I have a 2013 Focus 1.6 tdci econetic and im almost positive the dpf has stopped regenerating.I have the mobile version of forscan and the soot level is up to 66%.It has never reached this level and normally does a regen between 40-50%..I have took it for a blast down the motorway to no avail.Can get the cat temp up to around 320..should this get much hotter? I have been losing a small amount of coolant and on the last service the mechanic did tell me I had leak from the thermostat housing.But I have made sure the reservoir is full when I've took it out for the motorway runs.There are also no fault codes showing up on forscan.

What other p.i.d's and there values should I be tracking to try and find what's causing this issue. T.I.A

Look at DPF differential pressure: ideally 5 mBar at idle, maximum 100 (ideally 60 mBar) at 3000 rev/min.
Also DPF temperatures and soot loadings (60% isn't out of the ordinary range IMHO)
    • DPF regen takes place at 550-650 Deg C
    • Active regen can start at 350 DegC
Does it have a vaporiser plug (common failure point, blocked, glow plug, fuse pump, plus blocked pressure sensor pipes?)?

51 minutes ago, Shearers said:

Look at DPF differential pressure: ideally 5 mBar at idle, maximum 100 (ideally 60 mBar) at 3000 rev/min.
Also DPF temperatures and soot loadings (60% isn't out of the ordinary range IMHO)
    • DPF regen takes place at 550-650 Deg C
    • Active regen can start at 350 DegC
Does it have a vaporiser plug (common failure point, blocked, glow plug, fuse pump, plus blocked pressure sensor pipes?)?

The dpf differential pressure is 0.6 kpa which I've read is normal.If you are right in saying that an active regen cannot initiate till 350 deg then its not getting hot enough to start one.Do you think the leaky thermostat housing is causing this? Would i get a fault code on forscan if there was a problem with the thermostat? It does have a vapour.plugSorry for all the questions but im not very clued up when it comes to cars.

1 hour ago, Baggieboy said:

I have a 2013 Focus 1.6 tdci econetic

Perhaps you could update your profile to avoid confusion ?

26 minutes ago, unofix said:

Perhaps you could update your profile to avoid confusion ?

Done.

40 minutes ago, Baggieboy said:

Do you think the leaky thermostat housing is causing this?

Absolutely not.

41 minutes ago, Baggieboy said:

Would i get a fault code on forscan if there was a problem with the thermostat?

Almost certainly not.

Other than the soot level of 66%, are there any other issues with the car ?

5 minutes ago, unofix said:

Absolutely not.

Almost certainly not.

Other than the soot level of 66%, are there any other issues with the car ?

Not that I know of,no fault codes,been over 2 months since last regen.

IMHO, if it's never had a vaporiser plug then check that first by clamping black fuel hose, add new pipe to plug and blow through. There should be no resistance.

If that is OK check the glow plug fuse and resistance....and go from there...

4 minutes ago, Baggieboy said:

Not that I know of,no fault codes,been over 2 months since last regen.

Then I'd leave well alone. If you weren't checking with FORScan then you would have no idea about the soot level or for that matter when it last completed a regen.

You could always use FORScan and do a static regen which would prove that the system can still work.

17 minutes ago, unofix said:

Then I'd leave well alone. If you weren't checking with FORScan then you would have no idea about the soot level or for that matter when it last completed a regen.

You could always use FORScan and do a static regen which would prove that the system can still work.

I check the soot levels on forscan regularly,that's how I know when one was last done.it should have at least initiated an active regen by now as I've done well over the mileage where an the active regen would take place.Done the high revs on the motorway and still doesn't regen.

I'd rather check the differential pressure at idle and 3k then match it with the DPF parameters like soot loading  but, as said, it depends where in the cycle you are so may be worrying too much?
Also our Forscan PIDs give the distances for the last 10 regens which would allow you to perhaps see a pattern (the distances  vary a lot: 45 to 290 which also depends on ones that weren't completed) 

With all due respect I'd avoid forced regens if at all possible as the high temps can cause cracking or engine stopping until the temperature drops to a safe level:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVL4Vpeqvyo

Again, would love to know if your vaporiser is blocked or otherwise not functioning (including the pump although they are supposedly reliable and very expensive either new or used. There may be Chinese diesel heater alternatives)  but all of this is down to you!

 

6 minutes ago, Shearers said:

I'd rather check the differential pressure at idle and 3k then match it with the DPF parameters like soot loading  but, as said, it depends where in the cycle you are so may be worrying too much?
Also our Forscan PIDs give the distances for the last 10 regens which would allow you to perhaps see a pattern (the distances  vary a lot: 45 to 290 which also depends on ones that weren't completed) 

With all due respect I'd avoid forced regens if at all possible as the high temps can cause cracking or engine stopping until the temperature drops to a safe level:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVL4Vpeqvyo

 

I know for certain that the last time the dpf regenerated was April 26th,I was travelling to an away match to Cardiff,it went really hot inside the car so I opened forscan and sure enough it was in the middle of regeneration,since then I've checked soot levels weekly and done.approx 1500 miles and the levels have only increased.

Unfortunately forscan doesn't give a distance since last regen for this car,well at least the mobile version doesn't.I would have thought I'd have got a "failed regen" error too but have had nothing.

Im going to get the thermostat done next week as it needs doing anyway,and will get the vaporiser cleaned out too.

30 minutes ago, Baggieboy said:

Im going to get the thermostat done next week as it needs doing anyway,and will get the vaporiser cleaned out too.

1500 miles does seem very long and if levels are steadily increasing there may well be an issue.
Need to clean if possible and necessary - check it doesn't hold any pressure as said, check glow plug at the least and perhaps start a forced regen if you like but only see if the temperatures start to go up then abort it quickly?:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3oHIjO347U

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3QMoloelvE

 

Are you sure it's got a vaporiser?

The normal 1.6 TDCI didn't.  But the proper Econetic engine had tighter emissions regulation so that might have done.

(Not to be confused with the 'Econetic Technologies' boot badge which is just branding)

 

1500 miles does seem very long but I don't know whether there is a mileage failsafe on these like there is on the Mk2's.  If it's just relying on pressures then 0.6kPa won't trigger a regen.  How high can you get the pressure uphill in 3rd gear at around 3000rpm?  That should be maximum load, creating maximum boost, and maximum exhaust pressure.

I'm wondering whether there's a small split in the pressure pipe (there is only one on these).  It might be holding enough pressure not to make the car think the DPF core is missing, but then blowing open under higher pressure so it never passes, say 6kPa, which would be the lower threshold to trigger a regen.

Sounds like clarity on vaporiser and checks on all of the above and perhaps more is needed.

(I agree that the current values appear acceptable but the stated mileage since the last regen is the only factor of concern.
I can never tell when a regen is in progress unless it is being monitored.

3 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Are you sure it's got a vaporiser?

The normal 1.6 TDCI didn't.  But the proper Econetic engine had tighter emissions regulation so that might have done.

(Not to be confused with the 'Econetic Technologies' boot badge which is just branding)

 

1500 miles does seem very long but I don't know whether there is a mileage failsafe on these like there is on the Mk2's.  If it's just relying on pressures then 0.6kPa won't trigger a regen.  How high can you get the pressure uphill in 3rd gear at around 3000rpm?  That should be maximum load, creating maximum boost, and maximum exhaust pressure.

I'm wondering whether there's a small split in the pressure pipe (there is only one on these).  It might be holding enough pressure not to make the car think the DPF core is missing, but then blowing open under higher pressure so it never passes, say 6kPa, which would be the lower threshold to trigger a regen.

Im not certain that it has a vapouriser,I googled it and it came up as a yes 😀

The 0.6kpa was recorded at idle,I will record a 3rd gear uphill when I get the chance.

When I first bought the car about a year ago I recorded the mileage at when the first few regens were active and oddly enough there was a 770 and 772 mile gap between them so I take that is the milage intervals active regens take place,my driving is mainly on A roads and around town.

I've got a wired vlinker coming tomorrow which I'm hoping will give me info about any failed regens because the mobile version of forscan doesn't.Its a long shot I know but I read that wired connection to the windows version gives more information.

1 minute ago, Baggieboy said:

I've got a wired vlinker coming tomorrow which I'm hoping will give me info about any failed regens because the mobile version of forscan doesn't.Its a long shot I know but I read that wired connection to the windows version gives more information.

The answer to that is that you have wasted your money unless you want to do some very serious Programming.

The Windows version will show you exactly the same thing as the mobile Versions, anyway if your Laptop has Bluetooth Connectivity then you can use your Bluetooth Adaptor with it, I've been doing that for years.

The people on here who slag off the Phone versions of FORScan have one thing in common, they haven't used the Phone versions.

11 minutes ago, Baggieboy said:

Im not certain that it has a vapouriser,I googled it and it came up as a yes 😀

The 0.6kpa was recorded at idle,I will record a 3rd gear uphill when I get the chance.

When I first bought the car about a year ago I recorded the mileage at when the first few regens were active and oddly enough there was a 770 and 772 mile gap between them so I take that is the milage intervals active regens take place,my driving is mainly on A roads and around town.

I've got a wired vlinker coming tomorrow which I'm hoping will give me info about any failed regens because the mobile version of forscan doesn't.Its a long shot I know but I read that wired connection to the windows version gives more information.

I'm not sure Google knows all of the nuances within the Mk3 Focus engine range so would still want to confirm that directly. 

Even 770 sounds like a very large gap between regens to me.  That would be less than one per tank of fuel.  I wonder whether that's only recording active regens, but your driving allows passive regens to take place in between.  I had the normal version of this engine in a 2012 model and I'm sure regens were happening roughly every 2-3 weeks on that (around 300 miles).  Never bothered to check the soot levels or pressures as the coated DPF seemed to work fine on that.  Unlike my previous MK2 with Eolys DPF where I was having frequent DPF issues and had to keep checking diags.

13 minutes ago, Tizer said:

The answer to that is that you have wasted your money unless you want to do some very serious Programming.

The Windows version will show you exactly the same thing as the mobile Versions, anyway if your Laptop has Bluetooth Connectivity then you can use your Bluetooth Adaptor with it, I've been doing that for years.

The people on here who slag off the Phone versions of FORScan have one thing in common, they haven't used the Phone versions.

I tried to connect the Bluetooth adapter I've got(recommended by forscan) to my laptop but wouldn't connect,maybe im doing something wrong and give it another try,I just scanned for other devices and it never came up on the list,I'll just send the wired one back if I can get it connected.Thanks for your input.

6 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

I'm not sure Google knows all of the nuances within the Mk3 Focus engine range so would still want to confirm that directly. 

Even 770 sounds like a very large gap between regens to me.  That would be less than one per tank of fuel.  I wonder whether that's only recording active regens, but your driving allows passive regens to take place in between.  I had the normal version of this engine in a 2012 model and I'm sure regens were happening roughly every 2-3 weeks on that (around 300 miles).  Never bothered to check the soot levels or pressures as the coated DPF seemed to work fine on that.  Unlike my previous MK2 with Eolys DPF where I was having frequent DPF issues and had to keep checking diags.

I've checked the soot levels every week since I've had it so I'd know if one had been done in between active regens.

I might be worrying about nothing but it has started a regen after 15 minutes of town driving in the past so its very strange the levels have got to where they are.

21 minutes ago, Tizer said:

The Windows version will show you exactly the same thing as the mobile Versions, anyway if your Laptop has Bluetooth Connectivity then you can use your Bluetooth Adaptor with it, I've been doing that for years

I confirm everything that John @Tizer is saying about the use of FORScan.  I use both the wired version of FORScan connected by a vLinker cable and also the android phone version on a weekly bases on a range of vehicles (including Mazda). There is zero difference between the windows version and the android version unless you want to make actual programming changes.

2 minutes ago, Baggieboy said:

I've checked the soot levels every week since I've had it

That is the most worrying part of this whole saga. Not even Ford technicians with access to full Ford diagnostic equipment would be checking their own cars on a weekly bases.

4 minutes ago, Baggieboy said:

I might be worrying about nothing

I couldn't agree more with that statement.  As I said previously................

20 hours ago, unofix said:

Then I'd leave well alone. If you weren't checking with FORScan then you would have no idea about the soot level or for that matter when it last completed a regen.

 

4 minutes ago, unofix said:

I confirm everything that John @Tizer is saying about the use of FORScan.  I use both the wired version of FORScan connected by a vLinker cable and also the android phone version on a weekly bases on a range of vehicles (including Mazda). There is zero difference between the windows version and the android version unless you want to make actual programming changes.

Doesn't that include doing a static regen? Once again,I read that one can't be performed using the mobile version.

2 minutes ago, unofix said:

That is the most worrying part of this whole saga. Not even Ford technicians with access to full Ford diagnostic equipment would be checking their own cars on a weekly bases.

I couldn't agree more with that statement.  As I said previously................

 

The reason I checked it so much was to log the intervals to better understand the time and under what circumstances it would perform a dpf regen,didn't think it was anything out of the ordinary lol..I had read horror stories about blocked dpf and the fact that I dont use the motorway much concerned me,so I thought I'd log everything and try and work out when I need to take it for a blast down the m6.

@Baggieboy, I can understand your concern and i'm also a bit worried about the life expectancy etc. but even I thin you may be worrying too much (however still suggest the checks above to allay your fears)

However, apart from the time when the vaporiser was blocked and the glow plug blowing the fuse when a message came up, we have had zero bother.

I just record the details of regens and check the pressure reading every 6 months, looking for very short distances between as I suspect this would mean ash build up at 120k miles+ although I have read that these can go to 150k+ before significant injector/DPF etc issues start (that's the DW10C engine).

I also use Archoil  for it's cetane improver, detergent and fuel lubricity improver (gives premium diesel at 1/2 the price of fuel station premium) as a salve to my conscience!