Recently there has been an ever-increasing amount of additive treatments in the car marketplace. These products promote themselves to be the cheap and convenient solution to a blocked diesel particulate filter (DPF), but with so many to choose from, what are the differences between products and are they safe to use?
The types of DPF additives available
Additive treatments currently available fall into three categories. Firstly, there is a form of additive which causes carbon to be passively burned off. These are known as fuel tank additives. They work by instigating a drop in the temperature at which carbon can be burnt off.
Another form of additive treatment is induction additives. These additives go straight into your vehicles air intake system whilst your car engine is running. This method is designed to be a complete treatment for your vehicle’s entire air intake system and exhaust system.
There are also direct additives. These direct additives initiate a climate whereby soot deposits are combusted easily and efficiently by your vehicles dpf filter. This method is highly dangerous as it gives an uncontrollable and unpredictable reaction once applied.
Do DPF additives work?
DPF cleaning additives at first appear a cheap and quick solution to unblocking a DPF. Sadly, for the most part, claims that an additive can unblock a dpf are largely exaggerated. In truth, these additives often produce a misrepresentation of what they are actually doing, and in reality, they never come close to unblocking a dpf filter.
Once an additive has been combusting there are generally very small amounts of the additive remaining and in most circumstances, there will not be an amount left that is capable of sufficiently unblocking a particulate filter.
If you require for your dpf filter to be properly cleaned and fully unblocked it is a necessity to take your vehicle to the main dealer or specialist garage that performs dpf cleaning services. When your DPF light comes on you should contact a dealer straight away, using DPF cleaning additives is highly risky and can often cause more trouble than they do good. ,br>
At a dealer, your dpf can be cleaned through a variety of methods including forced dpf filter regeneration. This can be usually be performed within 2-3 hours. By using your vehicles ECU system DPF Solutions perform a forced regeneration the exact same way as your main dealer would so you can be sure of a thorough professionally cleaned DPF.
Unfortunately, while DPF cleaning additives remain an unproven solution we have encountered many instances of people attempting to use these additives and worsening their situation. You need to be sure about what you are doing when it comes to DPF filters to avoid forking out for expensive operations.
If you require professional dpf cleaning or would simply like to understand more about DPF filters please contact us via phone or email and one of our friendly team will be happy to help.