Diesel particulate filters (DPFs) are used in modern vehicles to reduce harmful emissions and eliminate soot, ash, and other pollutants.
First, you must remove the DPF filter. You should be cautious if you do this.
Here’s how to get rid of the DPF filter from a Ford truck or Volvo truck.
STEP 1.
Begin by removing the engine cover and intake piping. The EGT and O2 sensor plugs will need to be disconnected, as well as pressure.
You can find these components on the firewall if you don’t know where they are. Remove the heat shielding around the DPF. You should remove the passenger side axle at the front.
STEP 2.
Once you’ve done that, you can carefully jack up the car. Securely support your vehicle, so it doesn’t move.
STEP 3
Once the car has been secured in one spot, it is time to remove the V-band clamps from your exhaust system.
STEP 4.
You could now remove the EGR filter after doing all the above correctly, replacing your EGR filter often.
STEP 5.
The underbody heat shield bolts on your vehicle will now need to be removed. These are the bolts that extend approximately 3 feet below your truck. Remove Heat Shield Bolts Also, and the cross-body brace. This brace has four bolts connecting the left and right sides under your vehicle’s exhaust.
STEP 6.
Remove Upper DPF Bolts It is now time to remove the plugs and the bolts holding down the upper DPF bracket and leave the wiring.
To gain access, you may have to lower the front frame. You may also be able to remove the passenger side axle. It is essential to ensure that both the engine and transmission are adequately supported from above, ensuring that the engine and information do not fall.
It may only be necessary to lower it by 6 inches. The alignment settings can be affected if the subframe is lost. You may need to align your wheel later.
STEP 7.
You should rotate your DPF around 180 degrees while you’re removing it to allow you to clear your steering wheel. The same situation applies when installing it. Move the DPF inverting over your steering wheel.
Cleaning the DPF Filter
As stated above, it is necessary to physically remove the filter from your vehicle to clean the DPF thoroughly and mechanically clean the passages.
Method 1: DPF Cleaning Additives
A DPF cleaning agent is an easy and quick fix for dirty DPFs. First, you don’t need to take out your DPF. These DPF cleaners, which are relatively new on the market, are readily available online or at your local auto shop. DPF cleaning additives can be added to your fuel tank to help clean.
These additives often contain a Fuel Borne Catalyst, which reduces the temperature at which any soot that blocks your DPF will melt off.
Method 2: High-Pressure Cleaning Cabinets
A high-pressure cleaning cabinet is a common way to clean DPF. Most people don’t have a high-pressure cabinet, so mechanics are the ones who use this method. High-pressure DPF cleaning cabinets use compressed air to backflush the filter, which causes fine ash to fall, a dangerous activity that requires safety precautions. Here is the procedure:
- You can weigh the DPF to determine your ‘pre-cleaning weight’.
- Use high pressure on the DPF
The blast cabinet is sealed with a tight seal after the DPF filter has been carefully installed.
Please turn on the device and let it force air into the DPF cells at high pressure. At the bottom, suction is applied.
A few pressure cleaning cabinets include a camera at the bottom to see how much soot is in each cell, enabling you to see when all the ash is gone and when the DPF has been cleaned up.
- Bake the DPF:
Pressurize and clean the DPF. The DPF is now ready to be placed in a kiln and heated to over 600 degrees. After baking the DPF for 12 hours, it is then slowly cooled.
- You can also remove any remaining soot by placing the DPF back in the pressure cabinet. The air blast is used for any soot that has not been removed from the first attempt.
You should continue to monitor the camera until all soot has been removed. Once all cells have been unblocked, remove the DPF and complete the cleaning process.
- Checking OEM Bench Standards
- After cleaning the DPF filter, place it on a flowmeter to ensure that it meets the OEM benchmark standards set by the manufacturer.
To know how much soot has been removed, you will need to weigh the DPF.
Method 3: Local DPF Cleaning Expert
You may need an expert to clean your DPFs if unfamiliar with them. There will be a DPF cleaner near you if you are a resident of the United States. We should warn you, however, that it won’t come cheap.
Method 4: Regeneration
DPF regeneration means that you can remove soot from your filter while you drive or even while you are parked. Active, passive, and parked regeneration are all possible.
Active regeneration is achieved, for example, by driving at over 40 mph for 10 minutes while maintaining a minimum of 2500 RPM and keeping in 3rd/4th. Your vehicle’s condition will determine which type of passive, active, or forced regeneration you choose.
The filter can block if vehicles are used for regular driving around town. We recommend active regeneration in such situations.
Celine additives are used in DPF cleaning additives and act by binding to soot particles, reducing the temperature they combust.
Method 5: Slice it open
Although one can open an assembly and clean it, this requires excellent skills that we won’t attempt to explain here.
People are often skeptical about DPF cleaning kits because they don’t always work. You might also wonder if DPF cleaning kits work. They increase the temperature of your DPF, which should then burn away any accumulated soot.
The DPF must remain in the engine during this time, so at a temperature higher than usual. DPF cleaning products won’t work for blocked DPFs because they need to be heated to extremely high temperatures to remove all the soot buildup over time.
Due to the extremely high temperatures in DPF, cleaning kits can sometimes work and give the DPF more lifespan, but it sometimes cannot clear the blockage if there is too much soot.
Alternatives to DPF Cleaning
It isn’t easy to clean the DPF yourself if you’re not an expert. You can also buy a DPF that has been rebuilt. A respirator is recommended for those cleaning the DPF by themselves. Avoid breathing in fine ash from the engine’s combustion.
What is the Importance of DPF Cleaning?
First, a Diesel particulate filter (or DPF) traps soot and ash from the vehicle’s motor oil. A lot of the sediment is removed during vehicle operation. However, sometimes ash remains in the filter’s honeycomb substrate, removable through periodic servicing.
Your vehicle’s DPF traps particulates and burns them soot, making them fine grey ash. It also undergoes self-cleaning “regen” cycles.
The filter gets fuller over time as the fine ash develops. Clean the filter or replace it.
Highway trucks’ exhaust tends to heat up enough to cause soot to evaporate during “passive renewal”. However, stop-and-go operators and those who idle a lot cannot make their exhaust heat up enough to cause a lot of soot buildup on the filter.
The ideal is for the oxygen catalyst to “actively” remove soot from the substrate by injecting more fuel upstream of an oxygen catalyst. You can also do it when the vehicle is parked. The car can plug in an electric heater.
One or more daily activities may include the active removal of soot through onboard regeneration. It all depends on the type of vehicle under operation, and drivers will not notice until the indicator light on the instrument panel is on. The light indicators can make the warning more apparent, and the driver should stop in such situations and begin an active renewal. The filter’s substrate can also retain motor oil ash. These should be removed by blowing or washing out.
Please take the DPF from the vehicle and place it in the pressure cabinet. The device then sends compressed air through it and clears the filter.
Conclusion
Now you know how to clean and remove your DPF. DPF cleaning is essential, especially for those who have blocked DPFs. The vehicle will typically clean the DPF, but it is sometimes necessary to manually remove the DPF.
