V50 diesel...............Didn't know what I was getting into!!

Just got the Mrs a new run around, we both decided on a V50 2.0d. Great car can't fault it apart from the cost of the major service. I was originally quoted £900 inc VAT for this, but when I phoned up to confirm the booking they quoted me £1500, claiming that they had forgotten about the DPF (Diesel Particle Filter) at a staggering £350 plus VAT. I managed to politely decline the offer of this part of the service.................

Anyhow I would like to know if this filter can be removed (modified) without detrement to the MOT and emissions?

Any advice would be appreciated guys

Removal of the DPF will result in an MOT failure unfortunately. Most journeys don't allow for the DPF to regenerate which in turn causes problems...in effect they block up. A nice 60mph in 3rd over a couple miles will force regeneration....glad I own a EUIII.

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Originally Posted by stephenevans99

Removal of the DPF will result in an MOT failure unfortunately. Most journeys don't allow for the DPF to regenerate which in turn causes problems...in effect they block up. A nice 60mph in 3rd over a couple miles will force regeneration....glad I own a EUIII.

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I.I.R.C. they need driving for about twenty minutes at high revs to regenerate them.

Just get an aftermarket dpf for less than £200,all can be done for around £650 tbh

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Originally Posted by Kingsford G

Just get an aftermarket dpf for less than £200,all can be done for around £650 tbh

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yes that's right I was quoted £650 to cut open dpf remove and weld back up remap with egr bypass.

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Originally Posted by ROZER

yes that's right I was quoted £650 to cut open dpf remove and weld back up remap with egr bypass.

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I ment the major service,dpf removal can be done for £450-500 with a remap.

What gets done in a major service to justify that cost?

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Originally Posted by Timo.

What gets done in a major service to justify that cost?

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From what they said, all fluids (oils and coolant etc) Belts (Inc Timing) Filters (Oil, fuel, Air, Pollen etc) and Labour charges. I think that I could have got it cheaper, but they are the nearest Volvo garage and too be honest most of the smaller garages in our area are not up to much!

900 bucks for 'ONLY' that. You must have lots of money.

Are you any good at a bit of DIY?

You could do the oil/air service and coolant yourself, even with genuine parts, and it would be peanuts compared to that bill.

I do almost everything myself these days, although I do usually stop at cam belts. I've just paid out on my VW diesel Bora for the cam belt and it cost me roughly £330 which included genuine cam belt kit and pulleys/ new engine mount / new aux belt / new water pump. I've got oil service to go next which costs me £30 all in for the 'carparts4less' special deal (PD spec VW approved in house oil).

Even if you did some of it yourself you could save hundreds of pounds and that no BS.

Timing belt isn't due till 100k on that engine. I used to get all Volvo parts for my 2.0d from dealers for about £80. It did go into a dealer for a service at some point and they quoted me 1100 for a PDF. Car only had 27k on it too. It didn't even have one fitted as when ordered I had the option to have it or not. so always double check. They were very red faced when I told them it hadn't got one.

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Originally Posted by handyandyrta

From what they said, all fluids (oils and coolant etc) Belts (Inc Timing) Filters (Oil, fuel, Air, Pollen etc) and Labour charges. I think that I could have got it cheaper, but they are the nearest Volvo garage and too be honest most of the smaller garages in our area are not up to much!

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Cambelt is 100k or 140k,depending on year.

I have a 2009 V70 2.0D. My cambelt change is 150k or 8 years which ever comes first.

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Originally Posted by ROZER

yes that's right I was quoted £650 to cut open dpf remove and weld back up remap with egr bypass.

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Originally Posted by Kingsford G

I ment the major service,dpf removal can be done for £450-500 with a remap.

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As of March 2014 the M.O.T rules changed.
If you have the DPF bypassed with software and the unit gutted it will now fail the MOT.
You cannot do it anymore.
I believe that part of the MOT test is to check the DPF is fitted and functioning correctly. Gutting a DPF will result in excess smoke than normal and consequently a fail.

Any how........... The Saga so far......... £1500 with DPF or £900 without. Deal done £900 without DPF. My Mrs was on her way to her friends house yesterday. She had been following a slow car for a couple of miles when the chance to overtake arose. Knocking into third gear she put her foot down, went to change to 4th and the car revved high and would back down. Eventually it calmed down, but the car was left with a judder when accelerating from below 2000rpm. When she told me about it later on, I said she maybe caught the pedal with her foot as she changed and that she had put it into 6th rather than 4th........... I drove it to the garage for it's service this morning and immediately knew that it was not happy, was not pulling right (serious lack of power) a rattle/tapping noise coming from the engine bay and the juddering on acceleration was awful.

We got to the garage and told them what had gone on, left it with them to investigate. I have just had a phone call of Dobsons to say that they think it is the bottom end bearings have gone/desintegrated causing the vibration, this will have caused steel swarf to be fed round the engine doing who knows what worth of damage. They have blamed this on the DPF filter being not cleaned/replaced, forcing the EMU to put more fuel to it to burn it of, the excess of which has been fed back to the sump and caused the oil to be thinned so much, that it has rendered it useless. This conclusion they claim to be backed up by the 9ltrs of oil that they have taken out, which should have only been 4ish litres!

Does anyone know of any other nightmare stories like this?

They were insistant that the DPF needed replacing, but does this not just get the additive through it to clean it? They were also insistant that on the Volvo's the DPF couldn't be removed and the engine remapped, true or Horse S**T? I do not know much about the diesels!!

Lastly........ Who is going to know if the DPF has been gutted and the car remapped, as long as it passes the particle test of the MOT?

I can tell you now, the garage is spot on with their diagnosis and everything they've said is correct.
I have seen this quite a few times with DPF systems and very high oil levels due to forced regens and oil contamination with diesel.
One of my work colleagues car did it and that was a Volvo C30 D3.
Whatever this garage did to your DPF they didn't do it right.
The DPF should be deleted from the map so the ecu doesn't see it and therefore does not try to regenerate the DPF.
It could be faulty software but ultimately your going to have to go back to the garage that modified the DPF.

Its only a visual inspection on dpf. Make a dummy pipe and get rid of it. They are nothing but bad news. Ive removed them off all my diesels. No bad side effects or anything.

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Originally Posted by LeeT5

I can tell you now, the garage is spot on with their diagnosis and everything they've said is correct.
I have seen this quite a few times with DPF systems and very high oil levels due to forced regens and oil contamination with diesel.
One of my work colleagues car did it and that was a Volvo C30 D3.
Whatever this garage did to your DPF they didn't do it right.
The DPF should be deleted from the map so the ecu doesn't see it and therefore does not try to regenerate the DPF.
It could be faulty software but ultimately your going to have to go back to the garage that modified the DPF.

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There in lies the problem, we have only had this car just over two months, the guy we bought it of was selling it due to lack of use. I did first think that he was selling it due to the impending major service cost, but I had allowed for that when I looked at it.
When my garage diagnosed the problem yesterday, the did make comment to the fact that the DPF didn't look like it had been changed since the car was made. This to me would ring true if the garages that performed the previous services didn't know (like myself) about the filter change requirements. I am puzzled however that there was no warning light on for this faulty/worn out DPF?

Can anyone recommend where to get the car remapped when I have removed the DPF, obviously I do not want the same problem happening with the replacement engine when it gets put in, my Volvo dealer/garage won't do it because they have to advise things to be left as standard?

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Originally Posted by graemewelch

Its only a visual inspection on dpf. Make a dummy pipe and get rid of it. They are nothing but bad news. Ive removed them off all my diesels. No bad side effects or anything.

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Graemewelch, Where did you get yours remapped?

What are you on about?
I don't think you understand what a DPF filter is. It's not something you change as part of a routine service!
They are designed to last the life of the car and can cost anything up to £2000 to replace if faulty, depending on model of car.
They are a metal monolith and made of precious metals, a bit like a catalyst on a petrol car.
They are part of the exhaust system and not a serviceable item. They either work or they don't.
Understanding the regeneration process is key and many diesel car owners don't understand or bother to read their handbook, so when a light comes on when they're driving, they panic and switch off. This stops the car from being able the regen the DPF. From then on the problems will start.
Continued short journeys also play a pivotal role in reducing the life of a DPF.

I believe the newer Volvo diesels have a reservoir filled with Eolys fluid to advance the regeneration for the very reason Lee mentions - repeated short journeys are a killer.

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Originally Posted by LeeT5

What are you on about?
I don't think you understand what a DPF filter is. It's not something you change as part of a routine service!
They are designed to last the life of the car and can cost anything up to £2000 to replace if faulty, depending on model of car.
They are a metal monolith and made of precious metals, a bit like a catalyst on a petrol car.
They are part of the exhaust system and not a serviceable item. They either work or they don't.
Understanding the regeneration process is key and many diesel car owners don't understand or bother to read their handbook, so when a light comes on when they're driving, they panic and switch off. This stops the car from being able the regen the DPF. From then on the problems will start.
Continued short journeys also play a pivotal role in reducing the life of a DPF.

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Lee, Steady on mate, I've already admitted that I know nothing about these DPF's. I am learning things very fast having had this car royally f**K itself up.

I know they do not get changed as part of a 'routine' service, but according to other info I had been told, the DPF should have been changed at the cars first 'Major' service..... approx 75000 miles, please correct me if I am wrong.

I have now learned that the DPF is similar to a catalyst on a petrol! I did know that they are part of the exhaust system!

I have previously been told that continued short journeys are harmful to the DPF, my wife has used the car daily to drive to and from work. This is 40min each way, not just your usual 10min commute down the road.

I will also admit to not having had time to read the owners manual about this DPF, saying that it is the first diesel I have owned that has got one of these bloody things on and I only learned that it had one when I phoned my garage to clarify the service booking and price (As mentioned in a previous post). You say that having a light coming on would panic most drivers so they switch off?? Are you saying that there is no warning light to say that the regen process is not working....... I know that Mazdas and Jaguars with these fitted all have warning lights when something is wrong with it.