any reconmendations for dpf cleaner, in tank or exhaust off ?

[arther dailey]

If the DPF is blocked, then this works well - https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/normfest-dpf100-diesel-soot-particle-filter-cleaner-400ml-nor2897380

However I don't really remember many DPF issues from dealing with L200s. Biggest issue was oil dilution faults from people not resetting the oil life when serviced.
I do seem to remember a couple sensor faults, so I'd be giving it a visual check over for split hoses, and a quick datalist check to make sure all values look OK, before cleaning the DPF.

thanks, have checked hoses etc , just done a full engine rebuild , passed mot , engine sounds sweet but noticed from the get go lacks power , having to change down on mway hills as it starts to slow from 60 instead of just going on , with rebuild all injectors tested, head skimmed(3 thou) ,valves polished and re ground, inlet etc cleaned to as new , so my thinking was lack of power due to choking, as in lack of fuel, lack of air or cat/dpf blocked , I could and should have given a soak when engine was out but did nt want to cause any other faults , had oil tested from old sump, no faults excepting very carbon rich (as was inlet) so my geuss is last owner chugged about and dpf is blocked , when first started it smoked like heck and did a regen so had to re drain oil as diluted , only done say 250 mile since and its showing dpf /limp mode ! will reset oil as I did previous to see if that clears fault before I strip it down for a good clean. Googled a test on cleaners best was dish washer tab followed by flush the hydrochloric diluted acid . test shows up as dpf over full with corresponding code. as I have just done full rebuild and mot with no advisories its just a matter of sorting niggling things like this now.

 

[arther dailey]

If there is direct access to the dpf matrix when the unit is removed a good wash with a steam washer using tfr will unblock them.

If there's a bend in the pipe preventing direct access you could add in a joint at one end of the dpf, this is allegedly a welding forum!

welding on this forum ! ha, thats a very good point though and may well be worthwhile, it is a pig to get out/in , as I found out after replacing engine, cant go from underneath ..so covers back off and wangle it in, at one point getting completly wedged/jammed which made my heart sink , break a cuppa and some attitude freed it and I just basically wriggled it till it found a way in , then heck of a job getting covers back on . thanks for the heads up on cutting and fitting joint ,the obvious is often the best yet rarely thought of ,cheers.

 

[arther dailey]

Ok, talking at cross purposes earlier , yes dpf can drop off easily (relatively), but cat before I tried from underneath and could nt get it in, so this time getting it off ,took covers off and mounting bracket on bell housing and it dropped out nice , was going to continue and take dpf off , but as its xmas eve thought it might upset some cutting bolts with angle grinder (well rotten x3 on one flange ) so that will be another day . Cat looks like new top end but cant see bottom end with out probe camera , so need to get that out . Looks like after dpf is off will take the rest off and clean/paint where needed . do you need to plug diesel feed pipes ? or just a dribble comes out?? cheers

 

[arther dailey]

welding on this forum ! ha, thats a very good point though and may well be worthwhile, it is a pig to get out/in , as I found out after replacing engine, cant go from underneath ..so covers back off and wangle it in, at one point getting completly wedged/jammed which made my heart sink , break a cuppa and some attitude freed it and I just basically wriggled it till it found a way in , then heck of a job getting covers back on . thanks for the heads up on cutting and fitting joint ,the obvious is often the best yet rarely thought of ,cheers.

talking about the cat being pig to get out here(above) not the dpf , as if doing dpf just as well do complete system eh.

 

[m_c]

It takes a lot of regens, and several thousand miles for the oil to become diluted to the point the oil dilution fault gets triggered (IIRC Delphi shows it as an oil level too high fault, but L200s don't have an oil level sensor).

Provided the top of the cat looks fine, then chances are it's fine.
It's an oxidisation cat, which runs at a few hundred degC to do an initial clean up of any soot coming out the engine, so provided the top surface looks fine, then the usual failure of an oxidisation cat is something has caused it to break up, which would be visible from the top. If you can shine a light around the bend, as it's a cat, you should be able to see the light through the core.

Does Delphi give you the live data for the differential pressure sensor?
(I seem to remember Delphi was actually quite limited in what it shows on these..)
Looking at that reading would give you an idea of the state of the DPF. I've got no idea what typical readings for a L200 is, but a typical DPF you're expecting less than 20mbar at idle, and below 100mbar under load (possibly quite a bit higher, as it does vary between manufacturers)
While you've got the DPF off, it'll be worth giving the engine a good rev to see how much smoke is coming out the engine. On anything with a DPF, if you're getting a big cloud of black/white smoke when revved, then there's a base engine fault which won't be helping the DPF.

It could be that the DPF is needing a proper clean.
They only have a finite ability to regen, before they become loaded with ash and their soot storing capability between regens reduces to an unacceptable level. At that point, they either need cleaned (there are quite a lot of companies offering DPF cleaning now), or replaced.
However I wouldn't be recommending a clean until I was happy there wasn't anything else causing a problem, and had tried an situ DPF cleaner.