I have the 06 2.0D sport. until about 3 weeks ago never even heard of a DPF but now I wish I never had... heres what happened.


about 3 weeks ago my DPF light came on for about 3 mins this was on solidly and then went away. then last week out of the blue the DPF light started flashing and then the Engine Management and traction control light came on and car went into limp mode.


took it to mail stealer who preformed a force regen and reset all the levels. lights gone car running fine this was Friday its now the following Tuesday and the DPF light came back on again flashing with Eng Man and trac Cont lights and car is back in limp mode.


so again took it back to the main steeler who preformed another Regen and all lights gone and car out of limp mode....... 12 miles down the road and you guessed it Lights are back on.


when they did the 2nd regen they got the soot levels down to 2.2 and now they want £1200 to replace the DPF.


now my question is if my engine is producing enough soot to cause this in only a few days and then only a few miles surely there must be an issue with the engine????? also I do a lot of motorway driving so the passive regen is not working or at least not enough to keep the levels down.


any ideas as to what this could be as u don't want to spend £1200 just to find out its something else.

 

I very much doubt it's you're engine producing too much soot. I've had this a few times with my car and in the end took it to an independent garage to have the DPF chemically cleaned, cost about £200. The light came back on again after 5000 miles though, but the garage agreed to clean it again without charge as they said the clean they did should have lasted longer.

From my own research though it looks like these Mazda DPFs can only be expected to achieve around 75,000 miles (less if you're doing mostly urban driving), which means they'll need replacing at least once in the cars lifetime.

A lot of people seem to get them removed, but this is now an MOT failure, and although it's just a visual check, this could change in the future (the tester could plug-in to the computer, or the smoke test could be tightened up), and of course, do you really want to be chucking out 10,000 times as many cancer causing particles into the air?

They quoted only £1200 to replace the DPF? Is that for a replacement Mazda DPF at the main dealer? This sounds like a bargain! My local main dealer has quoted double that figure, and more if various sensors need replacing at the same time. Please tell me which garage this is and I'll take mine there!

I've spoken to a Mazda specialist mechanic who said that the non-Mazda DPFs (the ones you see on ebay for £400) are hopeless, and the main dealer is the only place to get them properly replaced at the moment.

 

Just been doing some more research, and found this article:

Ash Accumulation in Diesel Particulate Filters

It's a bit technical, but the conclusion is the DPF eventually clogs up with ash and needs replacing.

There are two things here, ash and soot:

Soot is what the DPF is designed to burn up, and prevent getting released in the atmosphere.

Ash is the non-combustible material left after the soot is burnt. I've not found any fix for too much ash, looks like DPF replacement is the only option here.

I would suggest buying or borrowing an error code reader (they cost about £10 on ebay, and connect to a smart phone, but I've always found work colleagues who have them and are keen to use them). Plug it in to the socket that's under the steering wheel and read the error codes. Look up these codes in the internet.

 

Hi all, bought a mazda 5 sport diesel 7 weeks ago from main dealer 2008 and daily travel on motorway for 26 miles but the dpf light is flashing, im booked in at mazda for a diagnostic in the morning but not sure if I need to be paying them £50 when it could just be service light, it was fully serviced prior to me buying it, any help would be great.

 

If it's just the service light then they shouldn't charge you at all. Since you bought it at the main dealer you should have a warranty right?

One thing you could try is one of the fuel additive products they sell in halfords and other places, there are several for cleaning DPFs and the fuel system generally (wynn's, cataclean, redex). I've not tried them, but would be interested to know if they help you.

Also, I think it's best to avoid supermarket diesel and go with the premium diesels from Shell, BP, etc. These have additives that should mean less soot is produced, meaning a longer DPF life.

 

Plenty of places do a clean of the DPF, with good effect.
Aftermarket DPFs are about £400 btw.
Mines removed, I'll take the risk, as by far the worst thing about the whole system is having litres of diesel fuel getting mixed with the oil.
I wouldn't recommend removal for just anybody, and there are slight negatives more than just extra contaminants into the atmosphere

 

OK so its been about a month now since I had the DFP replaced. couldn't afford to go with the main dealer so in the end had to get a garage to fit it. they managed to the part from their supplier and including fitting only cost £520 canturbery and ashford Mazda dealer both quoted me £1200 for the DPF replacement.

 

Glad you found a solution Martin, please do update this thread after a few thousand miles and let people know how it's going.

I wouldn't advise getting the DPF removed, the MOT check for this is likely to be tightened up in the future beyond just a visual check:

https://mattersoftesting.blog.gov.uk...ulate-filters/

I suspect a more rigorous smoke test is likely, as done in Germany.

 

Panic over, it appears that if the dpf light just flashes its warning that a service is due so because it was serviced before I bought it the £60 + £30 to reset light was paid by dealer, I do like this car but am thinking of selling as I don't want a £1000+ bill if the dpf does die on me.

 

Yes, it does come on if it hasn't been reset within 13 months.
It's not because a service is due, but a sneaky underhand way of forcing you to a dealer, or trying to, as not all garages and very few home mechanics have the reset equipment. It won't be a £1000, plenty of garages will now be competing to fix them and the price of part is reducing just like cats did when they came out.
Sell it because of the price of the 6 year service, way over a £1000 at a main dealer, but don't let the DPF scare you as much.

Glad yours is sorted Martinrees.

Having a DPF delete done is going to be a worry in the future, and I'm guessing ay some point a visual won't be enough. The one advantage is that usually they don't set smoke limits retrospectively, and only include ones from that date. Like I say though it's not for everyone to have it removed, in fact less so now. I'm am amazed that garages advertise so openly about removing them though.

Mine being removed has almost paid me back what it cost, and if I end up having to refit one, I'm no worst off.