@wheelsaustralia 33
one of the best at educating
ses and minuses of diesel
ensive purveyors ofed a $7713 price tag and a
, bour. It cites a service life of
150,000-200,000km and does not have a policy on
decarbonizing inlet systems and EGRs.Replacement filters span $1430 to $3480 and are not
a component the company says is “expected to need
changing under normal operating conditions.”
It says it has no specific servicing policies for DPF
equipped vehicles, as functions will “automatically
commence.”
No response on carbon build-up and no mention of it in
owner handbooks or service schedules.
Major dealerships however are charging customers
$200-$300 to carry out a “diesel decarb and injector
clean” for a problem the factory doesn’t acknowledge.At 180,000km a Passat with a DPF is checked and
replaced if required at a cost of $3435 for the part plus
five hours labour.
VW does concede however that service life “can
vary between each vehicle due to the driving profile
of the owner, so no set distance can be applied.”
A DPF for a Golf costs $3668 and incurs 5.2 hours of
spanner work.
VW insists on low-ash oil, as it is “essential to the
service life of the vehicle.”
It explains, “a portion of the engine oil always
enters the intake system” and cites “the impact ... as
an oil ash residue that builds up over time and this
ash gives the DPF a service life.”
The effect of oil entering the intake system on the
EGR, manifolds and sensors, actuator flaps and other
hardware drew no response.Manydieselshaveanextra
tank for a product called
AdBlue, a blend of high-grade
urea and de-ionized water.
“Another engineering
marvel,” says Frank Spiteri.
“The government wants
emissions down. The engineers
saythisisimpossiblewith
tics of
AdBlue reduces nitrogen
oxide emissions but also
removes much of the smell
that emanates from a DPF in
regeneration mode.
Cost cutting, usually by
commercial vehicle fleets
seeking to make the AdBlue
mix themselves is also causing
major problems.
r grade urea and the
tapwaterinsteadofthe
ized stuff have triggered
one like calcification in
tonecasestudy.
ee a bit of moon rock,
allit,butmostlyin
rcials and buses where
Blue muffler is choked
ys Bryce Spiteri.
some truck AdBlue
rs costing upwards of
0each,hehasseen
ersclogthemupagain
as 18 months later.
use? Calcium residue
ater.Biodiesel may be warmly
embraced by vested
interests but along with
water contamination, it’s
viewed as the work of
the devil by many diesel
technicians.
“While fuel quality
appears to be getting better,
horror stories of damaged
injectors or pumps and huge
repair bills all relating to
dirty fuel still abound. Sure,
a good old Landcruiser 60
series can run on bio-fuel
and irregular maintenance
but anyone with a late-
model diesel (and that
means most dieselsfrom year 2000) running
electronic injection need
to be much more aware,”
says Andrew Leimroth
from Berrima Diesel.
For all the efforts of the
world’s engineers, the battle
to produce a truly low-
emissions diesel engine is a
story of work-arounds and
compromises in an effort to
clean up the tailpipe.
“There’s no viable solution
so you rebreathe your
exhaust, put a filter on the
exhaust system and squirt
urea into the gas,” said
one engineer. “What could
possibly go wrong?”A wee issue
st of a diesel
of injectors,
ccur due to
lphur contentSPECIALREPORT
The Japanese maker is
its customers on the plu
butoneofthemostexp
replacement filters.
An Outback DPF carri
Forester $7185 plus latheengine characteris
adieselsohowaboutwejust
urinate in the exhaust system
and get the ammonia to sort
out the oxides.”
While not exactly a technical
descriptionthat’sprettymuch
what happens. The AdBlue is
injected into the exhaust, not
the fuel tank.
Lowe
use of
de-ion
sandst
at leas
“We s
as we c
comme
the Ad
up, sa”
With
muffle
$10,00
custom
as little
The ca
in the wApproximate co
pump and a set
should failure o
the reduced su
in diesel fuel.