[Yozh]

So, I thought I'd share some of the pics of the DPF substrate. This is from a 2011 with 114K km/71K mi. You can see partial blockage (the pink stuff) or so I think this is what it is. Avg, regen was at about 300-400km/190-250mi. Enjoy and pardon the blur. PS: if you ever touch yours, do it outdoors with a good mask and gloves on. I also has been told one can sell this stuff.

[taibanl]

Explains why guys are seeing more and more frequent regent with mileage.

[GottaBeKD]

Damn. Thanks for sharing

[Timujin]

Thanks.

Was this a DPF exchange or DPF "punch out"?

[Mark M]

Excellent post Yozh. Very cool to see the innards of the DPF as it provides a better understanding into how it works.

Based on the buidup you have on the substrates how do you characterize your driving style over the 71k miles? Aggressive heavy throttle inputs? Or light daily commuter miles? Do you run a lot of short trips that would have resulted in many uncompleted regens over the years, or mostly long-haul miles?

[Puerto Rican 335d]

gives me an idea Yohz .I will take pics of my already removed DPF and post it for you guys

[lazyninja87]

wow... thanks for posting this. My newly acquired 2010 335d has 71k miles also and I'm currently looking ways to avoid this problem in the future if I dont have it already

[TDIwyse]

Originally Posted by Yozh

So, I thought I'd share some of the pics of the DPF substrate. This is from a 2011 with 114K km/71K mi. You can see partial blockage (the pink stuff) or so I think this is what it is. Avg, regen was at about 300-400km/190-250mi. Enjoy and pardon the blur. PS: if you ever touch yours, do it outdoors with a good mask and gloves on. I also has been told one can sell this stuff.

Ditto that.

Thanks for posting. Your DPF appears to be more loaded with ash than mine was. But there were less miles on it, and my regens were occurring at ~400 ml intervals.

I didn't realize there was a resale value to the stuff though. That would be interesting.

I also regret not testing if it was possible to "wash" the DPF structure and clean out the ash loading. There are places that offer DPF cleaning, but I was interested in trying it first hand to check... If you have any time/desire to see how easy it is to rinse that stuff out, I'd be interested in your findings.

[Hoooper]

Looks like mud in there! You can resell catalytic converter innards, they are pretty full of precious metals. I dont know anything about DPF design but if its got the same basic stuff in it then selling it shouldnt be too much trouble. There are guys who recycle that stuff for a living.

Did you ever run water/meth?

[BayE30]

all that came out of the DPF?? can we get another item next to the first pic for scale?

[9mmkungfu]

Originally Posted by SF335DIESEL

all that came out of the DPF?? can we get another item next to the first pic for scale?

I was thinking the same thing. After I looked a little closer, I saw a brown paper napkin/paper towel under the chunks to the right. That makes it look much smaller than I initially thought.

Otherwise I thought I was looking at DPF City.

[BB_cuda]

how did the doc look? Also, how about a picture of the rewelded up DPF please sir? I see you have went through with your plan.

[Yozh]

DOC looked good and daily clean, with a slight soot coating on the receiving side. I'll snap a picture of it and the DPF once I have it back in my hands. Not fully at my plan yet, but this is a start.

TDI, I'll try washing the DPF for an experiment for sure. Any suggestions of what I should use? I do not know what companies use to wash the DPF.

Never ran water/meth. Driving style is moderate with an odd full throttle run. Never dragged or tracked it.

[Hoooper]

Originally Posted by Yozh

DOC looked good and daily clean, with a slight soot coating on the receiving side. I'll snap a picture of it and the DPF once I have it back in my hands. Not fully at my plan yet, but this is a start.

TDI, I'll try washing the DPF for an experiment for sure. Any suggestions of what I should use? I do not know what companies use to wash the DPF.

Never ran water/meth. Driving style is moderate with an odd full throttle run. Never dragged or tracked it.

for washing I would say start with water. Sprayed not rinsed. Guys on youtube are using pressure washers on low setting.

[Yozh]

I've done some browsing around and most heavy duty truck places just bake them or do ultrasonic cleaning. There is even a local company that does that as a service to anyone with an Audi, Sprinter or Duramax: http://www.reflowsolutions.com
And these guys use water: http://www.dpfdeepclean.co.uk/faq.php

What is a pain for us d owners is to remove and reinstall the damn thing. I wish it would be removable and serviceable for those that have to absolutely keep it in place.

[EvEcentral]

Great Post YOZH, this is something I have been wanting to see.

[Hoooper]

so, if a good process for cleaning it is to use water, does that mean that running a high water % with a water/meth system might help keep your DPF clean? Hmmmmm, possibly yet another plus courtesy of w/m injection. Not sure how that question could even be answered though really, maybe pull a DPF off a car that has run w/m for a couple years and compare it to one with similar mileage without w/m. I will know in a couple years, if I pass 130k miles and still have normal DPF range I could make a big stretch and assume that means w/m is helpful

[BB_cuda]

Originally Posted by Hoooper

so, if a good process for cleaning it is to use water, does that mean that running a high water % with a water/meth system might help keep your DPF clean? Hmmmmm, possibly yet another plus courtesy of w/m injection. Not sure how that question could even be answered though really, maybe pull a DPF off a car that has run w/m for a couple years and compare it to one with similar mileage without w/m. I will know in a couple years, if I pass 130k miles and still have normal DPF range I could make a big stretch and assume that means w/m is helpful

Hooper, how many miles right now? Seems I recall you have been running w/m since around 65,000. I need to make the jump soon aling with catch can.

[Hoooper]

Originally Posted by BB_cuda

Hooper, how many miles right now? Seems I recall you have been running w/m since around 65,000. I need to make the jump soon aling with catch can.

yeah thats probably about right. Im sitting just over 95k miles now. I havent really tracked my DPF regens at all and I am going to try and start doing that. Im pretty sure my regens are roughly 400 miles or more in between. I rarely have more than one regen on a single tank, and I usually go about 500 miles between fills. Ive gone through about 20 gallons of 50/50 mix in that time, including a period of a month or two where it was disconnected because my windshield washer pump was leaking and draining the whole reservoir on the ground.

[UMich_335i]

The DPF is not a flow-through filter, the exhaust is meant to pass through the walls of the filter which is why every other passage is "blocked". These passages are offset so the exhaust can enter but has to pass through a wall before it exits, hence trapping diesel particulate in the walls.

Additionally, PM can be removed by regens, however ash (oil based) cannot be and needs to be blown out with pressurized air. There are special machines that do this in order to put the right pressure and concentration of air where it can clean and not damage the substrate.

[Yozh]

From my research, the best way to clean an plugged DPF is to manually "regen" it. Seems to me that a lot of commercial big rig shops as well as smaller ones that service Sprinters, Fords, Hinos now have ovens to regen a DPF. They just bake the the DPF is a controlled fashion, weigh before and after and check the flow.

Hooper, if you are spraying 50/50 that lowers the EGT, wouldn't that be bad for the regens, although the steam in the exhaust should provide for cleaning of the DPF.