Good day all,

This topic only applies to drivers of diesel engine with Diesel particle filter

Since the day we had our mean machine, we have an issue with reduced engine performance, a software update has been promised to me by end September.

I got instructions to weekly clean the dpf manually (command shift) by driving for 20 minutes at minimum 3000 revs. is a hard thing to do in the Netherlands but that’s another story.

My question is:
Anyone of you driving the diesel engine with automatic gearbox and DPF already experienced the sign "dpf full" ??

Last edited by albert frederik on 7th Sep 2007 1:17 pm. Edited 1 time in total

This will probably confirm me as a complete engine numpty, but....

Why would a petrol engine have a diesel particulate filter ????

boiledgnat wrote:

This will probably confirm me as a complete engine numpty, but....

Why would a petrol engine have a diesel particulate filter ????

sorry, mixed up type of fuel, also not so handy, however topic has been edited

Sorry, not an answer, but 3000+ RPM every week for 20 minutes every week sounds ridiculous! I would guess that thrashing your car like that every week is going to put more nasties into the atmosphere in 20 minutes than what the DPF has trapped all week!

Woah, nearly started to sound like a tree-hugger then.

@ Nightfox, looks also stupid to me, that's why I am curious how many times others had to clean the dpf in this way, cleaning procedure is also mentioned in the manual not for nothing I guess.

I am told the engine or dpf is polluting because of short trips and that the filter is polluting faster because of low revs of the combination of auto gear and diesel.

Actually tree hugging by car (accident) is what you get by trying to get a car in limp mode to the dealer.

I'm still not even clear about how you get the DPF - is it part of the standard diesel model spec, or is it something you have to spec and presumably pay extra for, or is it only installed in countries where there is a legal requirement?

Have I got one or not?

(Sorry to go a bit OT)

@ nightfox I was told that in the Netherlands only the first 500 pcs would come without dpf, and whether you got it or not is a matter of checking under (duhhh) the vehicle or ask the dealer.

From what I read, the dpf is an optional extra - not sure why you would have one though it wasn't mentioned when I got my FL2. From the brochure, the mileage figures are given without the dpf fitted - perhaps this means that mileage is less with one ?

DPF uses a lot of power if i check the specs:

'Maximum power 112 kW/152 pk with dpf
at 4.000 revs (118 kW/160 pk at 4.000 revs without dpf), maximum torque 400 Nm at 2.000 revs'

In the UK the dpf is currently an optional extra costing about £450. I'm not sure it's yet available here anyway. Strikes me that few people will order such an expensive extra, when there is no obvious payback (e.g. lower road tax), and reduced engine power.

If LR think this is a good thing environmentally, then why not make it standard so everyone has it?!!  Life is not a dress rehearsal!

The fact that the DPF requires a procedure for cleaning it does not surprise me, as you need some way of burning off the carbon deposits collected by the filter, as this is not done during normal combustion....if it was then you wouldn't need a DPF.

I see the DPF will come more in to the market as countries look at ways of encouraging cleaner driving, and reduced road taxes for a DPF would make sense. In Germany they have such a regulation and there is a good saving to be made by having one fitted as I understand.

Once people wake up and stop worrying about CO levels only and start to focus on soot emissions from diesels then I think we may see a change to these being standard on all cars......but hopefully that will be when the technology has developed to the point where the user (driver) needs to do nothing, other than drive the car normally in order to complete the process for the DPF.

I agree with Gambba, the current system with manual cleaning is a solution not worthy a brand as LR, I think this DPF system (technically) has to change however the degree of pollution of the filter and number of cleaning cycle's is not known to me but picture this:
From people who buy such a car one could expect that they go off-road, what if the sign DPF full is occurring during a few days trip in the mountains how to clean the filter then in a 20 min trip with a min of 3000 revs????, or what about this limp mode in a holiday in the inlands or mountains because of this stupid dpf full procedure.

Hello Albert,

as Gambba has already said, in Germany the DPF (diesel particulate fílter) is a must, as otherwise you will have to pay a penalty tax annually, and the resale value of the diesel-car is much lower.
Landrover has introduced the Freelander 2 only in May 2007 in Germany due to the fact that the Freely 2 without DPF would be unsellable. So every Freely 2 TD4 has this DPF with increasing problems as you report .
I have the TD4 Automatic, and I have experienced the problem "DPF full - contact your dealer" once. My TD4 was towed into the dealers workshop, and the reason of the failure was a pressure switch within the exaust system, which gave wrong information to the engine-electronics. The malfunction of this pressure switch is meanwhile accepted by Landrover and will be exchanged on all TD4's manufactured from July 2007.
However, the next disturbing story is on its way: as the TD4 with Automatic operates mostly within a very low rev-range, the DPF shows a tendency to clogg. In Germany 4 or 5 TD4 with Automatic are reported to be stuck in the dealer workshop as Landrover has no clue how to solve the problem. Some TD4's are grounded for now more than 4 weeks. Landrover is reported to work on a new software which will not be available before end of September, and will have to be tested thereafter before release to the dealership.
My own opinion is different: Landrover recommends to use motoroil for the TD4 according to Ford specification 913B = ACEA A1/B1. This specification is very low with regard to the oil quality and does NOT appreciate the required low ash content of the motor oil for diesel engines with DPF (max. 0,8 Vol%) = ACEA A3/A4/B3/B4. Particularely new diesel engines will consume more motor oil within the break in period of the engine, and due to the fact that the ACEA A1/B1 motor oil used and recommended by Landrover for the TD4, this will add to the clogging of the DPF. I have the feeling that Landrover has not been prepared technically for the DPF, and the results are now showing. I have an TD4 Automatic since beginning of August 2007 (production in mid July), and I have changed the motor oil immediately after having taken over the car against a fully synthetic motor oil as per ACEA B3/B4 specification (for diesel engines) with low ash content. I have until today -and please keep your fingers crossed- have had no problems with my Freely 2 TD4 Automatic.
Yamaha-Fan

@yamaha-fan

This confirms the story I have been told, software by the end of September.

What I am curious about is how they are going to clean the dpf by software since the revs will not increase.
Also I have been told that the revs are too low in the auto/diesel combination.

In the Netherlands also cars are grounded included mine.
If the DPF is polluting that fast I am getting worried since we have only driven up to today about 4000 km with an average driving time in between failures of two weeks, (my car already went 4 times for a reset) if this filter is clogging in a few hundred km time I have doubts about this dpf technique, and as in my previous post how to react if people are off road??

What I also find disturbing that if one is cleaning manually 3000 revs for 20 min, there is no message that cleaning has been started, in process and finished

I asked the dealer also about oil and they told me that synthetic oil also can be used. I appreciate your info about the oil, in the meanwhile it crosses my mind damage already have been done, and I consider to ask the dealer if there is an option to temporarily remove the dpf until all problems have been fixed.

Albert Frederik.