Intermittent DPF problems Transit 2012

[oranjefan99]

I have a question regarding some ongoing DPF regeneration issues I am having with my Ford transit/tourneo 2012 MK7 2.2l. About half a year ago, some rodent probably damaged the cable leading to my EGT sensor 2. This made regeneration unstable because the EGT temperature sensor was not giving consistent values. The entire EGT sensor 2 + cable was replaced, and I had my DPF cleaned. Then the Diesel Particulate Filter learned values were reset.

Now, the van does regenerate, but it starts very late: always at 97% soot load. When it starts regeneration at 97%, sometimes it is aborted due to what I think the DPF pressure rising above 20 kPa. This especially happens under higher load (driving 110/120+, or driving uphill). I can see that because while I drive, I have Forscan connected. I see the EGT 11 + 12 rise steeply (to around 500 degrees) indicating regeneration but then it aborts usually when it reaches a DPF pressure of above 20/25 kPa (temperature drops again) and an orange gearbox warning light appears. It gives fault code P244C; exhaust temperature too low for regen. This doesn’t make a lot of sense; maybe this is a Ford specific code that Forscan is not able to read? After restarting the van, the orange gearbox warning light disappears. Since I got my DPF cleaned and the sensor replaced, I have driven around 2000-3000 km. The behaviour didn’t seem to change.

After doing some reading online, I have also tried to:
- Reset the exhaust gas temperature learned values
- Reset differential pressure sensor learned values
- Reset EGR valve adaptions
- Reset MAF sensor adaptation

My pressure readings do not seem to be problematic:
- ~0.8 kPa at idle
- ~3.2kPa at 2500 rpm

So, sometimes the van is successfully regenerating (always starts at 97% soot, usually goes down to about 50/70%), sometimes it aborts.
I have read that sometimes this could be due to a blocked vaporizer, however the fact that the regen sometimes does work and sometimes it doesnt might rule this out?
Could this be a software problem that the Ford dealer has to resolve?

Thanks!

[gt_addict]

Vapourisers are common to clog up on the euro5 vans. You would need a mityvac to test it.

When the dpf was cleaned was it removed and flushed out properly? If the adaptions are reset without the dpf being fully clean then I always think that it’s potentially still 20% or whatever full but thinks its zero.

[oranjefan99]

The DPF wasnt fully removed, but cleaning seemed the be very effective as the kPa dropped drastically. The cleaning was done by O'riley like he does in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc0bhvbjE64
I'm guessing it might be the vaporizer but then its weird that it sometimes does succesfully regenerate and sometimes it aborts. Also the fact that it only starts regen at 97% soot ld seems weird to me?

[tranmx2]

The DPF system consists of mechanical/electrical/electronic and fuel delivery devices.
An electric pump puts fuel to the vapouriser. The pump is electronically activated, electrically driven, mechanical operation.
The DPF has a filter, pressure and temperature sensors, there is a controller - PCM.

ORiley - DPF can build up soot/debri - which is not cleaned out - by the method he uses as he states in one of his vids.

2012 14 yrs old. Long journeys regular over 40 mph, short journeys under 40 mph. When/how the regeneration can/does occur needs to be known.

Intermittant could be fuel or and electrical/electronic/mechanical.

Partially blocked vapouriser and DPF. Poor electric/electronic contact. Sensor wrong reading. Wrong insruction from PCM.

You show an awareness of the system - intermittant/partially working systems do cause puzzlement. Either choose the most likely cause or systematically check through the system.
It seems the likely causes are a partially blocked vapouriser or/and a partially blocked DPF.

Is the van FWD or RWD?

[oranjefan99]

Thanks for your extensive reply! The van is RWD. I also get some DTC's regarding my glowplugs (P0674/3) but I have read that that shouldnt impact the workings of the DPF. Havent had any problems with the DPF before the EGT cable got damaged. Since the sensor was replaced in Ireland, I have been doing a lot of steady, long highway driving across France and Spain. What I did notice is that it is more likely to abort the regen when driving steady at higher speeds of about 110/120 km/h on the highway (or driving uphill) while it does succesfully regen when driving around 90 km/h

For now, I will check whether the vaporizer is blocked. If not, I'm thinking to bring it to a ford garage to if it has something to do with the PCM. Maybe it is being extra careful with regens and is only allowing them once the dpf clogging comes above a certain percentage (97% in this case) and then aborts it if the DPF pressure jumps above a certain threshold (20/25 dPa).

[tranmx2]

P0674/3 cylinder 4 diff to get at glow plug. If you do attempt to replace it be careful. Could be the wire/contact. Above the thermo is a connector with 4 wires check there is good contact there. On the side of the PCM is the glow plug controller.
Some have it there are 5 glow plugs. There are 4 on the engine. The HEATER on the vapouriser is often referred to as a glow plug. Some associate a glow plug DTC with a faulty DPF.
Which could apply but the heater is not used as the glow plugs are used. None functioning glow plugs - with low ambient temp - could cause fouling within the exhaust system.
If the ambient temp is above 5 C it is unlikely the glow plugs are activated.

ORiley - The percentage is calculated, not actual. (it's a guess)

ORiley does talk about kpa pressure where he looks for below 10 and about 80 at full rpm/under load. Often see on his vids the idle pressure being 3 kpa after cleaning.

(or driving uphill) likely using more accelerator - more fuel - under load - could be an increase in temp - unburnt fuel/eng' oil. Worn eng'. Air filter. Turbo - insuficient air flow to the eng. Exhaust partial blockage - ok at lower rpm/lower load/less accelerator less fuel/ The partial blockage is okay for certain conditons.
A few reports of broken catalytic which is before the vapouriser and DPF. If the rings/piston/cylinder is badly worn there could be more eng oil vapour entering the inlet system = more gunge in the inlet system and more residue in the exhaust.

You could use the vans mileage to asses what is needed re' inlet/exhaust.

[gt_addict]

Mine starts a regen at 97% aswell. When I can I do take it for a long drive at 2k rpm and it drops to around 20-30% when monitoring the CLOSED loop reading which is taken directly from the differential pressure correlation.

I have found that wheel speed plays a part. Sometimes if I’m driving slowly for a period of time it will abort the regen.

[sandancers]

On our mk7 fwd 2014 we have a quite new DPF, so are happy it is not blocked or faulty. Ours will start to regen at 97% soot.

While trying to track down the fault which led to the new dpf we used Forscan extensively. This is what we found. Watch a slot on Forscan called "frequencies" this shows the electric signal going to the vaporiser. Under normal running this shows zero, when it starts to regen you will see numbers. At the same time your exhaust temps should be going up. If that happens the vaporiser is working.

Look closely at your EGT figures on Forscan, if the repaired one (or one of the others) is out of step with the others, not different values, but rising or lowering when the others are fairly stable it is a sign of a problem on that EGT.

Do you get an "engine management" warning when the DPF regen kicks out ?

[sandancers]

Sorry, duplicate.

[oranjefan99]

Thanks for your reply. Do I understand correctly that you were having the same problems as me and you fixed this by installing a new DPF? Also, the EGT figures during regen seem to be normal for both the repaired EGT (sensor 2) and the other EGT (sensor 1). On my van, there is no sensor 3. If the regen aborts, it will give an orange transmission warning signal. This always disappears after restart.

Im away for a few weeks but will get back to the van in about a week. For now, I suspect the vaporizer being partly blocked (maybe because of many aborted regens when the EGT sensor cable was still damaged, injected fuel that was not fully combusted could have deposited carbon and soot residue into the vaporizer). I will check this once I'm back