/7/2024 at 8:59 PM, unofix said:

FORScan (for use with Windows Laptop) : https://forscan.org/download.html

It's what many Ford owners use including some Ford technicians.

• vLinker FS, cable for laptop: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vgate-vLinker-Adapter-FORScan-MS-CAN/dp/B0952P4MLP

OR

• OBDLINK EX, cable for laptop: https://www.amazon.co.uk/OBDLINK-EX-FORScan-OBD-Adapter/dp/B081VQVD3F/ref=sr_1_5

For diagnostic use only:

• vLinker FD, for android phone: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vgate-Bluetooth-vLinker-Scanner-Diagnostic/dp/B08H82WC8L
• vLinker FD+, for iPhone: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vgate-Bluetooth-vLinker-Scanner-Diagnostic/dp/B08H8JHWP2

 

Search Tag:   FORScan123

 

1 hour ago, unofix said:

So about this £20 worth of petrol ...............

Have you tried putting diesel in ? 🤣

Now on to the serious stuff. There is only one code reader that you should be using on a Ford vehicle and it's Free. True you will need to buy the connecting cable or dongle but a very small price to pay for a system that is almost as good a Ford dealers.

Get yourself a windows laptop and download FORScan and connect up with the vLinker FS cable then you will be able to see all of the real Ford specific DTC's.

 

But my point is that my scanner seems to clear the faults as long as it is plugged in and in data stream mode and page 19.

How is the scanner doing that and will I be able to erase the codes on the forscan even though I can't on my scanner or the mechanics scanner?

I'm going to nag and say I still think you have those DPF codes which are being cleared however whatever soot loading it has will gradually be getting higher until eventually, it won't be able to be regenerated of the engine simply won't run cos it's blocked.
So, IMHO, you need to monitor DPF differential pressure at idle and 3000 Rev/Min, soot loading open and closed circuit as a minimum to see what is going on.
Plus you don't give the DPF fault codes that are there/were there.
I don't like spooky fixes, they come back to haunt you 😉
Also, see Jimmy, the DPF Maestro:
https://www.youtube.com/@ORileysAutos

43 minutes ago, KuleHandLuke said:

But my point is that my scanner seems to clear the faults as long as it is plugged in and in data stream mode and page 19.

How is the scanner doing that and will I be able to erase the codes on the forscan even though I can't on my scanner or the mechanics scanner?

Your scanner isn't clearing the codes, it's merely masking them until it is disconnected.

No one can tell you if Forscan will clear the codes, as you haven't said what codes you are getting! In any case, the codes cannot be permanently cleared until whatever is creating the codes is fixed.

As the old saying goes-

"there's them that know, them that don't know, and those who don't know they don't know!"

Sorry guys. The codes are

P2463 and P246C

 

1 hour ago, KuleHandLuke said:

P2463 and P246C

Both codes confirm the DPF is blocked and most probably will need replaced. Continuing to drive the vehicle with a blocked DPF will eventually cause long term damage to the engine.

This problem is not going to go away simply by repeatedly clearing the code. There is an actual physical problem which requires good old fashioned fixing with tools and new parts.