Cleaning your own DPF may seem like a daunting task, but once you understand the pieces and know how to disassemble them, it's not so scary. I show how to disassemble and clean your own Powerstroke, Duramax or Ram Cummins DPF.
Excellent video. I stand in absolute awe at man's ability to invent ever increasingly efficient methods of setting cash on fire. That device is at least partially responsible for the inflation of the US dollar in the past 12 years.
And in the end all the shit gets washed off into environment anyways... or more oil and resources are being burnt to make the replacement truck once the DPF kills one...
Great information. I saw plenty of videos on DPF's getting cleaned, but none that clearly showed how to disassemble the pieces. Really helpful that it is explained how to identify the pieces too. Thanks.
I have not started this job as of yet but going to. and I will say this is the best video for any kind of help videos involving DPF's that are out there anywhere thank you so much for all the knowledge you have shared herewith all to see. you need to do many more in other areas. Again, Thank You for the knowledge.
Thank you so much man! 2010 F350 same message for me constantly "drive to clean exhaust" and grey smoke intermittently - I know my time is coming soon! Excellent video and narration!
*SUBSCRIBED* your video is great! Thank you for taking the time to share this with everyone, I really appreciate your time and efforts. Thank you again and may God continue blessing you and your family.
Hello Mike. I have tonadd a correction to the video. I worked on a 2014 Duramax cab and chassis today where the SCR was first in the exhaust stream. In the video, I had stated the DOC always comes first.
@@redneckoriental no worries mines is in the exact layout on the video so it was good. It sucks that have to clean both systems including the DPF becuase it is up stream of the DPF... even still great video because your was well explained. Thanks again.
the best for disolving ash from DPF is muriatic Acid or HCL 2h of soaking in it and ceramic is clean as new . IT disolves ash in 100% with no problems at all
I've never had any problems with mine and I have 280000km on the original 5 year old dpf. I just run cetane booster to improve fuel combustion. The main problem is short trips around town. I drive mine on the highway for a good hour or so to clean it
The clogging occurs faster and it's nastier when the fuel system is "ill". I'm gonna use as an example a regular car with a DPF. If the injectors are not functioning properly, more soot will be produced. If a MAF sensor is not doing proper readings, the ECU will struggle to know the correct combination of air and fuel. A bad fuel burning will result in thicker oil vapors going through the exhaust, and that will slowly but surely clog up the DPF like the one in this video. The DPF will burn up dry soot which then turns into ash before being pushed out. But if the soot is combined with a lot of oil, it's obviously not gonna be able to regenerate properly if can at all. Then we have the swirl flaps, which a lot of people force them open after they've had problems with them, are VERY important for engine idling and low RPM. Driving in the city might be very slowly sometimes, going from point A to point B. The swirl flaps will want to close during most of that trip, which means that they'll block most of the soot going through the system freely as it would if the flaps were stuck in an open position. All that soot would end up in your DPF sooner and in larger quantity. So pay attention to your engine and the fuel injection. Plug in a scanning tool once in a while and make sure the fuel is burned properly. A simple sensor could mess with the air intake values and that'll be enough for the ECU to spasm and make poor decisions on fuel burning. My Mercedes W211, which I still drive once in a while even after upgrading to a newer model, has 917k KM and it had a new DPF when I got it at 450k kilometers on the Dash. I cleaned it every 50k KM along with the intake manifold, throttle body, etc, and it's running perfectly fine to this day. That's more than 450k KM and the damn thing is doing perfectly well. But I took care of the car in a way it would prevent clogging problems. Take care of your vehicle in time otherwise you'll have bigger problems later on. PS: I prefer to use a highly concentrated foam cleaner meant for grills, which you can buy at the supermarket, to spray into the DPF after sealing it, I let it sit for a few hours then do another water cleanse. Then I do another cycle with the same steps because just water is not enough to properly clean all that oily crap that clogged the honeycomb in the first place. After that I let the DPF dry for a day in a vertical position. Only after it's dried properly, I put that back in my car and boom, the thing will last you for a long time.
@@dogpig7683 Worked great! My Autel shows ash content went from 103% down to 15% after pressure washing it out, welding back together, and purging. It's been almost 2 weeks since I did the repair and no issues nor CEL. Thanks for the quality video :)
@@redneckoriental I'm glad I saw your video and comments here. @Triston Murphey I'm glad I saw your post as I'm planning to do my 08 Mercdes E320 as well. I have a few questions if you guys don't mind? 1. What wire did you use to weld it back together, steel or stainless? I'm not sure what material it is on my car. 2. Did you use argon shielding? 3. Did you also power wash the filter up stream of the DPF between that and the DOC which comes off the turbo? I think it's the NOx or SCR filter which sits between those in the engine bay on the passenger side. Thanks for your help guys! Cheers!
Great video. I hope I get an answer for this question My truck is an F550 with 6.4L. When it’s running, it doesn’t smoke as long as it’s in PARK, when I drive it, and stop at a traffic light, it covers the whole street with smoke. When it’s in PARK, doesn’t smoke whatsoever
When I got my F250 2008 two years ago, was like yours. Later I realized that there was not filter (ceramic) in the (inside) DPF and CAT, they were working like a pipe. Cuando compre mi F250 super duty hace un par de years, echaba humo como la tuya. Era porque quien me la vendio le había quitado la ceramica interior del DPF y del CATalizador. quiero decir que era como si no trajera el DPF y el CAT. Sorry for my English.
The best solution is to remove the internal contents completely leaving the outside canister intact but completely empty. the internals can easily be knocked out with a metal bar. Once empty never again a DPF issue. Of course if anyone ever looks underneath its all still there.
Be sure you know where is the stack your DPF is located. Cab N Chassis models have a different order. The truck in video has DPF second, I have done only F250 and F350 pickups (or pickup bed models with flatbeds fitted later) and DPF is last in the stack. 1 tons that came as cab n chassis will have the DPF first for some also. Look for incomplete vehicle labeling on the manufacturer's label on door or door opening.
how many more times can it be washed .... and if its a lot maybe installing a V-band or something would be good. hmm maybe having an oven just for this job
Yes, you can. If your scr is clogged with soot, it is probably located upstream of the DPF. You should clean the DPF and everything upstream of the DPF.
Is it necessary to oil change after a forced regen? I noticed some people mentioned it but I don't get why? Is it because the soot backing up and going everywhere?
I have a 2011 ford f-550 6.7 tow truck couple questions is the video base on the same dpf like mine? And could be cut and clean , cause ford wants me to buy one
Just did my 2018 ram 3500 . But instead water they use air. They told me if you use water pressure you would damage the Dpf filter. And anything left in there would crystallize and prematurely clogging it up. This guys are in Ogden UT.
Hey Redneck Oriental great educational video. Gonna take on this task soon. I have a question for you...theoretically what would happen if you were to remove the filter from the dpf and reinstall it? Would the vehicle throw a DTC?
You will get a check engine light. Some trucks will derate after a certain number of miles. The ECU expect to see a certain pressure and temperature differential in the DPF. Meaning, it expects to see the DPF cause some restriction. If it sees no restriction or temperature change, it will assume the DPF is missing or damaged (cracked, causing exhaust to flow straight through). It also expects to see some things happen over time. The amount of restriction should rise over time, as the DPF fills with soot. Then, it should decrease when it goes through active regeneration (heating up the soot to break it down into ash). You would need to program the DPF out of the equation or fool the ECU into thinking one is there.
@@redneckoriental Thanks for the quick reply. Hope you don't mind answering a couple more questions if you have the time. So I can fool the ecu by using a tuner to accomplish this. In your opinion would there be any side effects in running my truck with the the egr and dpf intact (minus the filter in the dpf) and using a tuner to delete the egr/dpf?
Nope. I can't think of any reason that would hurt your engine. Lots of people do this. Usually, they'll eventually delete the EGR and EGR cooler entirely, but I don't see any reason you can't just leave them there.
I did this in front of my house lady across the street was pissed when I did the regen noise and steam came out. I think next time might try one of these services if I can find one I can drop it off let them cut it open and do it.
I blew my boom tube and kept driving 😢. I split the exhaust to get me back to my shop. I will try and get the truck to do it its self tomorrow. If not I will be doing this.
Have you done this successfully on the newer 19 and up Rams? There are so many posts saying it will strip the metals. My truck wants to constantly regen and the dealer is now mentioning replacing this whole system for the second time. They already replaced it once at 34k and now I am at 65k.
I think that's a farse. The metals aren't sprinkled onto the ceramic like fairy dust. If you're having to replace the system after such few miles. There's something else going on. If your DPF is getting clogged frequently, it's making excessive soot. The #1 cause is fuel not being burned efficiently. Injectors spraying too much fuel could be the cause. But in a RAM (we're talking Cummins RAM), turbo problems are common, mainly the VGT parts. Maybe you have sensors MAP / MAF out of calibration that cause improper air-fuel mixture. If you've had any other engine related faults, that could give you a clue.
Has anyone noticed any improvement to fuel mileage after cleaning their filters? I have a 2011 Ram 2500 6.7 - pre DEF fluid mess. But I do have the DPF. I have 176,000+ miles and wonder if cleaning the filter will help in fuel consumption?
I think that is false. There are lots of alarmists who make these sorts of statements. They are the same people who will tell you to only take your truck to the dealer for service. Why would a DOC be made so fragile? Besides, there are aqueous cleaning systems for DOCs. I've had no DOC problems after washing them out.
@@redneckoriental ya it was Cummins who told me it had a “special” coating when I had asked about pressure washing the filters. A friend of mine just washed out his dpf but not the doc. Said it runs better. I will try it at next cleaning. Appreciate your reply.
Yes, it will work on your truck. If your truck does not use DEF, it does not have an SCR system and your work will be easier. You will need to clean the DOC and DPF.
i was just thinking if someone made this a yearly thing if they do lots of miles then why not weld on exhaust v band flange's and have it setup so its a 20 min job without having to remove the whole system? or is this a bad idea?
@@redneckoriental I do well over 100k miles hot shorting. It’s legal to delete your truck up here in Alberta Canada so I normally delete the system from day one. But as rules change I’m learning more about these systems and how to keep them alive.
@@StevenLaFrance : band flange on a DPF is great idea. So great that the manufacturers should make it that way. I'm guessing just about diesel shop does work on these in your area
I have a 2022 ram 5500 with 260k miles and I’ve been noticing the truck going to regen quiet often while I’m driving I can feel the dpf is about to get clogged, can I do this even I don’t have issues just to preventive maintenance?
It's your truck, you can do whatever you want. But yes, as ash builds up inside the DPF, it will have to regen more frequently because it gets clogged more quickly.
It’ll be cheaper and more practical for everyone to learn how to remove and tune these things themselves than to pay for the work time and headache here soon
There’s nothing toxic about the soot. It’s pretty much just ash. Perfectly safe to dispose of anywhere. It’s like charcoal except more fine. Throw it in your yard it’s plant food.
Lemme tell ya about that soot... I used to have 8 palm trees along the driveway. Runoff from a DPF cleaning drained straight onto one of them palms. Now I have 7 palms. I still breathe it in and eat some that fling in my mouth during washing. But I wouldn't feed it to the trees.
That was alot of work.bur probably the only way to do it right.must of taken a Full day. I wonder what this would cost in a shop to do. A couple grand or more.
GM vehicles are so much easier then ford. The catalyst, SCR, DOC and DPF is separated from everything like 2 feet or more. And win it comes time to clean mine I’m going to have my muffler shop to add a clamp to it’s easier to take apart. And if I’m going to replace the DPF I’m going to get a bigger one and a serviceable DPF.
this really is a problem with work trucks because they idle so much and never really get driven hard. the truck would of been fine if they just gave it an italian tune up every once and while. DPF system need hot egts they love a heavy foot
Honestly all that work of removing and cutting to clean the DPF, l would've cut the damm thing out and wield everything back together to not bother with it again
my 2019 Ram is giving me all kinds of DPF trouble. Dealer just keeps it for 2 weeks and someone drives the bag off of it and keeps clearing codes. Then they charge me $27.50 a gallon for def that they use, and give it back to me empty.
So let me get this straight........... They put all these sensors and filters on the truck to make it run cleaner. But rather than let it roll out the exhaust, you clean the filters and allow the soot to blow everywhere from the pressure washer, then you sweep it up and put it in the trash only to end up in a landfill? I think there was some “special interest” money given to someone. That just makes no sense at all.
You're right. Some politician's friend made a poop ton of money off of this. I'd bet Paul Pelosi did, too. These systems are supposed to convert pollutants into other pollutants supposedly less harmful. They completely neglected to disclose they reduce fuel efficiency and engine performance. And they make the trucks a whole lot less reliable. I find it funny that your engine could be on fire and the engine won't derate to save itself. But if there's a problem with the SCR (DEF) system, they make sure to disable you from driving. Diesel trucks just aren't worth having anymore if there's a gas engine alternative. Almost everything we work on has a diesel engine, but all our service trucks are gas.
