Understanding Diesel DPF Regeneration 

Fantastic video which confirmed my disastrous experience earlier this year in April 2014. I bought a 2005 Mazda 2.0 litre diesel car last year August 2013 with 75,000 miles on the motor. Not bad for a diesel engine, I hear you cry. I thought so too and it was a good price so I snapped it up. Fast forward to April 2014 and some 8,000 miles later and there's an ominous knocking coming from the engine one morning and within about 15 miles of the start of this knocking the engine’s seized. Subsequent research (alas too late of course) on the internet revealed the horrific tale of the dreaded Diesel Particulate Filter and Exhaust Gas Recirculation system all designed to clean up emissions. Can’t tell you how many people I’ve come across who like me, once they’ve had their crankshaft bearings destroyed by the processes described by the speaker in this video, have said they’ll now be driving a petrol car. Best advice before you decide to buy a second-hand diesel vehicle is DO YOUR RESEARCH!

I have sat through many many service and engineering seminars in my life, but now I have retired i was intrigued and gripped by the presentation given by Dan. It was informative and interesting, goes to prove you are never to old to learn. Thank you.

Thanks so much for the video, Dan! I'm smarter than I was before I watched!

As a diesel student and soon to be Caterpillar technician, I really like you videos and find them to be great refreshers! Amsoil has an astounding reputation and I would like to become a dealer sometime another. Thanks Mr. Watson for sharing your videos on RU-vid.

Dang!! I just learned a bunch a shit so fast under no pressure I’d pay this man to keep talking

Great video by a knowledgeable and passionate guy. Thanks for uploading this to share the information.

Dan, tremendous video, really helpful in understanding the problems of regen and oil contamination. Thank you very much.

Very informative video. I personally solved my EGR and DPF problems by completely removing them. My model of truck lists the number 1 and 2 warranty claims as emissions - almost all related to the DEF system and the DPF. A good tuner can disable the EGR function, while leaving it in place as a safety measure against turbo over-spin, and the DEF system is simply bypassed by telling the ECU that all of it's incoming data is good, and that it has a certain percentage of DEF in the system (ie. 50%). With a full turbo back exhaust and said tune in the mix, most guys see an increase of 4-6mpg in all driving conditions, and likely a huge increase in reliability.

If you drive intown (Stopping alot, slowing down and speeding up etc.) you will burn alot more def and your engine will re-gen alot more. If your over the road (not stopping alot, going a certain speed for a long time etc.) the def won't burn as fast and your exauast will stay at the tempature required for re-generation longer requiring less re-gens.

Informative video. GM has perhaps the best exhaust system in light duty diesel trucks with the differential pressure sensor and injector in the DPF. Much better than pumping a bunch fuel into the engine during the exhaust stroke. I have a "Minimax" 2.8 in a '17 GMC Canyon. It is amazingly clean and efficient. EGR is getting turned off though via a tune, just as soon as possible though.

Loving my 7.3 even more now!

It's a great information to know about the regen DPF . In India mostly commercial vehicles manufacturing started implement ed in to Regen DPF system as government law to makeing euro6 engine . It's help me a lots to understand the concept behind DPF . Thanks a lots.

I have a UK Mazda6 Diesel with recurring DPF problems that result in oil level rising very quickly and forcing me to change the oil at a cost of £48 for 5 litres (approx. $62 USD). I have been wanting to know how the DPF worked both as a filter and what is the principle behind regeneration so subjective opinions asside, I found this vid clip to be very informative. It also explains how the oil level can rise when the engine is not mechanically damaged. Much appreciated.

How can a post cat and dpf exhaust gas could increase emission if injected back in the intake ? the catalyst make co and hc in co2 (inert) and water and the dpf removes particles. It would do the same : it's still inert BUT soot free,so good for egr. I don't see what i don't understand according to you Can you explain ?

It is always good to straighten out the info but you need to give some facts and not just shoot from the hip! I am not above being corrected if I have made a mistake. You should explain the points you think I got wrong and be a help rather than a pointless critic.

got to love those cross the room microphone pick up sound

Excellent, brilliant illustration.

Well presented Dan, very informative.

superb and intelligently recorded

Excellent video. That's just what i wanted know. thanks

Very informative! Thanks a bunch! 🙏😀

Very good information, glad I found this video

excellent and informative video, thank you for sharing.

One good thing about urea it controls nox just as the EGR also controls nox so when you're using urea that allowed the manufacturers to reduce the amount of exhaust gas recirculation.

great information will watch the video again

You are a genius! With a disabled EGR my regen went from 100 miles to 450 miles.

FYI the ISUZU you mentioned requiring regeneration is the same engine manufacturer of the Duramax which replaced the 6.5L V8 Detroit Diesel which had lots of fuel injection pump problems but not limited to block cracking therefore GM installed a Japanese engine ISUZU and call it Duramax! The Japanese have learned from other manufacturers and refined it so good that today the same manufacturer are using Japanese products and trying to take credit for it! Love the Duramax but please don't bash ISUZU! LOL!

This is great info. Never really understood the damage to the oil. Destroy the engine and it won’t pollute must be the strategy.

Dan, this was a great presentation, and I appreciate your knowledge in this field. I recently noticed my 6.4 Powerstroke was blowing an incredible aount of blues/white smoke on occasion (not consistently). I researched this on the web and have had many suggestions to move to a DPF delete kit. Before I do this, do you know if Ford has come out with a fix for this problem?

Very educational. Thanks.

How does it help the environment when I have to pull over and waist a half hour of time burning 4 gallons of Diesel fuel while going absolutely nowhere? This system gets the "Stupid Idea Award" of the century!!!!

Very helpful thanks for posting.

Why not to pick up exhaust gas after the dpf to feed the egr ? it's still inert and thee is no soot.

GM put the injector in the DOWNPIPE coming off the turbo in front of the DOC, its bin there since 2011 when the LML engine came out with the new chassie

thanks, very informative

Good vid, but a VW TDI does do regen cycles, typically when one starts the idle will increase by 100 RPM and the fuel injectors will fire on the exhaust stroke, thus burning off the soot in the DPF.

Dpf filters are engine killers. Aftermarket needs to produce a better system, maybe propane injection to clean dpf instead of ruining my engine with oil contamination.

I just do an EGR delete ! Tho it voids warranty. Still works great

Hi, it was very iteresting an learn a lot. I wald like to know what you mean by bypas testemoni

Hi and thank you for this great video on understanding diesel engines and how they work. Have you heard of TerraClean? They have an EGR and Induction system cleaner. The product claims it cleans EGR valves and DPFs reducing regen cycles. Just wanted to get your thoughts if you've heard of this product and whether you recommend it? Thanks in advance, Sal

Great presentation! 🙏

what they dont tell you is the immense heat of the exhaust system causes turbo failure on certain engines because of this heat it causes the turbine shaft to distort, the heat travels back because the gases can't escape.

Does the EGR need to be functioning in order for DPF to regen?

good stuff

Hey Dan, I have a couple of questions I was hoping you could help me with; 1st of all is a turbocharger absolutely necessary for fuel injection into the DPF? and 2nd I was wondering if you knew of any public access data or stats regarding the input and output emissions (mass or percentages) of a DPF with or without a catalytic converter integrated. Any help would be crazy appreciated! Cheers

Right about the 18th min 18th sec. You commented on the diesel fluid bi products

I have a 2011 powerstroke with the 6.7L and I run Mobil one synthetic 5w40 oil. Let me ask you something sir,I do alot of idling , I'm mean I idle one to two hours in a roll back to back everyday. Would that cause alot of soot build up? Great video, have a wonderful day.

This is very informative, ive always wondered, why arent there filtering kits for egr systems, imagine the stupidity, filtering outside air before the throttle body, but allowing dirtier soot gas into the motor via egr. Suppose argon or another inert gas was used to replace exhaust gas in the egr system? Thank you for this video.

hi dan. i want to ask you about the right oil, for Mitsubishi pajero bk 2011 3.2 diesel, 200hp, with DPF. what is better to use, a5w30 oil with: a5\b5 api SM-CF or a3\b3 c3? and can you please recommend me for the perfect oil for this car? thank you very much.

Wonder what year Duramax came out with there style of regen system?

Has anyone figured out the excessive cost to the OWNER- OPERATOR? Another fuel, more filters-systems witch require maintence. Another system that will put a truck in the shop or on the side of the road.

It sounds like a good idea for the EGR to pick up after the DPF where it is almost soot free but this defeats the purpose of the EGR and that is to lower the emission, anything after the cat and DPF is at a set emission level where the EGR will make no difference. When done before the EGR takes away a percentage of that emission and that results in less gases at the tailpipe the CO2 emission may be the same but less of it resulting in less CO2 emission per kilometer. very good question that is

VWs do have a regeneration cycle. There is no light or indicator that comes on to tell you it is regenerating but the cooling fans come on and you know it is happening. what triggers it I do not know because it varies from about every 150 miles to 300 miles (guessing from when I notice it happening). To be fair I'm talking about a 2012 VW TDI here which is about the time this video was made.

Basically the todo-list with a DPF is: run low ash oils, a catch can / oil bypass filter, diesel concentrate / additive, change the engine oil ahead of schedule. Or move to Texas and delete kit. 🤣

yes, clean air is important. The point is to use the best method and that is not pushing diesel through the engine. Systems using a dedicated injector upstream of the DPF is a much better plan than putting diesel in the crankcase oil.

egr gas is inert post cat and dpf gas is still inert and would do the same job as i know. you could throw argon in egr valve it would work too. the point of my comment was to use soot free gas. i don't unsderstand what you explain to me.

Great tuto where can I find this instructor's courses ?

Well Isuzu (in joint effort with GM) makes Duramax.

What I’m wondering is if the pressure sensor in the DPF is reading exactly the same on both sensors will it trigger a service engine light or put the truck into limp mode For example if the DPF ceramic filter just happened to fall apart and come out of the exhaust 🤔

Stop start technology is also a way forward. When a vehicle stops for a period of say 5 seconds the engine stops and re starts when say the clutch is engaged in order to move forward. Another is when a vehicle is travelling down a hill. The engine automatically cuts of a couple of cylinders again saving fuel.

The soot Level on my 2017 F350 is 94%. I have been driving short distances for the last couple of weeks, I have never had to soot level this high before the truck automatically regenerate, my hope is to take it on a long drive to regenerate, but my fear is having the system shut down on me, and being stranded. Am I safe to hit the road?

I have a 2012 Peterbilt that when driving it has a high existost temp light on the dash

No, the computer will initiate the regeneration based on the differential pressure across the DPF. The EGR system operation may affect the level of soot going to the DPF and that might make a difference in the frequency of the regeneration.

MY 2008 is running well .. after regeneration , Diesel Particulate Efficiency Below Threshold ....

My dpf was clogged, I changed for a new one. Now the pdf pressure sensor because is new can not be written by the computer. Has someone change the dpf sensor on a mercedes and adapt it to the computer

18:20... lol... french car marketing campaigns anounced that when DPF and HDI and common rail started to me applied to their engines... but, it is a duramax

I did regeneration But I have got same problem.

6:15min he mentions his brother in laws truck not going into regen mode. It’s possible that he’s not using the truck “properly”, meaning long drives/towing. If he’s doing short runs the truck may not go into regen mode or if it does go into regen mode it may not complete its process. Also stop and go traffic effects regen, or so I heard. I wonder how trucks that never leave a place such as Manhattan go into regen. My father drove a cement mixer in NYC (queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Bronx, Staten Island). Those trucks were never on long drives.

Does it help by using the products like from forte or cataclean in the fuel tank to help to keep the whole system clean

crazy design

Dan, a excellent presentation, but as you know, diesel emission technology has changed so much, a new video may be in order. Or did I miss it?

the injector he refers to around 10:00 is the def injector not the hydrocarbon( indirect) injector for reject that's up closer to the engine

Nice video,I bought the 2011 Ford F250 6.7 Diesel, I have used Amsoil for years, I am using the Amsoil OE as you recomended in the video and the Amsoil 25,000 mile filter. Does the filter need to be changed out as frequent as the oil? All they needed to do is add a ninth injector, I thought they new what they were doing. What will the bypass filter actually do under this system and how much more maintance will it require?

Just for anyone who was wondering, the 2012 lmls also have a 9th injector.

Id like to correct Mr Watson. The exhaust gasses emitted after combustion that require conversion are not Nitrous Oxide. They are in part Nitrogen Oxide, Oxygen, Carbon Monoxide, and others. The dentist and racing engines use Nitrous Oxide which converts to oxygen under pressure and high temperature.

Hi, Have a 14 Jetta Sportwagon TDI 12,000 miles. Last several months have had my check engine light come on 3 times. Both times told that the DPF Regeneration occurring to often? Never happened prior? Very annoying told that I need to drive on the highway more often. I was not told that there is a certain way to drive these vehicles. Love my VW's. My 4th. All prior gas. VW time to step up and put me in another vehicle? Any suggestions. Great info.

Hey ;) interessanter Clip! Echt nice... ☺ Hast du schon mal zufällig dieses Jungbrunnenwasser aus einem solchen Aquavolta Cavendish schon mal kennenlernen können? Dieses Getränk ist echt beeindruckend! :D Wie bitte? Hmm das musst Du selbst herausfinden. zudem: Wasserstoff ist eine optimale Krebsvorsorge Ein Tipp: Du findest es im Aquacentrum und es hilft wirklich .. 😊

The Regen won't start, could it be because I have a check engine light? I have a Volvo 780 D13 engine.

pull the dpf out and send it to California government as a gift

3:50 NOT CORRECT INFO. My cars all of them have diff pressure sensor and ALL of them also regen based on milage, bASED on time. And on more things. It's stupid i agree but i think this is done to make sure that if diff pressure is bad or shows always good values, to make sure regen will happen anyway...or just to make chip tuners to have mor eproblems removing regen code from ecu.

Remove all this from all engine, and then we can all enjoy life again!!!

Can this be used to train my drivers

Turbocharger is not really necessary to get fuel to the DPF. The fuel injector for the cylinder injects diesel on the exhaust stroke of the cylinder. This pushes unburned diesel down the exhaust system to the DPF where it burns the carbon out of the DPF. I don't have any data on the DPF emissions with or without a catalytic converter. You might have to go to the manufacturer. Dan

hey, so im not trying to burst a bubble but on a duramax powered truck a dpf filter will do a manual regen ever 400 kilometers, and in 2013 they are equiped with def not a dpf at all.

This is why I run Seafoam in my Duramax! 20,000 plus miles and not one Regen!

emission systems are junk! I had all that crap removed from my truck and had it reprogrammed, now it runes real good!

Does anyone have any estimates on what these engine destroying systems add to the cost of these trucks? And when they fail, if you're lucky enough to have an engine left, what do they cost to repair? This is just a horrible adventure in emission control techniques....Why bother with diesel today? A multi-thousand dollar repair or failure will buy a lot of gasoline..

Interesting video. It explained the DPF in great detail. Too bad ford and chevy cant implement it worth a shit. I'll continue cutting them off on my fleet until I can no longer do so, as I get about 200k less miles out of a truck with dpf than without. So the DPF as deployed on 2008 - 12 is obviously shitty, and really fucking useless.

Bypass. Tap into the exhaust ahead of the DPF with pipe which returns to the exhaust after the DPF. The system never senses pressure so it never regens...If you live in an area where you can get away with it.

Nitrous oxide is N2O. Oxides of Nitrogen is NOX caused by combustion temps above 1800. You need to call it correctly.

yes clean air is important that being said DPF filters destroy your $17,000 diesel motor. the DPF regeneration process uses a lot of fuel and I mean a lot of fuel bring to question how much the DPF filter really saves the environment burn more fuel and DPF VS using less fuel and more soot, making diesel fuel isn't with out an environmental impact. when the 6.4L engine begins the regeneration process the extra fuel creates extreme exhaust gas temperatures damaging the turbocharger every time the regeneration cycle begins, fills the crankcase with fuel diluting the expensive oil you just bought, taxing the cooling system that already has problems with the 6.4L engine, damaging crank, rod, and pistons as well as valve guide issues known in the 6.4L. the newer 6.7L has it own set of problems but uses a different system than the 6.4L DPF. Ford should be ashamed of themselves even producing a motor the destroys its self by design making the 6.4L motor good for only about 125K to 200K miles before the motor is junk and I mean scrap junk not the reason we spent 65K on a diesel truck. not mention making diesel trucks basically useless. I don't recommend anyone buying a diesel truck unless you really need one, they don't make good high performance vehicles. yes they are fast however the maintenance cost are very high, motor cost for modifications done right are very expensive.

Get your self a remote to change your ppt slides

It's simple just take egr gases post cat or dpf

Isn't it still against the law to disable/remove emission devices? Isn't the soot still carcinogen causing? I see several trucks producing so much soot I can barely make out the color much less the make. I especially want clean air for my kids to breathe... is this asking too much? How much do you get for the parts you deleted? I would think a small fortune.

If we were to poll the experts about reducing carbon emissions most experts would say to treat the source of where the carbons are located, the fuel itself. How can this be done? An additive that burns the carbons during the combustion process at normal operating temperature. One fuel additive does that. Green Fuel Tabs is all natural, organic and EPA registered and does this very well. This filter tries to solve the problem after the fact the carbons have been released from the engine. Filters are also another cost and expense to install, repair, clean and maintain. I believe this will cost more money in the long run. Treat the source, the fuel, using Green Fuel Tabs. Don't forget when diesel gets dumped into the oil pan during the regeneration process. Another major expense. Treat the source and lower carbon emissions. I forgot to mention, easily a treated fuel with GFT will increase MPG overall.

The guy was actually wrong about his brother not having to ever regenerate his truck because of running low sulfur fuel, He probably drives on the highway a lot which Causes a vehicle to actually do a passive regeneration Because exhaust temperatures consistently stay high. If you did a lot of stop and go driving and service driving you would have to stop and do an active generation or a forced regeneration With a scan tool.

The point of my comment was explaining exactly what you've failed to understand. DPF and CAT only purpose is so lower emissions (Soot and other emission related things) If the exhaust gas is picked up after the CAT and DPF it would increase emission not decrease it. therefore this defeats the primary purpose of having a CAT and DPF.

the duramax is made by Isuzu

izsu isa duromax the only thing that aint Chinese on a chevy is the body maybe

All Diesel engines have this type system. The auto makers don’t want it. The EPA mandates it. I work on Duramax diesels everyday as a GM tech. The system doesn’t “kill” the engines. But they do cause a lot of issues. Nox sensors, reductant reservoirs(heater 1)and indirect injectors are most common issues. Most parts can’t deal with high temps of these exhaust systems and they fail. A lot. And getting these trucks out of reduced speed and reduced mileage is an art. It is what it is. 75% of what comes thru on the diesel side is emissions related.