63 Plate TDCI FOCUS DPF Regen

[sezzy5937]

Hi ,

I need some advice I have just got a 63 plate Focus TDCi titanium and I love it .

But i use the care Monday to Friday  for urban driving twice a week I will do a 35 min journey on the motor ways.

I also do regular long drives to Liverpool and Nottingham I live in Richmond so a long way

What I really want to know is how often should I drive up the motor way and for how long to ensure that the DPF filter regens and to keep it on top form as I do not want and PDF filter issues.

I have read I can do a forced regen is this correct and if needed how ?

Also is Wynn's DPF cleaner is this any good .

 

Thanks

Sarah

 

 

 

 

 

[MaxDee]

You should be ok as you do long motorway journeys but have a read on this:

http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/82842-16-diesel-worried-over-choice-of-engine/

especially the last 4 posts. There is a good explanation on DPF by Dee_82.

Also if you read from the beginning you can find some interesting posts regarding our TDCI 1.6 engine.

 

[sezzy5937]

Thanks  MaxDee,

 

That's helped a lot as long as I do a motorway drive for 10-15 min at 2500 -3000 revs should be ok.

 

Do you know how i will tell when the regen ha happened >

 

Still think I'm a wally for getting a D and not P i should have looked in to it more

 

Any idea of the DPF cleaner ?

 

Sarah

 

 

[MaxDee]

Sarah it's a great car with a fab engine. Not come across any major problems so far on the net. MPG is great too. I had it for 6 weeks now, done 2 K miles and not been on the motorway yet but did a couple of times were I drove in 5th gear @ 70 MPH for 15 mins. Not noticed any regens yet!

Not sure about DPF cleaner but to be honest I don't like using these sort of cleaners and engine flushes. 

 

[MaxDee]

Forgot to mention that I have been advised to change oil and filter every 6K miles and not 12.5 K miles.

[sezzy5937]

thank you I'm just worried that I have made a wrong choice :(

[andypsp]

12 minutes ago, sezzy5937 said:

thank you I'm just worried that I have made a wrong choice :(

you haven`t made the wrong choice there a very good car and engine, allways had ford cars, and I finally got my 1st ford diesel car 18th months ago,no probs with it and I drive around 13,000 miles a yr so it`s good on the mpg. just do the oil and filter change every 6 months , and air and pollen filter change every year. fuel filter change every 2yrs. happy driveing

[tazzman600]

Hi Sarah. Have no fears about your car. I drive short distances in mine and once a week on the M62 for 30 mins trip. As for a regen taking place. You will notice your car sounding dog rough. Regen in my experience happen on short journeys too. You may also notice a puff of white smoke exiting the exhaust. That's the end stage of a regen.

Nowt wrong with Wynns dpf cleaner. I use it and also a fuel additive purly because of my short journeys. Millars or Archoil products are recommended.

[Dee_82]

Those DPF cleaners aren't really worth it, your car will have the ceramic DPF meaning it should get up to temp fairly easily on the traveling you describe.  Just mind that it isn't about distance, its about temperature and the duration at that temp. For example, if you sat in 6th gear (if you have it) doing 60 then your RPMs will be like 2000 which isn't enough to generate the heat, equally  you might be driving about at 2500-3000 RPM but having to stop or slow down every hundred yards, that isn't any good either.

Of course it wont hurt using them clearners, it will just cost you money, in my mind your better off dosing the tank with the BG 244 or Archoil AR6400D once a year, they have some great chemicals within for cleaning out carbon deposits and gunk from the fuel system, they will also burn a little better by increasing the cetane levels which will help with your millage on that tank, they help lube up your injectors too.  don't go expecting to notice much else but you might find it sounds a little quieter.

Despite your best efforts though that DPF will fill up with ash eventually, so if you plan to keep it for a long time then you best start saving some money to replace it or plan to "fix" it.

oil changes should be done every 6k, yours is a revised engine compared to the older 1.6tdci so I believe 12 is ok though, @iantt will know, he knows everything, usually with pictures to match! 

I wouldn't leave the fuel filter for 2 years, id change it every 12 months.  My last filter packed in after just 5000 miles, although I'm fairly sure that was because I filled up after they had a delivery and I got all the silt an crap stirred up in their tank.

I rack up between 14 and 18k a year, shes a fine engine if looked after, just keep the oil changes coming (20 quid for oil, 5 quid for a filter plus half hours labour) and if possible look at getting the EGR valve "fixed"  - a well looked after DPF last for like 70k - 100k I thing...

 

[sezzy5937]

Oh ok I'm not so worried now ..

 

could you pleaae advise what mpg on urban road and motors way 

 

Sarah 

[andypsp]

there is no fixed mpg what you should be getting mine is on 54.2mpg at the mo and that's with 20mins of motorway driving a week. 50 - 55 mph is the best speed to do to see that figure increase (that's what it says in the owners handbook)

[JW1982]

There is nothing wrong with the 8-valve version of the 1.6 TDCI that is used in the Focus MK3. This engine has a lot less problems than the older 16-valve version.

The 115 HP version of the 8-valve 1.6 TDCi engine is generally the most reliable. The 115 HP version does not have the additional systems that are needed to reduce emissions on the 85 and 95 HP versions. These additional systems (for example the extra fuel injector that is mounted inside the exhaust) are known to cause problems.

 

These days many people choose for the 1.0 ECOboost Petrol engine instead of the 1.6 TDCI Diesel engine. The ECOboost engines are a lot more efficient than the old natural aspirated Petrol engines. The result of this is that the difference in fuel economy between a Diesel and a Petrol is a lot smaller than before. Next to this a Diesel engine generally has higher maintenance costs than a Petrol engine.

The result of this is that even at higher yearly mileages the 1.0 ECOboost can be cheaper to run than the 1.6 TDCI.

[sezzy5937]

All very confusing lol 

I do love this car and all its extras 

how will I know when the regen is happening 

Sarah X 

[Dee_82]

passive regens happen all the time the car is up to temp, around 500c, if your giving it a good drive then your unlikely to notice active regens, these only kick in when the car thinks that the passive burning of soot isn't going well enough or you keep stopping it from doing its job by slowing down or stopping, if the pressure continues to increase by the build up of soot then the car will take over and ramp up temps even further to around 650c.  if this still fails to burn the soot then you might start to get problems.

To be honest, from what you say you drive, you probably wont notice anything at all for a while until the car DPF starts to fill up with ash.

[Jollyandy]

Make sure also that you keep the fuel level at least quarter full, as below this any regen won't happen.

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