DPF Experiences

[sm_allen]

Having just ordered a FR TDI, I am very concerned about these DPF Stories. I would be very interested in everybodies real experiences.

[cuprascott]

Ive had no problems but ive only done just over 1000 miles.

Maybe a bit publicity to watchdog on this might not be a bad thing on this discuss?

[sm_allen]

If we get a good response that indicates that there is a real problem, might be worth bring the problem to WatchDogs attention.

[JonoUK]

Would be a good idea for all those who vote post to describe what kind of milage/driving they've done in it too - especially those who've seen lights/had problems. Car Age/Milage/Driving Style

So here I go:
I voted - No problems.
Car Age - 7 months (owned by me from new)
Milage - Shade over 10,000 miles
Driving style - Mainly commuting 35 miles each way over mostly NSL A road or M-way (A19, A1M) occasionally forced to pootle along beind tractors and slow people = foot down as soon as I can overtake.

Not driven consistently hard, but don't feel the need to hang around if the road is clear.

[cuprascott]

I think the fact that this isnt covered by warrenty is disgusting. Certainly when i picked up the FR from the dealer nothing was mentioned around the DPF or certain ways to drive with it.

[cuprascott]

Good idea here goes

I voted - No problems.
Car Age - 2 months 57plate (owned by me from 59 miles)
Milage - Shade over 1000 miles
Driving style - 13 mile commute half along the motor way the rest round the town. Other than that short trips to the shops and the occasional blast.

[JonoUK]

I think the fact that this isnt covered by warrenty is disgusting. Certainly when i picked up the FR from the dealer nothing was mentioned around the DPF or certain ways to drive with it.

I totally agree. Although it doesn't / hasn't affected me. I fear that too many people (1 is too many) will be mis-sold a car that plainly isn't right for them.
I'm sure people wouldn't have had a (such large) problem with the situation _IF_ it had been explicitly mentioned BEFORE the sale took place. ~10% of the value of the car is a horrific amount for the warranty not to cover, regardless of age/milage, especially since it's just not mentioned ever, apparently.

[pr0ton]

I have now driven 7000 km's without any problems at all. *fingers crossed*.
About 70% 60-80 km/h, 20% 80-120km/h, and 10% 40-60 km/h. And I usually accelerate quite hard from the lights and crossings. Almost all of my trips are atleast 15-20km's.

[S8N]

I voted - No problems.
Car Age - 10 months 56plate (owned by me from 4000 miles)
Mileage - 9500 miles
Driving style - Mainly commuting 3 miles to work and back. Short runs to the shops and the occasional motorway run to friends/sunday morning jolly.

Considering that this engine is in the A3 and Golf GT, I think this is a bit scaremongering. There are tens of thousands of this engine out in the wild with a DPF with a small handful of problems. I think a lot is based on where you live and how you drive.

Even with my small commute (which is a maximum of 50mph for about 90 seconds at the best of times), there are plenty of opportunities for just about anyone to clear the DPF, you just need to let it rev. Use the DPF regeneration as an excuse to go for a run and give it the beans.

The engine is heavily tuned to deliver the improved performance over the 140. It needs the DPF to keep the emissions down. It says in the manual. I find it hard to be sympathetic when just about anyone can find some small area to rev it up a bit. That's the idea behind the car! :think:

[FRTDI170]

Done 15500 miles now (did 4000 as demo) and had DPF light on once. Gave it a blast on M62 and not seen it since. I do 10 mile commute each day split 50/50 between M62 and A roads....car is 'driven' at every opportunity, so that may help keep filter clear!!

[TDI PEP]

Had my car 5 months and covered just under 10k miles now. Never seen the DPF light.
I work nights commute about 60 miles round trip mostly motorway and dual carriageway and my wife uses the car during day driving anything from 10-120 miles.

[FRTDI170]

My mate runs an A4 170 quattro - just spoken to him & he's had DPF light on a few times. Took it back to stealer and they initially told him to drive on motorway in 4th @ 50+ and it cleared it. Kept coming on, so he took it back again & they ran it for two weeks to test it. Didn't come on again, but interestingly he was told that if there was a fault it would be sorted under warranty. Whether they would have backtracked in the event of a fault.....

[Richie D]

I think the fact that this isnt covered by warrenty is disgusting. Certainly when i picked up the FR from the dealer nothing was mentioned around the DPF or certain ways to drive with it.

Being a potential Leon/Altea FR owner next year can you answer these?
What is the correct way to drive with it?
It's not covered by warranty, have there been costs involved when people have had problems?

Cheers
Rich

I should have read this first..http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=146706

[yorkphil]

I voted - No problems.
Car Age - 3 1/2 Months 07 Plate
Mileage - 5000 miles
Driving style - Mainly commuting 40 miles to work and back including a mix of Motorway and City (ie traffic jams)

[Daz_25]

voted - No problems.
Car Age - 1 month
Milage - 1200 miles
Driving style - Stop start commute to work of about 12 miles, then lots of small journeys during the day. The car gets to stretch its legs on the way home when I tend to really open it up.

[leonfr170]

had my car approx 6 months now. done around 15,000 miles on it and drive 110miles/day on average.
have had the light come on and the car recovered to dealer. heres the fun bit - since i broke down and didn't book it in its being treated as a low priority and therefore bottom of the list of cars in. also, no courtesy car has been offered or provided and im being told they don't have any spare. won't know if its covered by warranty or not until they look at it so i have ticked both boxes. i spoke with seat UK earlier and explained the problems i ave had. they are looking into it but its not up to them if i can get a courtesy car or not. again, i wasn't told about the dpf issue at time of purchase and regularly drive it at over 50mph with 3,000 rpm so this should not be happening. the attitude f both the dealer i have been to and Seat UK stinks as they are treating it as my problem and not theirs.
there will be some fun and games if i find out i have to pay for any repair work i can tell you[:@]

[Jace]

Whats a DPF light :D


Done 3500 miles so far, never once has it come on. [B)]


I think the DPF is more suited to M'way drivers than townies, mine gets a 35mile run twice a day, & the odd few miles run now & again, I always wait until the temp guage is at 90 before giving it some too, allows the car to warm up correctly.


Based on this, I will be having her mapped in the near future, well actulay, once I've sorted the garden decking out, its next on the list :funk:

[mister.c.]

Considering that this engine is in the A3 and Golf GT, I think this is a bit scaremongering. There are tens of thousands of this engine out in the wild with a DPF with a small handful of problems. I think a lot is based on where you live and how you drive.:

For those who were not aware, some thoughts from the A3 community over at Audi Sport. Its a long thread (and not all directly relevant for the DPF) but essentially Leon owners are not alone.

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/showthread.php?t=37777

[OLDOILER]

Voted no DPF lights
15K miles, mixed bag of driving remapped at 11k goes to regen mode quite a lot some of my travels at three figures and had ecu derating using a Shell V diesel. Have changed my driving habbits and now seldom use 5/6th gears unless on motorway/ fast road.
The warranty issue is VERT subjective and the dealership - mine with accept the first failure thereafter its subject to negosciation.
Also had a problem with mpg and and Dealership got 50mpg - ac off and 4th gear at 65mph [that meets Seats requirements!!]

[john q]

hi all im ment to be picking up my new fr 170 tomorrow not sure im looking forward to much now with all these problems??

[JonoUK]

hi all im ment to be picking up my new fr 170 tomorrow not sure im looking forward to much now with all these problems??

What "all these problems"? :)

[hundleton1]

The way I see it is it’s not the filter that is the real problem
under Passive regeneration the filter should burn off the soot with normal driving, however if your driving style does not allow for hot exhaust temperatures then the active regeneration should kick in, this evolves the ECU telling the engine to inject more fuel causing higher exhaust temperature, this process take time to complete (approximately 20 minutes) if the active regeneration does not solve the problem the filter becomes blocked.

The filter is not the problem. It is the item that gets damaged but It gets blocked because the active regeneration is ether not working at all or not staying on for long enough. This is either a software fault not telling the active regeneration to kick in or it’s a sensor in the DPF not detecting when it needs to start active regeneration, either way it’s a design fault and must be covered under warranty,

Seat would not stand a chance in court with this

[BanziBarn]

Can someone explain why increasing engine power via a remap will cause problems>

Once school of thought - more power = more heat so the soot will get burned off quicker.

Other school of though - Perhaps its simply down to flow rate and with a remap, even if the dpf is working perfectly it can't burn the soot quick enough?

[cuprascott]

Can someone explain why increasing engine power via a remap will cause problems>

Once school of thought - more power = more heat so the soot will get burned off quicker.

Other school of though - Perhaps its simply down to flow rate and with a remap, even if the dpf is working perfectly it can't burn the soot quick enough?

More power more fuel burnt = more soot.

But yeah more heat more burn off so dunno?

[Simon_Peters]

57 Leon done 230 miles and light came on. Went up the motorway a bit quick and the light went off.

[jonnyash]

only time i had my light on was when it was first mapped and now done around 9000 miles since it was done and no problems whatsoever

[sm_allen]

Should I cancel my order for the FR TDI, or am being over concerned?

My normal commute is 30 miles with approx 50% being dual carriageway, and my annual mileage is approx 14,000 miles.

[P0LKR]

If you are doing over 12k a year keep with the TDi and give it some beans regularly. If under 12k go for the TFSI man/dsg or Cupra. I have the petrol now having tried diesel for a while. THe petrol is much more fun.

[s3atl3onFR]

If you do a lot of long driving and don't drive within the city, stay with the TDI. Otherwise expect to give it a good running every 300-500 miles in accordance to the user manual (hence expect your lovely mileage go out the window). Otherwise you're going to have a lot of fun with the TDI.

[pocket]

hello there, ive just placed an order for an FR tdi so i hope im not tempting fate but,

you have to remember that people very rarely go onto the internet and say, "mine works fine, "it does what its meant to do". they go onto foums mainly because they have a problem so all you see is negative things about it.

I remember a few years ago i had a problem with a PC gfx card. there was thousands of folk complaining making it seem like id made a mistake buying it. But these people only represented a small minority of he owners.

altho' a problem with the DPF shouldnt be happening. it just depends how common a problem it actually is.

[s3atl3onFR]

Thats a fair comment, though from experience the DPF problem does seem a more general problem than one that happens to a minority. Only reason I say this is because the Show room which looked at mine has told me so, though they did try blame it on the driving style. Trouble looks to be one of design limiting the driving style of the car. I mean this car has 6 gears and I'm paranoid to use 6th gear on motorway now. Totally understand however that motorway commuters might never ever experience the problems that are affecting some here though, at least you've got the forsight to do something about it now rather than regret it later.

[AndyVTR]

120 miles a day, no problems.

[leonfr170]

well, i got my car back today and am now £150 poorer[:@]
can't fault the dealer but having spoke with Seat UK at length and it seems as an end user im getting screwed. they say i should follow the guidlines laid out in the manual and the car will be fine. i am driving 110 miles a day and regularly rev i high so it shouldn't be hapening. anyway, in Seat's unique customer service world they will only make outging calls twice a day in one hour slots so still waiting to hear back from a manager. i think that maybe selling my car now to aviod future problems is the besr way forward - i love the car but the customer service from Seat UK is non existant and this particulate problem in my book should be covered under warranty.
let me know what you guys think as i am thinking about taking this further - its not so much as i don't want to pay but feel if this is a known problem then Seat should at least look after its customer base

[JonoUK]

well, i got my car back today and am now £150 poorer[:@]
can't fault the dealer but having spoke with Seat UK at length and it seems as an end user im getting screwed. they say i should follow the guidlines laid out in the manual and the car will be fine. i am driving 110 miles a day and regularly rev i high so it shouldn't be hapening. anyway, in Seat's unique customer service world they will only make outging calls twice a day in one hour slots so still waiting to hear back from a manager. i think that maybe selling my car now to aviod future problems is the besr way forward - i love the car but the customer service from Seat UK is non existant and this particulate problem in my book should be covered under warranty.
let me know what you guys think as i am thinking about taking this further - its not so much as i don't want to pay but feel if this is a known problem then Seat should at least look after its customer base

So um, what's actually been claimed that's wrong with it. Sensor/DPF/Other?

The light came on so you took it to a dealer? Was it just the "drive me harder" dpf light or also the engine/coil light too? Had you seen the DPF light on its own before this?

Sorry if I'm missing something.

[leonfr170]

i got the dpf light on tuesday and was told my dealer what to do to try and clear it. drove it in 4th on the motorway for 5 min and it went out. on wednesday it came back on with coil light and went into a limp mode so i took it to the dealer where its been until today.
they say that as the 2nd light came on its out of warranty and charged me £152.94 to do a dpf regeneration (basically 2hrs labour charge) to clear it.
can't say i'm happy about it but Seat don't want to know it seems and the dealer tells me its the 4th car this month they have seen with the same problem.

[JonoUK]

Hmmm that doesn't sound right at all.... bad form, Seat.
On the "plus" side... least it wasn't £1500.
I think my car will have to have some "fun" on the way home/weekend now :(

[neilandbob]

7500 miles since begining of feb had no lights on so no problemo :D

[alnsaz]

I voted - No problems.
Car Age - 10 months, mine from new Jan 07 '56' plate
Mileage - 10,500 miles
Driving style - Very mixed, commuting 15 miles to work and back 5-days a week on A roads and in jams. Lots of fast runs on motorway 70+ and spirited driving most of the time

The poll speaks for itself so far - minimal problems to a minority and usually fixed quickly by RTFM!!

[AttyNW]

I voted - No problems.
Car Age - 12 months - 56plate (owned by me from new)
Mileage - 12500 miles
Driving style - Mainly commuting 18 miles each way, up and down the M62 to work and back. Short runs to the shops, school and the odd trip down the A50 to Leicester.

[s3atl3onFR]

They should only charge if they have to replace the DPF filter... i.e. if it goes into limp mode, stop driving it and get it towed back to garage or else you risk killing the DPF.

I voted Had problems clearing as I went into limp mode on the latter occassion but have had DPF light 5 times.

Car age - 2300 on the clock practically new

Driving style - hard when i can but unfortunately I have nursery runs which are short and trips into London that contains stop/starts otherwise trips up motorway (1 month at least) with frequent A road trips which I can drive it harder.

[hundleton1]

I still don’t think we should be paying for this, I would suggest any one who suffers from this problem refuse to pay of any labor or parts, contact trading standards and if your car I purchased on finance contact them as well, they also have a responsibility to ensure the car is fit for purpose.
Seat can not just say it’s not covered by any guarantee, they have to prove you have done something to damage the filter.

[Simon_Peters]

The bloody thing has come on again today. Only had the car two weeks and its only just clocked up 600 miles. It has cleared with a hard motorway drive but 250 miles this week were on the motorway. I am trying not to worry about it at the moment but it is taking a small shine of the new car for me.

As soon as it appears if I take it for a run like suggested I guess it will be fine but it is slightly annoying!

Cheers

[Emocional]

It happened to mine at about 200 miles. It got very hot and smelt like it was going to catch fire. After a short brisk run all was well and hasn't done it again, 8000 miles touch wood.

[ktron]

I do 70-80 miles a day. Nearly all motorway journeys. Had the car 12 months with no problems until.....First time I had a problem was about 6 months ago when the engine fault light came on - followed by the DPF light, I was on a motorway doing 70 anyway - so I thought no problem, after 15 minutes the coil light started flashing and kicked me into limp mode. Got the car back to the dealer via Seat Assist. When I go to collect it I was told off like a schoolboy for not following the recommended procedure (and was given a photocopy of the handbook instructions - thanks Seat Letchworth).
Last week exact same thing happened to me on the way home - again on the motorway. The cars now been with the dealer 5 days and im being told there talking with Seat technical (read they havent a clue). The AA man that gave me a lift to the dealer says this is a major problem in the VW group - seems that im the ideal person to own a car with DPF fitted (high mileage - long trips - no stop starts) - and if im getting these problems christ knows whats going to happen to school run mums. Heres hoping they find a fault with the CPU activating the regeneration procedure else back to petrol and not a Seat for me.

[leonfr170]

as horrible as it sounds im glad im not the only one having these kind of problems. im still waiting to hear from Seat UK with a suitable answer for my prblems but it seems its not an isolated incident they are trying to tell me it is. if i don't get a response somewtime next week i think (with the help of you guys hopefully) i'm going to start kicking up a real fuss as individuals we are ignored - maybe as a group we can get a real answer and reasurrance we, the customer are not going to have to keep paying for an issue which should be covered by a warranty.
in the mean time im going to look at a bmw 1 series

[hundleton1]

have a read of this,

http://www.americandieselandgas.com/dpf.htm

[hundleton1]

also this

http://www.iconia.org.uk/files/Diesel%20Particle%20Filter%20Recommendations.pdf

Interesting comment,

• If the DPF needs replacing and
the guidelines/recommendations
made by Volkswagen have not
been followed, the cost of
replacement will not be covered
by the manufacturer’s warranty.


I does not say its not covered by warranty, they have to prove you have not followed the correct instructions.

[leonfr170]

hmm, interesting reading - although i could argue i have followed the guidlines now they have already taken my money i feel its unlikely they will refund anything. Seat UK have already proved to me im not important by returning any of my calls:(

[john q]

i asked the salesman at arnold clark seat in edinburgh about these problems, he told me that if i had any problemswith my new fr they would be sorting it out themselves and not seat? hopefully i wont have problems and have to find out????

[P0LKR]

Hope you dont as I don't see AC doing anything to help anybody.

[rpmleon]

I do 70-80 miles a day. Nearly all motorway journeys. Had the car 12 months with no problems until.....First time I had a problem was about 6 months ago when the engine fault light came on - followed by the DPF light, I was on a motorway doing 70 anyway - so I thought no problem, after 15 minutes the coil light started flashing and kicked me into limp mode. Got the car back to the dealer via Seat Assist. When I go to collect it I was told off like a schoolboy for not following the recommended procedure (and was given a photocopy of the handbook instructions - thanks Seat Letchworth).
Last week exact same thing happened to me on the way home - again on the motorway. The cars now been with the dealer 5 days and im being told there talking with Seat technical (read they havent a clue). The AA man that gave me a lift to the dealer says this is a major problem in the VW group - seems that im the ideal person to own a car with DPF fitted (high mileage - long trips - no stop starts) - and if im getting these problems christ knows whats going to happen to school run mums. Heres hoping they find a fault with the CPU activating the regeneration procedure else back to petrol and not a Seat for me.

I appologise if I have broken any "post duplication rules" but there are several threads currently discussing this "DPF" problem. I posted this on the "TDi > TFSI" thread a couple of days ago:

I've noticed several threads on this "DPF" problem and my commiserations with those who have experienced it.

I first approached my local dealer about 4 months ago about changing my Mk1 Leon 150 TDi Cupra for the new Mk11 FR TDi. He noted the low milage on my existing car and his very first question was "Do you do a lot of short journeys"? He then went on to explain about the possible problems with the DPF system and recommended the 140 TDi if I did do a lot of short journeys. He also explained about the possibility of the DPF actually "not being covered by the warrenty" if it did need replacing and the fact that this could cost £1000+. (Which I think is :censored:)

I must admit I had never heard of "DPF" at the time but his advice, and a little research, was one of several reasons why I opted for the TFSI FR DSG which I doooooooo so like :D:D

I did like the 170 FR and would have probably bought it if I did a lot of miles each year. Yes I did pay a few hudred pounds more for the TFSI DSG but that was my decision. I could have paid a few hundred pounds less if I'd gone for the TFSI FR Manual.

I think the point I am trying to make is that this has been a known problem since the introduction of DPF and I believe that some people out there may have decided not to buy that model if they had been given the proper advice at the dealership. If one dealer can give you the facts then why not all of them!

RPM

I am sorry to hear about your problems KTRON but the Dealer I refer to above was Seat Letchworth. Mind you, it may have been your problem (initial problem 6 months ago) and others like them which has led to them giving more detailed advice to prospective new buyers?

RPM

[CupraDaft]

No problems whatsoever.

07 Plate bought 01/03/07 with 8700'ish miles on it.

Delighted with the car.

[leonfr170]

just got to work and guess which light came on this morning on my 55mile drive on the m62?! i'm so :censored: off, paid over £150 on friday and ahve not really driven the car on the weekend so i see no reason for the light to be back on again - willbe straight on the phone to the dealer as soon as they open me thinks

[BanziBarn]

This could be a good oppertunity to query the payment you made - it's just not on.

[Simon_Peters]

I would be so p***ed mate if I were you! Get on the phone and give them hell! It really isn't right.

Si

[ktron]

I appologise if I have broken any "post duplication rules" but there are several threads currently discussing this "DPF" problem. I posted this on the "TDi > TFSI" thread a couple of days ago:

I've noticed several threads on this "DPF" problem and my commiserations with those who have experienced it.

I first approached my local dealer about 4 months ago about changing my Mk1 Leon 150 TDi Cupra for the new Mk11 FR TDi. He noted the low milage on my existing car and his very first question was "Do you do a lot of short journeys"? He then went on to explain about the possible problems with the DPF system and recommended the 140 TDi if I did do a lot of short journeys. He also explained about the possibility of the DPF actually "not being covered by the warrenty" if it did need replacing and the fact that this could cost £1000+. (Which I think is :censored:)

I must admit I had never heard of "DPF" at the time but his advice, and a little research, was one of several reasons why I opted for the TFSI FR DSG which I doooooooo so like :D:D

I did like the 170 FR and would have probably bought it if I did a lot of miles each year. Yes I did pay a few hudred pounds more for the TFSI DSG but that was my decision. I could have paid a few hundred pounds less if I'd gone for the TFSI FR Manual.

I think the point I am trying to make is that this has been a known problem since the introduction of DPF and I believe that some people out there may have decided not to buy that model if they had been given the proper advice at the dealership. If one dealer can give you the facts then why not all of them!

RPM

I am sorry to hear about your problems KTRON but the Dealer I refer to above was Seat Letchworth. Mind you, it may have been your problem (initial problem 6 months ago) and others like them which has led to them giving more detailed advice to prospective new buyers?

RPM

Thanks for your comments RPM...funny thing is, if I had been given advise when I bought my Leon (which I didn't get BTW) I would still have gone with the car with DPF - considering my comments above about journey times etc. Im able to post here today as I have had to take (another) days holiday as my cars still being looked at and Seat Letchworth have no courtesy cars.

Leon FR170 you have the same car as me (im guessing from your nick) - seems were in the same boat :(
Im pretty sure its a CPU fault or similar as the car SHOULD be using the DPF regeneration with the journey time/distances we both do. I will keep you informed if Seat suggest a solution or I just get the 'naughty schoolboy' treatment again.

[leonfr170]

ktron - you guessed right i have the die sel. can't fault the dealer (so far anyway!) will get on to Seat again today - whats the likelhood they actually call me back though?!

[hundleton1]

just got to work and guess which light came on this morning on my 55mile drive on the m62?! i'm so :censored: off, paid over £150 on friday and ahve not really driven the car on the weekend so i see no reason for the light to be back on again - willbe straight on the phone to the dealer as soon as they open me thinks

Well this proves that the active regeneration is not doing the job, after a few days it should not have come back on, or the dealer did not completely regenerate the filter, I am starting to wonder if it’s a sensor fault rather than the filter being really blocked, I would demand your money back you paid on Friday as well, or threaten them with trading standard.
I really don’t think this Is a problem with all the TDI 170’s because my mate has had his since it was released, he drives 5 miles each way a day to work, and he does not hammer it al all, in fact he drives like a old git, I spoke with him last night and he has never had the light come on, in fact he did not even know what the DPF was or how to get it to regenerate,. As for my one I have only just had it on Friday so I will have to see.


also an option for those who filters need replacing
http://www.eurocats.co.uk/dpf.php

[Rampage]

I does not say its not covered by warranty, they have to prove you have not followed the correct instructions.

The warranty is in addition to your statutory rights. It's a free extra given by the manufacturer. Seat don't legally need to give you a warranty.

If you not sure of your statutory rights then have a read below. It's useful to know when shopping anywhere.

SOG Act Quick Facts (http://www.dti.gov.uk/consumers/fact-sheets/page38311.html)

SOG Act in Full (http://www.johnantell.co.uk/SOGA1979.htm)



.

[s3atl3onFR]

• Wherever goods are bought they must "conform to contract". This means they must be as described, fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality (i.e. not inherently faulty at the time of sale).

i.e. they need to have really told you that the car isn't suitable for town driving or short distances at a bare minimum, otherwise car isn't fit for the purpose... not quite sure how that stands up in the courts since I'm no lawyer.

[hundleton1]

I have spent the day looking into the DPF (yes to much time on my hands i know)and from reading the driving style is not the problem, if you driving style does not allow for passive regeneration of the DPF then the car initiates active regeneration, active regeneration is designed for people who don’t do enough driving to allow the filter to regenerate by its self, this is the fail safe, it seams that the VAG active regeneration system is not working correctly, although other manufactured has suffered from problem the most I have been able to find is with VAG cars, the active regeneration system when fully completed should always clear the problem.

From reading the forum most people seem to have the first light come on then go off then some time later it seems to come back with the management light and enter limp mode.
f it was driver error you would get the first light, this would remain on until the second stage kicks in and put the car into limp mode.

[ktron]

I have spent the day looking into the DPF (yes to much time on my hands i know)and from reading the driving style is not the problem, if you driving style does not allow for passive regeneration of the DPF then the car initiates active regeneration, active regeneration is designed for people who don’t do enough driving to allow the filter to regenerate by its self, this is the fail safe, it seams that the VAG active regeneration system is not working correctly, although other manufactured has suffered from problem the most I have been able to find is with VAG cars, the active regeneration system when fully completed should always clear the problem.

From reading the forum most people seem to have the first light come on then go off then some time later it seems to come back with the management light and enter limp mode.
f it was driver error you would get the first light, this would remain on until the second stage kicks in and put the car into limp mode.

If im reading this correctly this is exactly what has happened to me twice now. The first fault light ISNT the DPF light but the engine management light. Seat have admitted this shouldn't be happening...this is then followed by the DPF light which I cannot clear even following the instructions (40-60 mph in 4/5th gear). Then after another 15-20 mins of driving I then get the flashing coil light and limp mode.

I had a call from the dealer today and has been advised by Seat technical to clean certain parts of the area around the DPF????....and also to switch my engine oil to a new recommended one. Haven't got the car back yet but fingers crossed.

[leonfr170]

to keep you up to date my car is still at the garage awaiting parts apparently. they couldn't tell me what but i will know by the time i collect it - and suprise suprise no call from seat uk either:rolleyes:
at least this time i had a courtesy car i could keep hold of

[sm_allen]

to keep you up to date my car is still at the garage awaiting parts apparently. they couldn't tell me what but i will know by the time i collect it - and suprise suprise no call from seat uk either:rolleyes:
at least this time i had a courtesy car i could keep hold of

Any news on the car and what they have replaced?

[leonfr170]

im actually still waiting to hear back from them. will hopefully post this evening when i finally get my car back

[hundleton1]

dont forget to get your money back as well:)

[Simon_Peters]

surprise surprise on my may to work this morning and ping on came the light. I have only done 150 miles since the last time which included motor trip.

Starting to do me nut in now. I am sure it will clear with a blast up the motorway again but i don't know if I want a car that does this every couple of days.

[Al]

Milltek are finishing off a turbo back exhaust on a GT TDi 170 Golf that does away with the DPF FYI.

[Simon_Peters]

I would love to get rid but being a lease car I can't really do anything like that.

Cheers though.

[leonfr170]

i got my car back yesterday. the exhaust gas pressure sensor was broken and therefore replaced. apparently this has nothing to do with the dpf problems i had last week and they woudn't refund my repair. however, this new fault was fixed under the warranty so at least i haven't spent anymore money fixing the bloody thing!!!

[mister.c.]

Great thread chaps - with 50 votes already (and peoples experiences) then it gives someone trying to get their head around the issue a bit of information.

As i was looking through the forum on DPF then i bumped into this (courtesy of Cupra.net member Snarks) which warrants inclusion on here - a leaflet on DPF which he received from the dealer.
http://img231.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dpfle3.jpg

[ktron]

Mine was also returned yesterday. They cleaned some pipes around the DPF and did a full service using an alternative oil - as advised by Seat technical...fingers crossed - you can be sure I will be back adding my 10p worth if I get another problem :-)

[mrsixstring]

Great thread chaps - with 50 votes already (and peoples experiences) then it gives someone trying to get their head around the issue a bit of information.

As i was looking through the forum on DPF then i bumped into this (courtesy of Cupra.net member Snarks) which warrants inclusion on here - a leaflet on DPF which he received from the dealer.
http://img231.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dpfle3.jpg

I read this in the dealer when I picked up my FR. The dealer told me at the time that if the light comes on I basically need to rag it for a few miles! :whistle:

I recall laughing and thinking that this was the best excuse I've ever heard for basically having to put your foot down. I wonder how many other manufacturers of cars with DPF say the same thing?! Fabulous...but a little worrying that light might pop on any second none the less.

[ktron]

I read this in the dealer when I picked up my FR. The dealer told me at the time that if the light comes on I basically need to rag it for a few miles! :whistle:

I recall laughing and thinking that this was the best excuse I've ever heard for basically having to put your foot down. I wonder how many other manufacturers of cars with DPF say the same thing?! Fabulous...but a little worrying that light might pop on any second none the less.

Yes mulord...I was told by the dealer that driving at 70 in a 40 was OK to clear the DPF..what 6 months ban mulord??? :rolleyes:

[hundleton1]

Yes mulord...I was told by the dealer that driving at 70 in a 40 was OK to clear the DPF..what 6 months ban mulord??? :rolleyes:

:lol:

[s3atl3onFR]

can this be a sticky... I am sure this will be re-visited many times over

[beachboy]

May I second that about making this DPF issue a sticky.

This thing is bigger than both of us, Jim!

The latest post is from vasquez on DPF and Limp mode issues in the Leon Mk 2 section.

There are at least 5 current threads on this DPF issue so it would seem sensible to bring them all together under a sticky.

[sm_allen]

Can we please keep the poll running as well?

[Simon_Peters]

I voted - See the Light but everytime it's cleared
Car Age - 3 weeks old 57plate (owned by me from 9 miles)
Milage - Shade over 1000 miles
The light came on at 260 miles and 600 and 900 miles. Most of that was motorway miles too.

Haven't see it for a week now though......

Si

[hangten0]

I voted - No problems - DPF lights been on a couple of times
Car Age - 16 months (06 plate)
Milage - 14,000
Driving style - 30 mile commute, 10 minutes crawling, other 20 minutes over 50, no problems. BUT, previously for 6 months had a 1 mile "commute" (i know should have walked!), DPF came on a couple of times (5-10 minutes burn on a nearby dual-carriage way cured it). Did drive it quite hard rev wise, if not suspect DPF would have come on more frequently.

I was not told about DPF driving requirements when bought car, imo not worth buying it if only doing town/city driving at low speed, then perhaps you could say the same about most diesels.

[laney456]

I voted - Seen light twice and had problems - charged for regeneration
Car Age - 6 months (07 plate)
Milage - 3,500
Driving style - 5 mile commute at around 30mph...but frequent driving at the weekend over 50miles


The DPF on my car is currently doing my nut in.

At approx 2000miles I saw the DPF light come on for the first time. I consulted the manual, took it out for a blast and hey presto....it went out.

More recently (3200miles), the light came on....now being honest it may have been 2-3 days before I carried out the DPF regeneration (due to work commitments)....but when I did, the coil light started flashing, I pulled over to turn the engine off to see if it cleared.
Then when I keyed on, the EM light came on and I lost all power in limp home mode.

Returned the car straight to the dealership, and they basically said my filter required manual regeneration which wasn't covered under warranty.

Obviously I went mad but dealership (LC Charles Crewe) said they wouldn't pay for it and I got charged £109. I basically had no choice because I needed the car the next day.

I have written to SEAT UK about a number of problems I have had with the car (faulty powersteering, ignition shorting out and no engine cover!) in the hope that as a gesture of good will, they would refund me the £109. Got a letter today basically telling me to take a hike!

Not happy at all and I will be taking the matter further.

Thinking of going to the motor industry SMMT in order to raise a complaint.

I just think the whole thing is a joke!

[NickP]

Car Age 1.5 months 57 Plate
Mileage 2,500
Driving style 13 miles each way commute, with fairly regular longer trips (100 miles +)

To date have never seen the DPF light

[ktron]

And here we go again....I have had the car back 1 week from the dealer - they carried out a service with new recommended oil & cleaned the area around the DPF as advised by Seat technical...this morning the engine management light comes on..from previous experience I know next will be the DPF and then limp mode, back to the dealers I go. This is doing my head in. [:@]

Laney456 - my dealer didn't charge me for regen - its not your fault - I would look at threatening either your dealer or Seat UK with trading standards.

[laney456]

Laney456 - my dealer didn't charge me for regen - its not your fault - I would look at threatening either your dealer or Seat UK with trading standards.

I will be taking it further for sure Ktron...the best thing is that the letter Seat UK sent me states that the DPF light should come on until the filter is 55% blocked and the car shouldnt go into limp home mode until the filter reaches 75% blockage.

In my letter to Seat UK I included a service document that said when I took the car in the filter was only 36% full and therefore the DPF warning light shouldn't have ever come on at all!

Maybe other people having similar problems should write off to Seat UK.

The person I am dealing with is:

Kelly Warren
Customer Service Team Manager
SEAT Uk Customer Service Centre.

After this fiasco I would never ever buy another Seat again and I am considering just selling it because if I can't use it to get to work it's useless.

[leonfr170]

i have some good news at last! Seat UK have finally been in touch and offered me a refund on my regeneration charge. i didn't even have to ask for it, they apologised for taking so long in getting back to me and told me they would refund my money (well, they will authorise my dealer to refund me since i paid them)
although im happy im getting my money back im still more than a little nervous that at some stage my dpf light will come on again and i will be in the same situation. however, once i week i take the car out for a thrash - well, i HAVE to do it for the good of my car, officer:p

[laney456]

i have some good news at last! Seat UK have finally been in touch and offered me a refund on my regeneration charge. i didn't even have to ask for it, they apologised for taking so long in getting back to me and told me they would refund my money (well, they will authorise my dealer to refund me since i paid them)
although im happy im getting my money back im still more than a little nervous that at some stage my dpf light will come on again and i will be in the same situation. however, once i week i take the car out for a thrash - well, i HAVE to do it for the good of my car, officer:p

Hi Leonfr170, can I ask how you got Seat to refund you the regeneration money?

I got told to get lost lol...just wondering if you had different circumstances?

[leonfr170]

well, didn't do anything special apart from complain. luckily (or not) my car had a sensor fault the following week and i complained again. thats when i got a call back and they said i would be getting refunded. the dealer had to submit a goodwill claim form 1st though.

[ktron]

Nice to hear you got your money back leonfr170 (you shouldn't have been billed to start with).

Looks like we both had the same problem - Got my car back yesterday - faulty sensor.

I hope you have the same joy laney456.

[Simon_Peters]

Hi all!

Guess what the light has come on again, this is the 6th time I have seen it now. It clears ok with a good hard drive up the slab but I am starting to think there is something wrong as most of mile 1700 miles on the clock have been on the motorway.

Think I will mention it when I am passing the stealer next.

[Tam]

Hi all!

Guess what the light has come on again, this is the 6th time I have seen it now. It clears ok with a good hard drive up the slab but I am starting to think there is something wrong as most of mile 1700 miles on the clock have been on the motorway.

Think I will mention it when I am passing the stealer next.

Motorway = 6th gear less than 2000rpm?
or
Motorway = 4th gear 3,500 rpm?

The DPF only clears when its hot :)

[Simon_Peters]

Motorway = 6th gear less than 2000rpm?
or
Motorway = 4th gear 3,500 rpm?

The DPF only clears when its hot :)

I did read that and I have a mixed driving style really so a mixture of both. But even saying that I thought that if you weren't doing that it changed the mixture or something so it would still work?

Cheers

[dogmeat]

I'm glad in a way im not the only Leon owner having problems with the DPF filter, Since I bought the car I have been a regular visitor to the dealership basically every other week since March......
Engine warning light then the DPF and finally the coil light and then its in limp mode. I was told it was my driving style (short journeys) what a load of bull, I have put near on 20,000 miles since March and I do most of it on the motorway, they advised me to drive at a constant speed (60mph) in 5th gear for 10-15 mins and the problem would clear itself.......that turned out to be a load of bull.....

[ktron]

I'm glad in a way im not the only Leon owner having problems with the DPF filter, Since I bought the car I have been a regular visitor to the dealership basically every other week since March......
Engine warning light then the DPF and finally the coil light and then its in limp mode. I was told it was my driving style (short journeys) what a load of bull, I have put near on 20,000 miles since March and I do most of it on the motorway, they advised me to drive at a constant speed (60mph) in 5th gear for 10-15 mins and the problem would clear itself.......that turned out to be a load of bull.....

Dogmeat - from the description you give this is exactly the same situation as I had. In my case it turned out to be a broken sensor on the DPF. In my case it took 3 attempts for the garage to eventually find it, firstly telling me bad driving stye (same as you), then engine oil change to a new type recommended by Seat before finding the faulty sensor - mind you im only 2 weeks down the line with no light - good luck.

[safcnige]

I have had problems with the dpf since new and the car spends most of its time on the motorway and has covered 22000 miles, the light came on this morning and wouldnt go off. After following the manuals instructions with no joy (usually it does clear after a while) then i had loss of power with two warning lights coming on, i then took it to the garage and complained to seat customer service who contacted the garage and they rang me back to confirm that the garage would not be charging me for clearing the dpf as it was not under warranty which i find completely disgusting and was told i should have been notified about this when i got the car which i was not. The car was registered in august 06 is driven hard every day and has had a total of 4 turbo solenoids a constantly reoccuring 'phantom misfire' i.e engine rocks when at idle this happens roughly every 300 miles, the airbag light has come on once, different rattles and most probably more to come oh and i almost forgot the dealer left a can of aerosol in the engine bay after a service great eh.
Has anyone else suffered these problems?
Also can you dissconnect the dpf with an aftermarket exhaust?

[AttyNW]

YES Milltek do a downpipe which replaces the DPF. I'm told all the original sensors etc fit the replacement part so the ECU doesn't need re-programming. They have tested this for some time on a Golf.
Approx £295 +VAT

I am very tempted even though I have had no problems with my DPF, should enable me to get a decent remap though.

http://www.millteksport.com/exhaust.products.cfm?variantid=264

[cuprascott]

YES Milltek do a downpipe which replaces the DPF. I'm told all the original sensors etc fit the replacement part so the ECU doesn't need re-programming. They have tested this for some time on a Golf.
Approx £295 +VAT

I am very tempted even though I have had no problems with my DPF, should enable me to get a decent remap though.

http://www.millteksport.com/exhaust.products.cfm?variantid=264

Would it pass an MOT without it though?

[AttyNW]

I have no idea. I am also wondering how it would affect the cars warranty.

[FRTDI Edinburgh]

Problems with my DPF....

DPF blocked light first came on at 3000miles, I drove on for a further 30mins at speeds around 60mph on open rural roads (Using the gears - not just staying in 6th), then the glow plug light came on and the engine went into limp home mode, so I "limped" 10 miles back home.

The car was recovered to the SEAT garage, they manually re-activated the filter and this solved the problem. The dealer told me they would have to charge me as the dpf is not covered by warranty and the problems were down to "driver error". As the car is leased (inc. maintenance), the leasing company would have had to pay. The leasing company spoke to someone higher up in SEAT and eventually SEAT agreed to cover the cost. I have no doubt that without the intervention of the Leasing company, I would have had to pay.

SEAT explained to me that there is a procedure that must be followed to allow the dpf to clean itself, if this is not followed, the dpf will choke & you will be charged, the "complex" procedure is as follows;:think:

If the DPF choked light comes on, drive at speeds over 40mph for 10mins

OR as the owners manual says "occassionally drive at speeds of over 60km/h"

Apparently, according to SEAT, follow these instructions and there wont be any problems - NOT IN MY EXPERIENCE [:@]

My car has done 3000 miles in the 5 weeks since I got it, 600miles a week, this would be impossible if I didn't regularly drive at speeds of over 60km/h. I do a 100mile round trip on dual carriageway 2/3 times a week, 30mile dual carriageway round trip every other day and would say less than 10% of my driving is done in town or at less than 30mph.

When the dpf blocked light first came on, I was about 1 hour into a drive on open, rural roads, :D (WAS having a great time!), no amount of "enthuthiastic" driving was able to get the light to go out [:@]

I would DEFINITELY not buy one of these cars if I was going to be responsible for maintenance costs myself - £100 to clean the dpf every 3000miles!!!!!!

A shame that SEAT's poor service lets down an otherwise fantastic car :cry:

[phil3012]

I found a leaflet in my Cupra about the SMMT New Car Code of Practice.

If any of you are still having problems with the dealer and after going to SEAT themselves, it may be worth getting SMMT to intervene.

http://www.smmt.co.uk/consumeradvice/

If anyone wants me to scan the leaflet in, just send me a PM and I'll try and sort something out.

[cuprascott]

Problems with my DPF....

DPF blocked light first came on at 3000miles, I drove on for a further 30mins at speeds around 60mph on open rural roads (Using the gears - not just staying in 6th), then the glow plug light came on and the engine went into limp home mode, so I "limped" 10 miles back home.

The car was recovered to the SEAT garage, they manually re-activated the filter and this solved the problem. The dealer told me they would have to charge me as the dpf is not covered by warranty and the problems were down to "driver error". As the car is leased (inc. maintenance), the leasing company would have had to pay. The leasing company spoke to someone higher up in SEAT and eventually SEAT agreed to cover the cost. I have no doubt that without the intervention of the Leasing company, I would have had to pay.

SEAT explained to me that there is a procedure that must be followed to allow the dpf to clean itself, if this is not followed, the dpf will choke & you will be charged, the "complex" procedure is as follows;:think:

If the DPF choked light comes on, drive at speeds over 40mph for 10mins

OR as the owners manual says "occassionally drive at speeds of over 60km/h"

Apparently, according to SEAT, follow these instructions and there wont be any problems - NOT IN MY EXPERIENCE [:@]

My car has done 3000 miles in the 5 weeks since I got it, 600miles a week, this would be impossible if I didn't regularly drive at speeds of over 60km/h. I do a 100mile round trip on dual carriageway 2/3 times a week, 30mile dual carriageway round trip every other day and would say less than 10% of my driving is done in town or at less than 30mph.

When the dpf blocked light first came on, I was about 1 hour into a drive on open, rural roads, :D (WAS having a great time!), no amount of "enthuthiastic" driving was able to get the light to go out [:@]

I would DEFINITELY not buy one of these cars if I was going to be responsible for maintenance costs myself - £100 to clean the dpf every 3000miles!!!!!!

A shame that SEAT's poor service lets down an otherwise fantastic car :cry:

I use these guys for all my warrenty and serviceing

http://seat.rutherford.co.uk/

Speak to Brian who is the service manager - he'll sort you out. Top Bloke small family garage excellent customer service. i wouldnt take my car anywhere else.

[Michael B]

20000miles on my Fr TDI, 6months old. A few days ago in the very cold weather I had driven to pick my sister up, the engine was hot etc and I was parked out side waiting. All of a sudden there is white "smoke" everywhere, like completely covering the car. So I got out to investigate, I thought something was on fire, the smell of sulphur and burning plasic was unreal. Though after about 90secs the revs dropped from 1000 back down to idle. Was this a normal process? I was shocked at the smoke and smell..

[Tam]

Yep, thats how it works, it had obviously started the process as you stopped so continued... usually, at speed, you wouldn't see this.

[MatG]

I am gob smacked that you are all putting up with this. Dealers blaming 'drivers error' is disgusting and dam right ludicrous! These cars would be built for a very large variety of drivers and styles.

I would be speaking to the motoring press and anyone that listened to me by now and I certainly wouldn't be paying for cleaning.

I am still looking at getting an FR but I will remove the DPF they day I get the car for the miltek pipe to remove this issue.

[Michael B]

20000miles on my Fr TDI, 6months old. A few days ago in the very cold weather I had driven to pick my sister up, the engine was hot etc and I was parked out side waiting. All of a sudden there is white "smoke" everywhere, like completely covering the car. So I got out to investigate, I thought something was on fire, the smell of sulphur and burning plasic was unreal. Though after about 90secs the revs dropped from 1000 back down to idle. Was this a normal process? I was shocked at the smoke and smell..

DAMM [:@]

the last two days my dpf light has been on, Im hoping my 40mile commute to work tomorrow will be enough to clear the system. Beacuse if the car goes into limp mode and has to go to the stealer I sure as hell won't be paying for an filters to be cleaned. Thank fully this thread has armed me well..

[leonfr170]

my advice would be to drive it hard once the engine has warmed up and pray you don't get stuck in traffic!

[s3atl3onFR]

Don't drive it hard... drive it consitantly 3rd gear at 2500 rpm and above... should clear quickly enough but make sure its constant speed as much as possible... when light goes would advise further 5-10 minutes as I gather it just means its under ~ 40% full!! Can't wait till my new TFSI comes in to swap for this crap I'm getting with my TDI!!

[Michael B]

Sorry folks, I assumed It was the DPF light, when I looked up the manual it says there is a problem with the exhaust system, I suppose this doesnt rule out the DPF but is not exclusive to it. What could the problem be? Looks like a trip to the stealers tomorrow.. grrr!

[Simon_Peters]

It came on again yesterday. It cleared with a blast up the motorway but I really am starting to get annoyed with it now. I love the car so much but this is putting a big downer on it. With that and the shocking fuel consumption I seem to be getting I am starting to wish I went with the cupra....

I mentioned it to my farther in law who works at Seat and he said it shouldn't be coming on as much as it is with the miles and driving I do etc. I am going get it checked out when its in for its first service.

Cheers,
Si

[S8N]

There seems to be quite the variance. I live in a built up part of Manchester and see the motorway every day for about 5 minutes (and it's always slow moving). Yet I have not seen the DPF light come on. I am sure I would do to be honest but after 9 months of ownership.. nothing.

Perhaps QA is not so good and they vary hugely build wise?

[Michael B]

Regarding the emissions fault light which came on..

I visited the dealers today - they had my car for well over an hour, and they came back with 'umm an oxygen sensor or something is broken' I said - 'thanks ill be on my way', they said 'umm no wait you have to book back in to get it fixed.. So you telling me you had my car all that time, and all your fit to tell me is its not working?

Plus they gave it a 'courtesy wash' I swear there was not a mark on my car before it went in, once it had dried, it was swirls every where - I could have cried. 7months of me being tender and using mits, 2buckets etc, and some thug spends 5min around the back with it and a brush! I was so cross I rang up to complain. The girl just said sorry..

I also find it a laugh seat are charging £200+ for 20k service, when VW down the road are 'only' £140 for the exact same service (GTTDI, and have no problem doing my FR TDI) I thought it was VW who were supposed to rip customers off.. GRRR!

Sorry, rant over!

[hundleton1]

Just thought id post and update, had my FR a month, done 1400 mile, mostly by the mrs back and forth to work, 15 miles a day in slow traffic, never seen the light or had problems yet

[AndyVTR]

Mine was in for it's 20k recently and I noticed a leaflet on DPF on the service desk...

[willias400]

Hello all,

Just wanted to hi first of all and introduce myself before I start to rant! I really wish I'd found this site before buying my Leon FR TDI in May!

I'm on my 3rd Seat diesel now, the others being a Leon FR TDI 150bhp and then a Ibiza Cupra 160bhp TDI, both of which were great. Previous to that I had the VW Golf GTI 150bhp diesel. I covered several thousand miles in all of these cars and never had a single thing wrong with them. I guess they were all pretty much the same generation of engine but I loved it.

My DPF light has been on and off more times than a lady of the night's underwear to put it politely! The car is a 56 plate and had covered approx 4k when I had it in May. It now has some 17.5k on the clock varying from motorway to urban driving.

The first time I noticed it was when I'd been driving back from London to the midlands on the M40. I noticed a change in the tone of the engine, then the DPF light came on, followed shortly after by the engine management light. Not long after that, in the 3rd lane of the motorway at *ahem* above 70mph the car starts to limp along and I nearly cause a pile up! Not knowing what this was I called my dealer who just suggested I bring it in to them and did not say anything about the 'correct' way to deal with this (which I'm still unsure of!). I drove along the M40 with my foot on the floor but could not get to more than 60mph. After 30-40 miles the car just burst back into life. Within two days both lights had disappeared and when I got the car to my dealer they could not find a fault. Since then the car has been back with other problems actually caused by the dealer when they were correcting factory paintwork problems and for its first 'rip off price' 10k service. The DPF and engine management light have appeared from time to time but I've always managed to clear them with a good old boot up the motorway.

This is where things take a turn for the worse! A few days ago I saw the familiar DPF light and then the engine management light which as always I managed to clear. At the weekend it re-appeared quicker than I expected it to but I have been doing shorter trips lately (16 miles each way). This morning it started to limp along. I'd just about had enough of this and called Seat assistance. The AA arrived at work in about 30 mins or so and the guy knew exactly what is was. He proved it by hooking his laptop up and providing me with error codes to take to Seat. He then offered to take me to my local dealer and pick up a hire car for 72 hours which we are entitled to under warranty. He firstly went to a Seat dealer which has been shut down! Then he took me into Birmingham toward another Seat dealer which closed before we got there! He then told me that they couldn't get me a hire car! This meant I had to limp back to work in a car my Seat dealer told me I should not now be driving. I've brought the car back home and I'm dreading the worst post Xmas! Luckily I have a 2nd car to get around in over Xmas but it could quite easily have ruined things if I hadn't.

I love this car and have been smiling ever since I first drove a demonstrator of it but my mind is made up. Once/if this ever gets sorted I'm going back to an Ibiza Cupra/FR TDi! The first thing I will do is trade it in despite losing thousands!

Enough moaning anyway - Happy Christmas to you all!

Steve.

[willias400]

Quick update.....

I eventually managed to get the Leon in to Seat after Christmas although I've not been able to use her now since before Christmas Eve anyway. I spoke to them yesterday and they've spent 6 hours on her so far trying to clear the filter. Apparently they've managed to get it down to 20% but it needs to be at 10% for the light to go off! They've been in touch with Seat as they think it may be more than just the filter (sensors?) but either way they are hoping I can get all of this covered under warranty (phew!). I'm hoping to get her back later this week as I'm selling my other car at the weekend. I'll post the outcome then.

Unfortunately, due to the problems I've had with the car I've put down a deposit on an pre-reg Ibiza FR TDi that was going cheap. I know its not as nice a car but I've had one before and if it's even half as reliable then it will put the Leon to shame. I'll still be very sad to lose such a great car. I think I just got a lemon!

[SpursMadDave]

No problems as yet.... done just over 1,000 miles.....

[foxy367]

I've had my car 12 months had problems with the Exhaust Emissions control valve which is related to the DPF i'm lead to believe.

I voted had the light and cleared. I'd been watching the Wales rally had the engine running to keep warm on the way home (country lanes mainly A-roads) the light came on. Ran it in 4th/5th for about 5 miles and the light went off.

I find occasionally though that the car runs rough sounds more diesel like. No lights come on and eventually it clears. The exhaust sounds more sporty and throbby if that makes sense. Reading the manual it says it will do its own procedure before the light comes on to heat the exhaust. At this time the gasses coming from the exhaust are redhot too. However what I don't get is 95% of my driving is on the motorway at 80mph or so and the revs very very rarely drop below 1400rpm so I don't understand why this happens. Completely baffled and worried that when the warranty runs out I could be left with a big bill for replacing something!!!!

[fredbassett]

I drive a mix of motorway and town, can occasionally go a week or so doing 20 or so 10mile or less journey, other times I can be doing 1k miles in a week. I have now done 10K in 6 months and have had the DPF light on 6/7 times. Second time it went on I got it onto the motorway, 10 mins later the coil light went on and it went into limp mode. Got it to the dealer, they managed to clear it and did something to the ECU. Ever since it has been better. If the DPF light comes on now it soon goes out again. Thankfully I wasn't charged for the fix. I suspect that the problem was with the software or sensor and whatever they did to the ECU has fixed it.

[Stuart83]

I drive 40 miles a day, with a mix of dual carriageways and B roads. The car's done 12.5k miles now, and I've only seen the DPF light twice... neither of these times have been on my work run - they've been when I've been driving around town with a lot of starting / stopping.

Both times the problem has been cleared with a few minutes of "Brisk" driving, legally, down a dual carriageway.

If you think about it, all the smoke that usually comes out the back of a diesel is being caught by the DPF..... so things like pulling away and putting a lot of pressure on the engine are producing soot which is being caught... and since the engine's not turning fast and for long enough to heat the exhaust sufficiently, the DPF isnt getting cleared.

I must admit, it's a major area that the VW group neglected to tell anyone, but it seems that the 170TDI is not meant for extensive urban driving :(

My advice is if you drive in a lot of stop / start traffic, take it for a 5 min journey down a dual carriageway at 50mph+ once a week - should keep it cleaned out.



Strangely I had the same problem as Fred (above), when the coil light came on and it went into limp mode... It needed the exhaust temperature sensor changing about a week after I bought it.... maybe a new sensor minimizes the problems....maybe not tho...

[willias400]

Me again!

Just thought I would post my outcome.

I got the car back on Saturday morning after two weeks of Seat having it. Admittedly it was over Xmas so I have to give them a break there. They'd tried regenerating the DPF several times (and used most of my full tank of diesel!) but still didn't get anywhere. In the end they replaced a couple of sensors and that seemed to do the trick. I was relieved when I was told that Seat were covering all of the cost. :)

Despite losing all of my diesel and the car being filthy inside and out when I got it back, it still brought a grin to my face when I drove it away from the dealers. I did miss it.

I was told by the dealership that they now issue leaflets to all owners of cars with a DPF and they have to advise people how to drive them at the point of sale. I wish I had been 'advised'! I would have kept my Ibiza Cupra TDi!

Like a previous post on here, with the trouble I've had with the DPF and various electrical issues I still don't trust the car and don't want to own it out of warranty so it's going whilst it still fetches a good price. This week will be my last week in it before I go back to an Ibiza. I will be making the most of it!

Good luck with all of your cars guys. I hope you fair better than me.

Steve.

[Rampage]

I was told by the dealership that they now issue leaflets to all owners of cars with a DPF and they have to advise people how to drive them at the point of sale. I wish I had been 'advised'! I would have kept my Ibiza Cupra TDi!


By point of sale I take it you mean when you pay for the car?
They should tell you before you pay the deposit, it's a bit late when your paying for it, as you have probably been waiting for it for a month or two.

[_Hellfire_]

I voted - no problems

Company (leased) vehicle)

Owned from new December 07 - currently 3500 mid-January 08.

Generally motorway driving - 4-5K month.

My driving style changes with my change in music - depends what I've got on at the time. More often than not - sedate 60-70 motorways, occasionally spirited driving upto 60 across the Pennines from Sheffield - Manchester. Occasionally spirited on the A69 to Scotland or the M56 to Wales... I cover the north half of Britain. :whistle:

At the end of the day - I work for a major Automotive Supplier - if I have any problems with DPF it WILL be fixed by Seat 'under warranty' - we do not take kindly to being sold a Lemon.... enough said. [:@]

I will keep you informed if any problems arise.

Regards


Steve

[soupy1983]

In the last 2 weeks my light has came on 3 times, 2 of which sent the car into safe mode. Each time took back to the dealer and got the car re-gened. First time light came on, i did some research, one fella had his come on 9 times, threw the car back at the dealer, got a replacement car, light came on, kept driving to clear it then the filter overheated and set the car on fire, now in court with SEAT direct.

major design fault in the system. And what baffled me was i drive my car hard, and rev it out alot, and the light came on when cruising @ 80 on the motorway! But touch wood, the car has been grand since i last cleared the light

[FRTDI170]

Starting to think about what I'll do once warranty expires. Don't fancy getting hit with a £2000 bill out of the blue. Another 18 months left on warranty but thought I'd test drive a Cupra and see if it persuades me to change sooner:whistle:

Booked in for Friday whilst they repair my near side wing mirror which is extremely temperamental when it comes to folding out on start up....

[MrEdge_]

I have a remapped FR TDI (estimated at 220 BHP / 425 Nm) and never had any trouble with the DPF.

[_Hellfire_]

I have a remapped FR TDI (estimated at 220 BHP / 425 Nm) and never had any trouble with the DPF.

Could you give me more details about the re-map please, I'm intrigued. What Chip, who did the fittng etc - TA!!

Steve

[MrEdge_]

I'm from Holland, so that's the first issue you'll have to overcome :(

Anyway, my dealer is a well known tuner in Holland. They're called DGM and offer this remap to 209 BHP / 425 Nm (measured on several TDI's).
It was a lot of work to remap, because of the DPF, the temperatures in the exhaust etc etc.

Some of the flow-probes in the exhaust system have been replaced by ones that are heat resistant. The whole procedure costs around 600 euro (dunno the euro/pound conversion rate at the moment) and you won't loose the warranty on your car.

Since the remap it drives like a petrol car. The turbo picks up at +/-1900 RPM instead of the original 2100 and lasts till it hits the red zone (you can pull to 5400 RPM but that's really no use). It's always responsive and extremely fast. It eats remapped Leon MK I FR TDI's for breakfast ;)

And again: never had any trouble with the DPF :)

I've been driving it carefully and pushing the limits from time to time. When my car was serviced last week, the guy who tuned it told me (after a test drive) that he believes it will easily hit 220 BHP when measured. I'll do that this summer.

So anyway, if you're interested: www.seat-sport.nl is their site. Don't be fooled by the looks, they really know what they do.

[hundleton1]

From reading people who have problems with the DPF seem to have ongoing issues but some people never have problems at all, it does seem to be more of an issue with some cars more than others, i still have never seen the light and my mate who has had his since release has also never seen the light, and he drivers like a tart:D.

[SpursMadDave]

From reading people who have problems with the DPF seem to have ongoing issues but some people never have problems at all, it does seem to be more of an issue with some cars more than others, i still have never seen the light and my mate who has had his since release has also never seen the light, and he drivers like a tart:D.

I think you hit the nail on the head there, if you actually look at the figures from the poll 66% never seen the light and another 20% have seen it but it clears quickly, seeing as its seemingly an experimental thing that seems pretty good to me...

[SpursMadDave]

I'm from Holland, so that's the first issue you'll have to overcome :(

Anyway, my dealer is a well known tuner in Holland. They're called DGM and offer this remap to 209 BHP / 425 Nm (measured on several TDI's).
It was a lot of work to remap, because of the DPF, the temperatures in the exhaust etc etc.

Some of the flow-probes in the exhaust system have been replaced by ones that are heat resistant. The whole procedure costs around 600 euro (dunno the euro/pound conversion rate at the moment) and you won't loose the warranty on your car.

Since the remap it drives like a petrol car. The turbo picks up at +/-1900 RPM instead of the original 2100 and lasts till it hits the red zone (you can pull to 5400 RPM but that's really no use). It's always responsive and extremely fast. It eats remapped Leon MK I FR TDI's for breakfast ;)

And again: never had any trouble with the DPF :)

I've been driving it carefully and pushing the limits from time to time. When my car was serviced last week, the guy who tuned it told me (after a test drive) that he believes it will easily hit 220 BHP when measured. I'll do that this summer.

So anyway, if you're interested: www.seat-sport.nl is their site. Don't be fooled by the looks, they really know what they do.

Two questions.... is your fuel economy any better/worse since the remap and i cant see a translation button on that site...:whistle:

[mister.c.]

seeing as its seemingly an experimental thing that seems pretty good to me...

Given that Citroen / Peugeot first put them as standard fit on their cars in 2000, it would appear hardly an experimental piece of technology.

Well only in the backward world of VAG diesel design.

[Min Jeeta]

My 56 FR 170 is currently in the service center after going into limp mode with around 26k on the clock.

I generally drive it quite hard with regular trips of over 150 miles a day mainly on motorways or A roads.

My DPF light came on and as I had have this happen once before I knew the routine to clear it. After driving for sometime trying to clear the light at at rev's up to 3k, it decided to go into limp mode as I pulled away from a roundabout and lost power nearly causing an accident, I then had it towed to the Seat garage.

The car has been into the service center for a week know and I am not able to get an answer as to who is going to pay for this.

It is a private lease fully maintained, I had 3 days paid use of a hire vehicle and need my car for work daily, I am now paying for a hire car and a lease car and no closer to finding out when it will be back or who is paying for the hire and repair.

I am getting very very pi55ed of with this now[:@]
I do not consider the way I drive to be a prime candidate for this.
The last time it came on I had been sat i gridlock for 2-3hrs which I can understand causing a problem, it cleared no problem!

I have only just got the car back from the dealer after having 2 door control modules after the battery going completly dead 3 times.

Otherwise a good car :doh:


Update,
I now have the car back which after all the hassle did put a smile on my face.
The problem was caused by a sensor terminal plug getting wet, located beneath the air filter apparently.
maybe a common problem if people are getting intermittent faults.

[LeonGTI]

Hi there, having almost decided on the FR TDI over the TSI, i'm still a little concerned about the DPF issue. 65% have had no problems but thats still 35% that 'have seen the light'.

My drive is 15 miles each way to work across country roads (50-70mph) but tend to cruise in 6th for most of it. Is it advisable to go Diesel if this is gunna cause problems?

Thoughts asap please as can still change mind before lease deal is finalised.

Cheers

[AndyVTR]

30 miles a day I'd go petrol.

[JonoUK]

I'd go with AndyVTR. Petrol for me. You'll probably rarely get to 2k with that sort of driving. My car's barely warmed up after 15 miles, well 10 and 8 and a bit of those are on A roads. Usually stuck behind some nobber who thinks 35-40mph is fun.

With that kind of mileage you'd not really seen any benefit whatsoever from diseasel economy, and certainly not in the FR, whicih guzzles fuel when it's cold. At least mine does. Gives me up to and above 50mpg on my 35 mile each way commute, though (including the guzzling bit). Depends if the road's clear. I tend to always get 44 or so. Only once did I manage to make it not reach 40mpg on the run, that was a fun day :D

You should love your car, and the risk of DPF problems that you *might* encounter depending on how many sparrows were farting on the day it was built (or something like that) would probably ruin the enjoyment of it.

TFSI is where you should be heading, methinks.

[cambobfr]

Hey folks,
Had my TDi FR 2 weeks tomorrow. Picked it up used, one of those which was previously a company car to a Seat employee. 7600 on the clock.
I clicked on the 3rd option in the poll - Seen DPF light, had problems, clear DPF. In fact, the Emissions warning light came on about 3 miles after I picked it up! A week later the DPF light came on. Now then, just prior to buying the car, I seriously grilled the salesman over the DPF, and his fleet manager colleague and basically got them to
a) reassure me I was very unlikely to have problems with it and give me some statistics on failure (I almost had them giving me an oath over it!)
and
b) tell me that it *would* be covered by warranty!
So, when the DPF light came on I naturally reported the problem; the 1st attempted response was to say it was my driving style. Of course, having pre-read all about the DPF I was prepared for this promptly and purposely lost my rag on the phone (it does a lot of good, believe me!) and told them that you can't do 800 miles in a week and blame it on urban driving or driving style (I had them record the mileage when they took the car in to diagnose the fault to prove it).
They promptly booked it in and diagnosed it as a fault with a pressure sensor in the 'exhaust' - I believe they meant the sensor which is pretty much part of the DPF (I've seen the diagrams of the DPF). They couldn't source the part for two days and I had a lot of driving to do over the coming days including an airport run and I made that very clear to them - they told me it would be fine.
250 miles later, a little trip round town prompted the 'coil' warning lamp and loss of turbo.
I spoke to them over the phone with little success - the response was, drive it down the road a bit and call the breakdown assistance line (they won't pick you up from home) - that's the only way you'll get a replacement car for your airport run. Of course, when I started the car up again, it was fine. So, I figured, they're not gonna want me losing my rag in the showroom like I did on the phone and they were gonna have serious egg on the faces after the promises they'd made - so I drove over there.... damn were they nice to me! Take a seat sir, would you like a coffee? Our service manager will be over shortly. In the end, I spoke to the service manager and my salesman together - they moved my car to the top of the job list for the following morning when the sensor would arrive and promised it would be ready by mid-day (it was actually ready at 10:45!). The sales guy also said that I could borrow his car in the event that they couldn't fix mine. Result.

From all this, I would say, don't be afraid of the DPF problems, just be well armed. Get names! Ask them on the phone and if they've got an employee picture board in the showroom - take a look at it. Don't ever let them fob you off with 'driving style' or 'urban driving'. The car, *I know* can do approximately 1000 miles without regeneration (mine did) and it only takes 15mins of minimum 1400rpm at 50mph to clear the DPF and if you can't do that the car has a fail-safe where the ECU will override exhaust gas control to let extra heat into the DPF - it will attempt that at 60% saturation and will try for 30mins?(I'll check that!) One more thing, whilst talking to them I told them I knew the next stage after the coil lamp was going to be red lights, all stop! (in retrospect that actually means you probably need a new DPF - big job and expensive!) The guys almost went pale at that prospect.
My *only* worry is what the state of the DPF will be in 3 years time (after 3 years use) combined with being out of warranty at that time.

I've got a copy of the DPF training material (I probably shouldn't say where I got it) and I can scan and post the interesting bits if anyone's interested, and of course IF it doesn't infringe copyright.... I might have to paraphrase it instead? In essence tho', having read it, it should be pretty difficult for the car not to be able to perform regeneration. Most problems (I think, as someone has already suggested) seem to be caused by sensor malfunction (temperature in someone's case, pressure in mine).

All credit to my local dealer, Marshalls of Cambridge, who really pulled the stops out to get me back on the road and make sure I was covered for when I really needed a car. Great guys.

Finally, to Min Jeeta who wrote
>> The car has been into the service center for a week know and I am not able to get an answer as to who is going to pay for this.

They are!! Assume that and don't accept anything else. From your post, there's no way it's your fault! Ie, driving style/urban driving. Your mileage is proof. If they even suggest it's your fault or anything other than the car at fault, *give them hell* and tell them not to insult you. And if they still keep it up, tell them you'll get on the phone to Seat UK and start naming names (and how long it's been with the dealer!). They really won't want that. Hope that helps.

Bob

[Min Jeeta]

Bob,

Thanks for the news, my thinking behind this is....

The service center the car was taken to had probably had the same kind of symptoms on other vehicles which they cleared without needing any repairs, when this didn't work they almost immediately blamed the actual DPF without really testing.

The service tech's are not skilled enough to be able to look at the wider picture of how the DPF system is controlled. I myself used to be a service engineer albeit in a different field but I was perfectly capable of diagnosing a sensor/transducer fault either by a user interface (laptop) by knowing what temps or pressures would be expected at a given situation or by physically testing inputs and outputs voltage/resistances.

Either way, I am still trying to get the cost of the hire car reimbursed as it is obviously not my fault if the service people can't diagnose a fault or even provide a loan car.

Otherwise I love the car, I don't really blame Seat for the sensor getting wet, although it shouldn't shi7 happens, but shouldn't take a week and half to see a sensor fault.

Funny enough I got it back the same day I lost my rag and threatened legal action and media

[cambobfr]

Hey Min Jeeta,
Yeah, sounds like they didn't really know what they were doing with sensor testing on the DPF and as a result didn't really put the effort in to find the fault on your car. And to be honest, if these cars were doing what they're supposed to and clearing the DPF's by themselves then they wouldn't have to do it in the workshop. I've had mine back two days now and I've noticed today that it's started 'choking' slightly already. Not a problem by any means, but still rather annoying. I'm thinking if I start to get persistent problems with it then I'm going to try one of the Miltek downpipes (if the Golf one will work on the Leon).
Bob

PS. Funny that, about losing your rag, it really does help.

[brainless toe]

I have a 56 plate Fr 170 pd, do quite high mileage, got the car in October 2006, and I am almost due the 30k service.

Average around 100-150 miles when out on the road, drive the car relatively hard (ave mpg since last reset approx 2.5k through winter months 39 to gallon) although recently in warm weather seen some 42-43. Tend to run the car 90% of the time on BP Ultimate, although last month or so gone back to standard diesel. Ultimate does make a difference to smoothness and acceleration...It is a quick car!

I have seen the DPF light about 5 times and doesn't seem to be a real pattern to when it comes on. Light always cleared no problem, as voted.

However, I do often get a rocking sensation when stationary at lights, also recently experienced similar rocking in 4th gear at 40mph. Performance can vary, sometimes the car feels really quick, yet other times just feels mild.

Spoke to one dealer (where bought car from) and sales man said, when you get the rocking just rev the engine up quite high, but this has no effect. Another dealer said that the new 07 models are a big improvement on the DPF.
Stop using the Ultimate Diesel, was thinking maybe the DPF didn't know how to deal with this grade of fuel. Car is slightly better but not cured.

Anyway recently saw the threads on hear for the new Cupra K1, and as a result of my experiences with the DPF decided I should change. Car arriving Mid March :funk:

Think if the DPF was spot on then I would have kept the car and got it Revo'd.
Previously owed an Altea 2.0tdi Sport 140pd and never experienced any of the above.

My Verdict : Really love the car, but truly believe its the DPF technology for VAG is not quite right yet, and think could potentially put a lot of people off from going diesel. I was truly converted but now find myself moving back to the other side.:doh:

Anybody else experienced the rocking sensation either stationary or in gear?

[cambobfr]

Yeah, I've had the rocking sensation, but only if I rev it very slightly and take my foot off - car gives kind of a jolt.

As for the DPF, since reading this forum, I've already decided that if I have problems with the DPF then I'll get it replaced with something else. So far, I've not seen the light come on once (other than the initial problems).

[SpursMadDave]

Given that Citroen / Peugeot first put them as standard fit on their cars in 2000, it would appear hardly an experimental piece of technology.

Well only in the backward world of VAG diesel design.

Sorry but isnt the FR the first Seat with a DPF? Sorry if im wrong but thought that was the case...

[AndyVTR]

It is a quick car!

I wish people would stop saying that, it makes me think mine is broken...

[brainless toe]

I wish people would stop saying that, it makes me think mine is broken...

Suppose this depends on what you consider to be quick?

Keeps up with my brothers VR6 4motion, Civic Type R's Old and New - (FR slightly quicker in 4th than the Civics)

Quick or Not??

[cambobfr]

Yeah, I have to agree... actually it kicks butt in 4th :) (I assume that's the diesel Civics?)

The only thing that gets me is that whereas she'll outstrip most other 'normal' cars on the road (TDi 110's etc), it's not by that much. It's certainly not as much as I was expecting.

[AndyVTR]

190-200bhp petrols? When my PD150 was chipped it was similar to 180 1.8T's.

Also my neighbours PD130 Ibiza isn't far off mine.

DERV Civics are 140 from a 2.2.

Guess mine is broken. Wonder if the older ones are actually 170bhp and no more like recent figures. It's similar performance to other dervs with similar power out there.

[brainless toe]

Yeah, I have to agree... actually it kicks butt in 4th :) (I assume that's the diesel Civics?)

The only thing that gets me is that whereas she'll outstrip most other 'normal' cars on the road (TDi 110's etc), it's not by that much. It's certainly not as much as I was expecting.

No mean Civic Typr R's old and new! 140pd are left for dead! 4th gear it absolutly kills them. Feel also must point out my Fr is 100% standard...

How many miles on your car? Mine has 29k, engine loosend at 10k, then I'd say 20k too.

At 10k & 20k both performance and mpg improves!

[cambobfr]

The new Type R's is available in diesel form now. The older ones I believe were petrol only.

She's only done just over 9000 miles. Oh right, that's good news about the performance and mpg - I look forward to it. I think in the mean time tho' I'm going to have to go with a remap. Now just have to find a remap specialist in the Cambridge area. I might start another thread on that tho' 'cos I've not had much luck with searching the forum.

[AndyVTR]

I'm not convinced. Mine has 20k and I've not noticed any performance or MPG gain.

I had a play with an old 525d the other day and it got passed that ok but that has similar power and more weight. Don't fancy my chances against 200bhp petrols. My Revo'd PD150 wasn't far off my 225TT but you need to take into count the transmission loss.

You can get the Civic Type S in a 2.2 140bhp derv but not the R.

[cambobfr]

Oh! Yeah, I always get the Type R and Type S confused! Sorry.

[phil3012]

Oh! Yeah, I always get the Type R and Type S confused! Sorry.

There is a Civic Type R diesel due out at some point, not sure when though.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle.aspx?AR=228721

[brainless toe]

No, definately had a few old Type R's (ive had them go for it, then when they realise your still there they pull over and slow down, should see look on face when they see its a diesel:-o. Oh and had 1 new one, against both the Type R's in 4th I had just a slight edge. Also Clio 192, BMW330i, BMW530d and a Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo - he just had slight edge on me. (been busy!) Oh and keeps up with my brothers VR6 4 motion (rolling start). He's gutted a diesel is as quick as his (only 50k on his clock - its mint).

Always drove the car hard from day one, they say this can make a quicker car? but also run it 90% on Ultimate diesel and that makes a difference.

Dont forget Revo reported 191 bhp in their 170pd passat, and then there's that huge amount of torque!

[AndyVTR]

192? Same power (if you believe that), less torque but I'm guessing a slight weight difference. Are you sure all these 200bhp + cars are actually trying?

[jason.dando]

Just had my DPF light come on.

6 months old LEON FR 21000 miles covering all sorts of driving, from a trip to the shops up to 450 motorway miles in one day. Some times i pootle around London and other times i tend to give it large on a clear road.

Also the car felt slightly spluttery when cruising along at about 50mph in 4th, for the 50 miles prior to the warning light coming on.

Will speak to the dealer ASAP and report back my findings.

[jason.dando]

The DPF light came on today for the first time on my
6 months old LEON FR 21000 miles covering all sorts of driving, from a trip to the shops up to 450 motorway miles in one day. Some times i pootle around London and other times i tend to give it large on a clear road.

Also the car felt slightly spluttery when cruising along at about 50mph in 4th, for the 50 miles prior to the warning light coming on.

Will speak to the dealer ASAP and report back my findings.

[jason.dando]

DPF light cleared with about 1 mile of hard driving in 2nd and 3rd gear.

have done 200 miles since and so far all is ok.

[JonoUK]

I have a question for everyone.
If you have ever seen your DPF light, have you ever put cheaper fuel in it - i.e. Tesco City Diesel or whatever it's called, or from Asda?

If you haven't ever seen your DPF light... same question?

If anyone answers this post, please state whether or not you have put something that's not BP/Shell/Esso/Etc's - I know some people say that Tesco/Asda fuel is exactly the same as what you'd get from Shell/BP... but then other people say it's different and has more ethanol and lemonade in it :)

Would love to hear from people who've driven their car pretty hard (as it's meant to be driven) but have seen the light/regularly and it's not been fixed by a dealer.

I've only ever put shell/esso/bp stuff in min (couple of tanks of bp ultimate diesel in to see if it makes any difference - can't say I felt it, might have had a few more miles out of the tank than usual, but can't really justify the extra it costs) And I've never seen the Light in 15,000 miles *touch wood it doesn't show up on the way home again tonight*.

I'm just wondering if the quality of fuel you put in (assuming there's a significant difference between let's call them "Premium fuels" and "Supermarket crap") has any bearing on whether or not you're likely to get DPF issues/problems.

[SpursMadDave]

I have a 56 plate Fr 170 pd, do quite high mileage, got the car in October 2006, and I am almost due the 30k service.

Average around 100-150 miles when out on the road, drive the car relatively hard (ave mpg since last reset approx 2.5k through winter months 39 to gallon) although recently in warm weather seen some 42-43. Tend to run the car 90% of the time on BP Ultimate, although last month or so gone back to standard diesel. Ultimate does make a difference to smoothness and acceleration...It is a quick car!

I have seen the DPF light about 5 times and doesn't seem to be a real pattern to when it comes on. Light always cleared no problem, as voted.

However, I do often get a rocking sensation when stationary at lights, also recently experienced similar rocking in 4th gear at 40mph. Performance can vary, sometimes the car feels really quick, yet other times just feels mild.

Spoke to one dealer (where bought car from) and sales man said, when you get the rocking just rev the engine up quite high, but this has no effect. Another dealer said that the new 07 models are a big improvement on the DPF.
Stop using the Ultimate Diesel, was thinking maybe the DPF didn't know how to deal with this grade of fuel. Car is slightly better but not cured.

Anyway recently saw the threads on hear for the new Cupra K1, and as a result of my experiences with the DPF decided I should change. Car arriving Mid March :funk:

Think if the DPF was spot on then I would have kept the car and got it Revo'd.
Previously owed an Altea 2.0tdi Sport 140pd and never experienced any of the above.

My Verdict : Really love the car, but truly believe its the DPF technology for VAG is not quite right yet, and think could potentially put a lot of people off from going diesel. I was truly converted but now find myself moving back to the other side.:doh:

Anybody else experienced the rocking sensation either stationary or in gear?

Jeez if you drive that hard and do that many miles your gonna need to plan your route via every service station possible in a Cupra. If you get -40mpg in a loosened up TDI FR then cant see you getting more than low 20s can you?

[Bigfoot]

Without going threw the whole thread can you remove the DPF

[mister.c.]

pop remove dpf into the search function - there's at least one thread that will inform.

[brainless toe]

Jeez if you drive that hard and do that many miles your gonna need to plan your route via every service station possible in a Cupra. If you get -40mpg in a loosened up TDI FR then cant see you getting more than low 20s can you?

Your right!, but cant continue to drive around the way I have in the Fr diesel, gonna get busted. At 40mpg i can afford to drive like that all day and I do, so the plan is buy a faster car to slow me down. Honestly wont be able to afford mpg of around low 20's so gunna have to drive the car steady thus slowing me down and preserving the licence.

Had the car superchipped through Seat (294 bhp!) every where I read about chips or remaps suggest improved mpg on motorway (as long as you stay steady) around 3 - 7 mpg some people say?? I dont know? will be interested to hear views or experiences on this topic.

Got a new friend that has an Ariel Atom and he and his mates are into their tracks days, so the plan is to keep the madness reserved for days like that. Its gonna be hard but been practicing for the last month in the Fr and you soon get used to doing the speed lmit and found you dont really get anywhere much quicker driving like a loonely tune.

Planning a visit to Santa pod on 19th April - to be confimed yet as not too sure how many miles i'll have on car by then as I am only collecting it 2moz (26th March). Caint wait - but yeah nervous about the mpg.

Got a mate thats got an A8 3.0 V6 and he recons if he cruised at 75-80 hill get 34mpg. So that's roughly my target add that to the cheaper price of petrol - heres hoping?

[cambobfr]

I'm not convinced. Mine has 20k and I've not noticed any performance or MPG gain.

My mpg has just suddenly improved. During 2.5hrs of driving today, the mpg went from it's usual 37.5 (which it's been for the past 3500 miles), up to nearly 46mpg! It just had it's 10k service on Thursday and today was it's first decent run out of town since then, so I wonder if it was something to do with the service.

Am still rather disappointed with the performance. I was hard pressed to overtake a Focus Zetec of some kind on my way out to Luton the other day. We were climbing a seriously steep hill as well which is where I would've expected to have a torque advantage. I can only guess he was a remapped 140 tdci.
Am getting a remap tomorrow tho' so hopefully I will forget woes like this!

[LWCARAB]

Not had the DPF light on yet (8800miles) and I do mostly London town driving as well as 20 miles on the M40 a day. It has been filed with BP ultimate since day 1 but never got the mpg average above 40, usually 37-39.
I's sometimes felt a bit rough and I've expected the DPF light to come on but cleared itself up.
Only problem was yesterday when it wouldn't start (different post), big problem though.

[Stanley1]

Hi all,

This is my first post on the forum, and I have joined up to share my experiences of the damn DPF issues, but more importantly give my thanks to all those that have already posted their views and pearls of wisdom to a problem that seems to happen to far too many Leon owners.

Mine is a Leon FR with 12k on the clock. After filling to the top last week, as soon as I left the petrol station the Engine Management light popped on. Horrified that my baby was poorly, I pulled over to read the manual and see what TLC she needed. After restarting the engine, she seemed much better so I went on my way. The same thing happened a few days later as soon as I left work but went off after about 10 miles.
Now this is where the fun started. After a 450 mile round trip this week, the dreaded light popped up again, but this time accompanied by the DPF. With the manual at home, I rang the missus to ask her to check what the light meant, and she told me the book says to give it a spanking all all should be good again. So I put my foot down, but after another few miles, the Coil warning light came on. I'm sure you can all guess the next stage of the adventure by now. Poor Leon FR went into Limp mode. Never having experienced this before (and being 60 miles from a nice warm bed), I pulled over onto the hard shoulder to call Seat Assist. The nice man from the AA turned up with his "My First Computer", put a little oil in (clowns) and told me there was nothing more he can do. Suggested I limp home to lick my wounds, and go to the nearest Seat dealer. Now, doing Limp mode during the tail end of rush hour wasn't much fun when there was 60 miles to go, but limp home I did.
The following day, I contacted Seat (Listers @ Coventry) and they said to Limp over right away (another 35 miles).
They did a bit of prodding and poking (prsumably like their computer told them to do) but struggled to diagnose my baby's illness. The regenerated the DPF twice, but the warning lights still came on. The said they would need to keep her in for observations, and would it be OK if she stayed in hospital until Monday. No courtesy car was offered, but having read this forum the night I got back the lack of a courtesy car was the least of my worries. I was dreading facing the £1500 bill for a new DPF. Sleepless nights enshewed, but then the story gets better. Seat called me on Monday and said that the clever 'engineer'(?) had called Seat Technical, and they told him to check the sensors. Sensors checked, sensors broken, sensors replaced. Leon FR all better again. Your author is happy as Mrs Author can now go away on holiday as no huge bill will be recieved.

Now, I have gone on a little bit but there does seem to be too many poor owners who have had sensor issues. I'm concerned that it took the Stealer so long to diagnose the issue, but more concerned about the posters who have been charged for passive / active regeneration after so few miles have ben travelled. Have people been charged by dealers for new DPF's when all it took was a new sensor, or is it possible that a new DPF really is needed after only a few thousand miles?

My story (although a little waffly) did have a happy ending, but should these things be happening so frequently on so many cars?

[neo265]

Im not sure if everyone does this already but do any of you spend time running the engine at 3k rpm for say 15 minutes every week for example to clean out the DPF? From what I have read, booting it can make things worse as thats when the engine gushes out more soot caused by overfueling which can thow even more into the DPF when you think your cleaning it. Also long motorway cruisers are also at risk due to the long 6th gear which doesnt allow high enough exhaust temps to clean the DPF, unless your doing 110mph for long spells.

I really want the FR TDI but am worried about the DPF and the problems many experience. Im not interested by the TFSI despite only doing 10k miles per year.

[Stanley1]

Hi Neo,

The car regularly gets a run at about 3k revs, and gets all different types of driving. One week it's a nice 500 mile motorway round trip, the next it's a bit of fun down the lanes.
My main concern is how often the sensors are manfunctioning rather than the DPF clogging up, as the fallout from a dodgy sensor seems to cause no end of trouble for so many owners. 3 days back at the dealers, limping around the country when so far from home etc.

If the sensors are packing up on so many cars as we are getting reports of here, then surely Seat should be looking at sending out letters to all owners highlighting the issue?

[AndyVTR]

I really want the FR TDI but am worried about the DPF and the problems many experience. Im not interested by the TFSI despite only doing 10k miles per year.

Firstly, why not the TFSI? If I did only 10k a year I'd have some high revving mental b4stard of a car with 2 seats. I'm actually considering it when my mileage halves to 16k soon. Sure I read somewhere about DERV not being worth it unless you do 30k a year.

Also, I'd really not worry about DPF issues as the majority don't have any problems whatsoever. Although it does seem the lower mileage cars that have the problems which to me would also favour the "PERV" over the DERV.

[neo265]

Firstly, why not the TFSI? If I did only 10k a year I'd have some high revving mental b4stard of a car with 2 seats. I'm actually considering it when my mileage halves to 16k soon. Sure I read somewhere about DERV not being worth it unless you do 30k a year.

Also, I'd really not worry about DPF issues as the majority don't have any problems whatsoever. Although it does seem the lower mileage cars that have the problems which to me would also favour the "PERV" over the DERV.

One reason is that the TDI will be worth more come 3 year time and even though the TFSI is £1000 cheaper for an 07 plate, you would make the difference back over 3 years doing 10k miles per year, then there the difference in depreciation.

Financially the TDI will be £1000 cheaper to run. Plus I might be towing a caravan again. Car tax will be £260 for the TFSI next year too.

[AndyVTR]

I'm not sure you would make back that difference. 10k is nothing and the price of derv is getting silly.

Sure a 200bhp petrol would have no problem towing.

[neo265]

For 10k miles per year, I worked the TSI to cost around £800 more over 3 years, thats fuel, insurance and road tax. That nearly makes up the cheaper purchase price over the TDI but then the car will be worth a grand less so I'll be out of pocket by £1000.

[rgsdesign]

very interested and sorry to hear some of you guys are having issues with this engine too.
my audi quattro 170 has been a nightmare from the day it was delivered. the dpf simply wont regenerate and has been recovered countless times by audi assist needing to be re set by laptop, limped home a number of times, had a new dpf and is still faulty. has done less that 5000 miles still and we hardly use it as you cant trust it to get you home . probably a 1000 of those miles have been in the process of trying to regerate / taking to garages etc. customer service is terrible and they try to cover up the issue and take ages to reply to letters and phone calls. I have emailed the uk and the german chief executives and still have a poor response. the letter promised from jeremy hicks still hasnt arrived so tomorrow I will be writing to every car mag and newspaper and consumer group i can. audi should be ashamed of themselves for their lack of interest. if you are considering getting one DONT!!! i hope your Cupra's are not as bad and that Seat are treating you better

[foxy367]

These DPF things are a pain in the rectum, my normal journey to work consists of 35 miles of motorway in the early hours so I can stick at 80ish then the last 10miles is A-roads. I've had the DPF light on twice once was after the rally in Wales when I'd had the engine running for some of the night to keep us warm!!!!

The last time was last weekend. I'd been off for Easter week and my weeks driving had consisted of a few miles here and there (to B&Q mainly). We went out on the Saturday evening and the DPF light came on, managed to find a reasonable stretch of dual carriageway where I could keep the revs up. The light went out after 10mins or maybe a bit less and after that all seemed well.

Anyway went back to work on the Monday and the Emissions Control light came on. Took it to the dealer the following day, they regenerated the DPF and updated the software, apparently the DPF would only regenerate 90%.

Don't get me wrong I love the car usually but these DPF's are a nightmare, apparently though it is not just Seat as rgsdesign says, my friend is a Merc mechanic and they suffer and so too does BMW. Having done 35,000 miles in 18months and 60k not being far away do I bite the bullet and get rid before the warranty runs out or stick with it in the hope it stays ok?

[foxy367]

Im not sure if everyone does this already but do any of you spend time running the engine at 3k rpm for say 15 minutes every week for example to clean out the DPF? From what I have read, booting it can make things worse as thats when the engine gushes out more soot caused by overfueling which can thow even more into the DPF when you think your cleaning it. Also long motorway cruisers are also at risk due to the long 6th gear which doesnt allow high enough exhaust temps to clean the DPF, unless your doing 110mph for long spells.

I really want the FR TDI but am worried about the DPF and the problems many experience. Im not interested by the TFSI despite only doing 10k miles per year.

Not sure where you got the 3k thing from; in the manual it says that if the DPF light comes on to sustain revs at about 1400rpm and speed of at least 60km/h (38mph) for about ten minutes, therefore most motorway driving will clear it and keep it clear. It seems that stop start driving makes it fill up. Also it is nigh on impossible to maintain 3k revs unless you drive in 3rd or something!!! Hope this helps?

[keensmith]

I voted "No problems" originally! Obviously didn't have fingers crossed....!
Please forgive length of following, but I've been keeping a log (still ongoing!) & just copied & pasted FYI.
SEAT Leon 2.0 TDi FR. + Xenon Lights, 18” Wheels & Bluetooth. Bought early November 2006 from SEAT main dealer in Derby.
All OK until 13 April 2008. c. 17k miles.
Saturday, 12 April 2008 – Drove from Oban to Perth (c. 100 miles). Parked at hotel for night. No problems.
Sunday, 13 April 2008 – Partner had hurt her back previous day. Drove to Retail Park, Did about 3 short, stop/ starts as she couldn’t walk far. After third stop DPF light came on. Read manual & went about remedying problem by driving to Stirling (c. 40 miles) on motorway at constant speed & c. 2000rpm. Halfway on motorway Engine Management (EM) light came on. Got to Stirling & both lights still on. Stopped for coffee & to reassess. Half an hour later got back in car, started up & both lights out. Decided to carry on journey to Tillicoultry, as planned (c. 10 miles). Halfway there DPF light came on again, followed shortly by EM light. Arrived in Tillicoultry & made first call to SEAT Assistance (SA). AA arrived an hour later & plugged diagnostics in. After assessing situation AA man reset engine management light, but said he couldn’t put DPF light out. He said to follow instructions in manual (as I’d already done!) & the DPF light should reset. Set off back for Oban & sure enough after about 10 miles the DPF light went out. Continued journey back to Oban (c. 80miles) and no further problems.
Monday – Wednesday, 14 – 16th April 2008, Drove in & out of Oban from my home about 4 times (10 mile round trip each time). No problems.
Thursday, 17th April 2008 – Set off to Glasgow to pick up parents who had come up from Wales previous day by bus. About 50 miles into journey DPF light reappeared, once again shortly followed by EM light. A further 20 or so miles into the journey car went into “limp home” mode. I stopped & ‘phoned SA to find nearest dealer. Drove directly to Arnold Clark, Deniston, Glasgow & arrived around 10am. Explained situation + that it had happened the previous weekend. They said to leave it with them & they would sort. Around 4.45pm they called to say car was ready for collection. I went to pick it up, arriving just after 5pm. Girl behind desk couldn’t give me an explanation as to what had been done, but said that the lights had been reset, and the car test driven & all was OK. She also pointed me in the direction of the instructions in the handbook once again, despite me already telling her twice that I had followed these instructions already to no avail. I left Arnold Clark & within 10 miles both DPF & EM lights had come on again. It was too late to turn around & go back (they were closing up whilst I was collecting my car), so I decided to carry on home to Oban. A further 20 or so miles into the journey the car went into “limp home” mode once again. I completed the last 70 miles in this “mode” and made it home.
Friday, 18th April 2008 – ‘phoned SA & AA came around & assessed. After listening to my story they decided that I needed “recovering” to a SEAT dealership. I wasn’t happy with Arnold Clark’s treatment of me the previous day (they did wash the car however!), so I said to take it to Morrison’s in Stirling (again c. 100 miles away from my home). AA collected the car & took it there for me on a low-loader. Meanwhile I spoke to Richard of Morrisons, telling him my story so far, and he promised me their best attentions. Car arrived late on Friday, & I assume nothing more was done until Monday, 21st April.
Saturday – Monday, 19th – 21st April – Car at Morrisons. I ‘phoned a couple of times on Monday. In morning car was “on the ramp” & in the pm (late) the car was “being test driven”
Tuesday, 22nd April 2008 – Got ‘phone call from Richard, Morrisons, in the morning to say car was ready. I asked what they had done & he said they had reset the warning lights, test driven the car, and all appeared OK. I expressed my reservations & disappointment that they hadn’t investigated further, but I was more or less told that there was little more could be done, and I should come & collect it. I could then speak with the mechanic who would answer any questions & reassure me. Unfortunately I was unable to collect in person, so I arranged for Munro’s to collect (@£50 + VAT), with the understanding that the mechanic who dealt with the car would give a full explanation as to what had been done to the driver of the recovery vehicle (low-loader). Car was delivered back to my home in Oban, late on Tuesday pm, but driver said no one had spoken with him. He had just been pointed in the direction of the vehicle & sent on his way. Once again I was not very happy with my treatment by this dealer, who on reflection must have just reset the lights, test driven the car a short distance & decided that was that. No attempt was made to investigate the problem fully, despite my explanation that this was a recurring fault and I felt that something required replacing, rather than just resetting & “making the problem go away”. Anyway, car came back all lights extinguished and running smoothly.
Wednesday – Saturday, 23rd – 27th April 2008 – Local trips in & out of Oban. No problems.
Sunday, 28th April 2008 – Set off for regular monthly trip to Orkney (work). Car fine to Inverness (c. 110 miles). Stopped to do some shopping for c. 2 hours. Set off for Orkney again. 5 miles up the road, EM light came on. No DPF light, strangely, this time? Didn’t want to risk further warnings so decided to head for Bannermans SEAT dealership in Inverness. Arrived around 12 noon. Garage shut & Sales only open between 1pm & 5pm (being Sunday). Called SA yet again. AA man came within 40 minutes. I explained situation, briefly outlining above and he began diagnosis. Sure enough, it came up with problem with the exhaust emissions. He reset the warning light, but I was loath to set off for Orkney (a further 130 miles up the road, and no SEAT dealerships further north than Inverness). He agreed that in the light of the recent history it would be folly to go on, so a hire car was arranged (under SA Warranty), the car remained at Bannermans & I headed for Orkney.
Monday, 29th April 2008 – Got in touch with David, Service Manager, Bannermans, through the day. They couldn’t reproduce the “fault” so said there was little they could do (all lights were off thanks to AA man). Wasted day, but I agreed that a mechanic could take it home with him to Forres (c. 20 miles?) for the evening, so he could hopefully get a warning light to come on! I explained (once again) that I had driven 100 miles or so without this occurring, but if they thought that was the only way, then to go for it.
Tuesday, 30th April 2008 – ‘phoned David early on & discovered that despite the mechanics’ efforts (!) no lights had reappeared. I was then asked if I would allow them to drive the car more extensively through the day in order to try & get a fault to show. Reluctantly I agreed, repeating that there was a fault somewhere & surely SEAT must have a solution for this? By this time I had been on the internet & discovered that this DPF fault appears common amongst VAG cars that have this 2 litre, 170hp, diesel engine. I gather a new DPF costs in the region of £1,500, so understandably SEAT are not willing to replace it. I ‘phoned back at c. 4pm & was told that the car was still out being “road-tested”. Bannermans have therefore had it for 2 days now, found no solution, and I am no doubt half a tank of diesel in arrears!
Wednesday, 30th April 2008 – ‘phoned David c. 09:30. Mechanic took it home last night & he was “driving around Inverness” yesterday. Fault can’t be repeated, therefore they can’t do anything! I said that as I understand it, I will pick up the car tomorrow, head home for Oban (100+ miles) & as sure as anything the warning lights will come on again. He said, “yes, probably, but this time when you call SA, make sure that the patrolman doesn’t put the warning lights out, we can then trace the problem and attempt to repair” Phoned SEAT Customer Service (Rebecca). Explained all above. She said she wasn’t technically trained to answer questions, but would ‘phone Bannermans & get back. This she did, with the same story from David. So,“Very sorry, but it is showing no fault & there is nothing more we can do”
I find this whole situation very bizarre and most frustrating? My driving does not normally involve short trips & since the first episode, the warning lights have all come on after long drives. I do not consider myself a "gentle" driver (why buy this car if you're not going to use it?!). Surely the problem should have been fixed the first time (Arnold Clark), or even the second time (Morrisons) had it? If Bannermans are so sure they can fix if the lights are on? – All three DPF, EM & flashing coil (limp home) lights were on when the first two garages had the vehicle. I have now lost all confidence in what has been (& still is when it's working!) my ideal car. From reading this thread it would appear to be a major fault with these engines. I hope VAG are working on a solution & hopefully we can all get "recalled" & sorted in the very near future?

[JonoUK]

@Keensmith... Did they ever check the sensors?

[keensmith]

I'm not sure Jono? I would have thought that having all lights on would flag something up? Unfortunately my latest issue was "resolved" before Bannermans could investigate. They say, "No lights on, no fault"...!

[JonoUK]

I'm not sure Jono? I would have thought that having all lights on would flag something up? Unfortunately my latest issue was "resolved" before Bannermans could investigate. They say, "No lights on, no fault"...!

It's just that from reading a few posts further up in this thread, there's been quite a few people with all the lights/limp mode/dpf regenerated etc... and it turned out to be a dead sensor or two.

[mikey-typer]

Im picking up my FR tdi 550 on wednesday alittle concerned now about the dpf!:cry: Dealer didnt make me aware of any issue with the car??

Oh and im changing from CTR FN2 and there is no way an FR TDi would get anywhere near a CTR old or new I can comment as I have owned both cars and drove FR 550 on test! A diesel with 170 BHP will never keep up with a petrol car with 200BHP!

Honda are not releasing a CTR diesel at the moment they do a civic sport with 2.2 engine but that only puts out 140BHP!

Can I suggest that if you were racing a CTR (on a private stretch of road) then they probably were not trying! You may well get an inital jump on them if accelerating in gear as they would probably have to drop it down to hit the 5,400rpm to get into the higher vtec rev range.

A CTR is as fast if not faster(top gear and fifth gear tracks) than the Leon cupra r although there is not a great deal in it either way! So a doubt an FR would be as quick:whistle:

[UncleFester]

Im picking up my FR tdi 550 on wednesday alittle concerned now about the dpf!:cry: Dealer didnt make me aware of any issue with the car??

Oh and im changing from CTR FN2 and there is no way an FR TDi would get anywhere near a CTR old or new I can comment as I have owned both cars and drove FR 550 on test! A diesel with 170 BHP will never keep up with a petrol car with 200BHP!

Honda are not releasing a CTR diesel at the moment they do a civic sport with 2.2 engine but that only puts out 140BHP!

Can I suggest that if you were racing a CTR (on a private stretch of road) then they probably were not trying! You may well get an inital jump on them if accelerating in gear as they would probably have to drop it down to hit the 5,400rpm to get into the higher vtec rev range.

A CTR is as fast if not faster(top gear and fifth gear tracks) than the Leon cupra r although there is not a great deal in it either way! So a doubt an FR would be as quick:whistle:

Do that test on a private track at full throttle in both cars and after 150 miles ... the FR550 will fly past you as you have to stop for petrol :cartman:

[mikey-typer]

Nice response hence why Im changing:cartman: Just get a little tired of people thinking their car is faster than it is!

[UncleFester]

Nice response hence why Im changing:cartman: Just get a little tired of people thinking their car is faster than it is!

DPF issues aside ( and if you drive the diesel properly you won't see a problem) the Tdi is a lovely car to drive around in, fair enough it's no racer but in 95% of road circumstances it will be the nicer place to be. I haven't tired of the torque and that's despite coming from a VTEC honda :) Cruise at 80 in 5th in the honda, engine was at 4500rpm. Do that in the Leon in 6th and it was a little over 2000rpm. Mpg around 50 when doing that, my honda would struggle to get over 28mpg no matter how carefully i drove it. Changing down a gear to maintain speed up motorway inclines etc.

[mikey-typer]

Cheers fester looking forward to it now will be sad to see the rev happy honda go but looking forward to the cash savings:clap:

[UncleFester]

Cheers fester looking forward to it now will be sad to see the rev happy honda go but looking forward to the cash savings:clap:

I test drove mine and was sold - i never bothered with the petrol, primarily bought for the mpg .... but after 2 years I'm still in no hurry to sell. I'll be surprised if you miss the honda :)

[cambobfr]

Not sure where you got the 3k thing from; in the manual it says that if the DPF light comes on to sustain revs at about 1400rpm and speed of at least 60km/h (38mph) for about ten minutes, therefore most motorway driving will clear it and keep it clear. It seems that stop start driving makes it fill up. Also it is nigh on impossible to maintain 3k revs unless you drive in 3rd or something!!! Hope this helps?

Actually, 3k revs seems to work for me - just sounds/feels like you're getting a nice clean burn and theoretically some extra heat to promote the passive regeneration. 38mph? I read 50 and, *at least* 1400rpm. The exhaust gets damn hot so that should certainly be enough anyway, but having seen the DFP light 3 times now (since getting it fixed), I can certainly say that doing higher revs for just a few minutes seems to keep it clear. I also noted, with some experimentation, that putting the engine under a lot of strain around town without ever hitting high revs made the DPF light came on very quickly (ie, next day). I then changed my style to avoid straining the engine at low revs and keep it in lower gears around town (using 4th only on the level) and that's working really well. Now whenever I can hear it starting to soot up (kind of a huffing sound), I take a detour and run it at 3000 for 5-10mins (50+mph). I haven't seen the DPF light in several weeks now. Hopefully that'll turn into months.

Bobster

[per4manz]

I bought an FR 550 'bout 2 months ago and am cautious running in and try where possible to keep the revs to no more 2000 until 1000miles are clocked up. The DPF light came on around 560 miles and took about 10 miles to clear ( of course to get it to clear I had to exceed 2000 rpm) came on again at abot 750 and took one mile to clear and hasn't been on since, but its now run in and where possble I like to keep the turbo spinning.

[DaveP]

Are you serious? You have not done more than 2,000 rpm in your first 1000 miles? I would sell your DPF car now and buy one without!

[blocky]

I have just bought a FR550, but the dealer didn't say anything about running in.

Do you have to run the car in, if so what is the guide line.

[per4manz]

to daveyP, of course i've been over 2000 rpm- i had to, to clean out the DPF.
But for the first 1000 miles i have tried to maintain lower revs purely to run it in.
If you read what i said, the DPF has only been on twice. Now I'm rarely below 2000 rpm- that's why I bought FR, because of the performance.
Are you trying to tell me you redline your car from new? If so, i would'nt buy a second hand car from you.

[per4manz]

Hi Blocky its the manual what to do.

[UncleFester]

Are you trying to tell me you redline your car from new? If so, i would'nt buy a second hand car from you.

How can you run an engine in if you never use the full span of the rev range - I would much rather buy a 2nd hand car that has actually been driven, the worst cars to drive are the ones that have been nursed around.

No one suggested bouncing it off the rev limiter but there's nothing wrong with actually driving the thing.

[blocky]

Hi Blocky its the manual what to do.

Haven't read it yet, having too much fun at the moment.

[JonoUK]

How can you run an engine in if you never use the full span of the rev range - I would much rather buy a 2nd hand car that has actually been driven, the worst cars to drive are the ones that have been nursed around.

No one suggested bouncing it off the rev limiter but there's nothing wrong with actually driving the thing.

Exactly. I tried to keep mine below 4k for the first 1000 miles (easy) and rarely took it to 3500. It was never driven hard, and always allowed to warm up and cool down before/after a fastish run, but I think the worst thing you could do for that engine is keep it (significantly) under 2k for the vast majority of its first 1000 miles.

[LeonGTI]

cars don't need running in as much as they used to.

I had my tfsi from new and didn't go mental to red line but didn't molly coddle it either, just till oil is warm. Feels nice and loose now!

Just drive it and enjoy it

[Dave TDI]

I have done almost 1,500 miles in my new FR TDI and did try and keep revs below 3500 (most of the time) for the fist 1,000. Interestingly the dealer said if you give it the beans in the early days but after a 500 - 1,000 miles or so the car will losen up and probably result in a quicker car and give you less DPF issues - sounds like good advice to me!

[SpursMadDave]

Had my first DPF experience this weekend.... have had a few days off work so no motorway driving for a bit.... anyway did a fairly long (45 min) trip across SE London on Friday night (average 10mph prob!) and on sat lunchtime i got the light and the "Diesel Particulate Instructions" message... I was picking my son up to go to Lakeside so i drove all the way there in 3rd Gear (great fun!) the light actually went off after about 3 miles but i carried on anyway cos it was a laugh! My son kept saying "Dad the lights gone OFF you can slow down......!!!!!"
Oh well after 10,500 miles at least I know my car DOES have a DPF, I was beginning to wonder!

[NickP]

Had my first DPF experience this weekend.... have had a few days off work so no motorway driving for a bit.... anyway did a fairly long (45 min) trip across SE London on Friday night (average 10mph prob!) and on sat lunchtime i got the light and the "Diesel Particulate Instructions" message... I was picking my son up to go to Lakeside so i drove all the way there in 3rd Gear (great fun!) the light actually went off after about 3 miles but i carried on anyway cos it was a laugh! My son kept saying "Dad the lights gone OFF you can slow down......!!!!!"
Oh well after 10,500 miles at least I know my car DOES have a DPF, I was beginning to wonder!

I'm now at 14k and still not seen the light yet! [crosses fingers/] :)

[flashp]

I have only covered 850 miles, but I know that this can be enough time to start seeing DPF warning lights. Mostly I cover short journeys, 5 miles each way way to work.

My driving style post IAM course is different to pre IAM course...I drive in 3rd at 30mph in town. Keeps rev's up, full engine response is ready if needed, keeps DPF hotter maybe? As for the rest, as quick as I can within the limit (always ready for an overtake if safe). As a side note, I would recommend IAM course for anyone. I considered myself to be a good driver, however it became clear during this course that I was not reading the road anywhere nearly as effectively as I could be.
Back to the point..............

As for fuel, I use Shell V power. It gives performance gains in a different way to BP ultimate. BP has a higher Cetane rating = bigger bang. V Power is slightly lower in Cetane rating and is produced by using gas to liquid technology. This process makes it very clean since impurities are lost in this process and used in an engine it will clean the fuel system. I would expect exhaust emissions to be cleaner also.

Supermarket fuel - remember the oxygen sensor fiasco a short while ago? Enough said.

Don't mean to hijack a thread, but if all the facts and variables are collected and analysed there may be clear data of note here.

[ktulumike]

I travel A roads, doing on average 30 miles per day. DPF light has come on a few times if i've been bimbling along at no great speed for a few days not going above 50 mph. But once i give it the welly, it turns off. :rock:

[greenakd]

We had our first experience of the DPF light at about 3000 miles but soon cleared up after about 10 mins. My wife spends most of the time driving the kids to school and back so when I get hold of it I have fun.:whistle:

[stuartsjg]

Hi,

i seen a mention in a post quite far back of a leaftlet from the dealers.

When i first wantered into the dealers habitat and expressed and interest in the FR TDI, the first questions where "what sort of driving do you do?" How many miles do you do?" And i was handed a seat leaflet explaining the DPF. I cant remember exactly, but it basically explained whats its for, how it works and what you may expect when driving. It also said that the DPF was not covered by warranty if you fail to follow restorotive actions as inducated in the manual should you be prompted to take them by the warning light.

On 2nd visit, i got another verbal remider to make sure your ok with it.

I said im looking at a 5 mile each day commute, roughly devided equally into 30, 40 and 60 mph limits. Although some of its crawling you can generaly sit for a few mins at each speed.

This raised a brow of concern, but i said most weekends we go a drive into the country which is 10-40 mins at 50-60+ mph and at least 60-100 miles in a single run of duel carridgeway each month.

This lowered the brow to a normal position and was told i shouldnt have any issues with the dpf.

Since ive bought the demo car that he and the sales manager had been driving in a similar way and he said the light never came on in 4750miles and then 250 miles of test-drives.

Will get the car on 31st but will be keeping an eye out on the driving style and what you guys are saying. A later chat with him on this DPF issue a rule of thumb was drive like a pertol untill up to temp. So change up at 2500-3000 rather than 2000-2500 which you would normally.

As for fuel, in my wee 56 corsa 1.7 Di (62hp there, now 168hp, will i see a difirence!?) i always used shell and only supermarkets if they were 2+p/l cheeper which was rare. I will probs stick with shell or bp in the new car as im sure the supermarket fuel will be of similar lowest possible quality as the top-up enigne oil they sell in the shop.

Stuart

[T80NYC]

Having just ordered a FR TDI, I am very concerned about these DPF Stories. I would be very interested in everybodies real experiences.

I have had LEON FR TDI since March 2007. I have had the DPF light illuminate 3 times in 23,000 miles. As per Salemans advice, give it a blast up the dual carriageway and it will clear, not very scientific, but worked on the first 2 occasions.

LAtest incident cropped up at 16:30 on xmas eve. Dutifully headed onto the dual carriageway, then after 2 miles the Diesel Glow indicator started flashing, eased off the throttle, to then find we had gone into limp home mode. Drove home did not drive the car again.

Rang main dealer on the Saturday after xmas, explained the problem, was told there was no appointment available till Monday. Asked if car was safe to drive, was told yes.

Arrived at main dealer on the Monday to be told you should not have carried on driving the car, if the DPF is full then it is NOT covered by Warranty and will cost £1500 to replace.

Left the car with the dealer, they rang and explained the DPF needed a forced regeneration which would cost £243 plus VAT. Told them to proceed, but explained I had followed the regeneration Procedure which had failed, therefore the defect is manufacturers and they should honour under warranty.

The thing is as far as I can see, and unless someone can tell me differently. Waht would happen if the DPF light comes on in rush hour in the centre of a city, whilst stuck in one of the infrequent traffic jams on our free flowing motorways, and you are not able to perform the regeneration procedure, so the car goes into limp home mode, that cannot be to fault of the driver surely?

I have heard that Ford heve developed a more pro-active system to overcome this problem. I will be hounding SEAT over this matter, will problably get no-where! But no harm in trying.

[LWCARAB]

I've had my FR TDI 15 months and done 14k miles and so far (touch wood) no dpf light but it has had a full exhaust change at 12k. I can sometimes hear it getting clogged but cleares itself.

[CupraDaft]

Had car since 01/03/07 and done around 21000 miles. Car does mainly motorway driving. Touch wood, I've never had a problem.

[JoeF]

when do you usually see the light come on if u only do local miles? and how long do you get before you cant drive it after the light coming on? or how can u get around the possibility of it appearing? good clearing through the rev range or smething?

i.e if you drove say 3 weeks locally and then once a month did a motorway trip of 300 miles would you very rarely see the light ?

Or is it a lottery.

[Tom H]

2,000 miles and all three light lit and limp home mode, AA towed it to Seat where it had to be regenerated... they did it for Free without any comments about my driving style or warranty or anything, and also replaced the stereo as it had a scuff on it from new :)

I should add that the car was 4 weeks old.. and Seat claimed it was because it had only ever done short journeys :lol:

Its now on 10,000 and hasn't happened again since...

[SeanCorky]

I've done 2400 miles, last week my DPF light came on. Done the usual to clear it but with no avail, then the coil light started flashing with Engine Fault Workshop! on the MFD, car went into limp home mode!

I rang Seat Assist, within an hour the AA were out, done all the diagnostics with his laptop, tried to clear the codes but with no luck. Told me to take it out for a run to clear the DPF with him following me, after 10 miles or so still the same. Pulled off the next exit on the motorway to try and clear the codes again, no luck, so he tried a battery reset, no luck! He was clueless and told me to take it to the dealer!

Rang Liverpool Seat the next morning, Tom told me to get it recovered there for them to look at it. Within about 2 hours they had checked the problem, which turned out 2 sensors in the DPF had gone, and ordered new parts!

Car is running fine now i have it back!

[stuartsjg]

avoid straining the engine at low revs and keep it in lower gears around town (using 4th only on the level) and that's working really well.
Bobster < good adivce

Its always a bad idea in any car (petrol or diesel) to have it struggling in a low gear. You oculd get away 30mph with 5th on a level but as soon as the engine needs to deliver more torque it has to burn a very rich mixture making lots of soot.

What ever gear you are in you should have rev flexibility so that if you lift the accelerator, you dont need to immediatly change down to stop the engine running at or below idle, and if you want acceleration, its there. If you need to floor a car in this sort of power league to get it to speed up then your not in the right gear.

You want to be in control of the engine & car, not the otherway around.

Found this articles on the subject of selecting the right gear, this Times article seams to have parts of it lifted from the IAM guide books on efficient driving.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/car_clinic/article4345670.ece

Stuart

[silverfox]

:cry: I've done 20k problem-free miles and then recently, I started getting the emissions light coming on from time to time but it would just clear itself. Then I had my first experience with DPF light last week so I did what it says in the manual and kept the revs and speed up. DPF light went off. Great!
....................................but I had another DPF light tonight. So I did the same again, kept revs and speed up. Only this time I got the flashing glow plug and limp mode and "Engine Fault. Workshop" message on MFD

Surely this can't be driving-style related after 20k miles of driving the same roads in the same manner with no problems? My biggest problem now is that I live on an island with no Seat dealer and it's a 3hour ferry journey and 60 mile drive to nearest dealers!!

Where do i go from here? Answers on a postcard.......

[Tam]

I guess, you like others have found that the DPF regen only works when all the sensors are working.


I would say one of the exhaust gas temperature sensors has failed, resulting in DPF unable to regenerate as it cannot read the correct temperature in the exhaust.

Although replacement of the sensor i think you can do yourself .. Getting the car out of limp and onto forced regeneration mode i think can only be done at the dealer. :(


Sensor should be under warranty .... I've had 3 fail so far in a 50,000 mile period...

p.s. i've driven over 500 miles in limp mode (mostly on motorways so max revs in 5th/6th (i.e 84mph max!)) and the dealer was still able to regerate it, so 60 miles should be ok to drive..

[silverfox]

I guess, you like others have found that the DPF regen only works when all the sensors are working.


I would say one of the exhaust gas temperature sensors has failed, resulting in DPF unable to regenerate as it cannot read the correct temperature in the exhaust.

Although replacement of the sensor i think you can do yourself .. Getting the car out of limp and onto forced regeneration mode i think can only be done at the dealer. :(


Sensor should be under warranty .... I've had 3 fail so far in a 50,000 mile period...

p.s. i've driven over 500 miles in limp mode (mostly on motorways so max revs in 5th/6th (i.e 84mph max!)) and the dealer was still able to regerate it, so 60 miles should be ok to drive..


Thanks a lot Tam, that's reassuring.......guess I better go pack an overnight bag! :)

[SeanCorky]

DPF light been on, havent been able to clear it, now i have flashing coil and engine fault.

Another trip to the dealers tomorrow then, looks like its another sensor

[SeanCorky]

Got it back this afternoon. 2 more sensors had to be replaced, thats 4 in as many months!

[delboyuk2005uk]

Drove home for about 20 seconds before then the car went dead. It will not start now at all just keep turning.

The message on the dashboard sometimes appears saying "engine fault workshop needed" what does this mean?

Also a orange rope flashes on the dashboard. Which I have looked up to be a engine fault.

In the book it says glow plug system engine fault.

1) Can anybody help will these be covered by the warranty?

2) Is this an easy job to fix?

3) Should I be worried?


Please please let me know!

[Yorki]

DPF the curse of a good car.

Had a DPF replaced when the car was 6 weeks old ,done under warranty but the dealer said it was a sensor fault the knackered the DPF.

I do 22miles each way on the M62 to work and back then the usual local run about . I get the DPF light regulary and perform the regeneration with no problems. Currently getting the light to often so its booked into the dealers for checking. fortunately mines still under warranty but I don't know what i'll do once its out proberly get the DPF removed.

[Tom H]

27,000 miles now and except for the DPF fault at 500 miles i have never seen the light again :D

[paulfs]

Had my FR TDi since Nov last year & no problems, had my doubts, but not founded. Do a lot of motorway driving so I guess not going to be a problem for me.

[Tom H]

It certainly is down to the type of journey, mines been fine for 31k now but taking 2 hours to do 14 miles in central london traffic last week resulted in a DPF light.. 50 miles up the M1 and it was clear again :clap:

Maybe customers should be told they cant withstand pottering around ?

[paulfs]

True - garage where I bought mine, did make a point of explaining the DPF, even got a little booklet.
As long as you do plus 40mph for 10 - 15mins it should regenerate the filter & clear the dpf warning lamp.

[robin cur]

exhaust gas temperature sensors failed, other than that after 3 month less than 1000 miles ok

[gooseuk]

Had my fr tdi 56 playe since august last year. Never seen the light appear but things happen that could be the dpf. Example car when parked up the rev increase by 200.

The exhaust note sounds more tractorish than b4. Once i heard about this dpf i simpley at the time has a small blast down a duel carridge way and came back and it was sorted.

My normally commute is 35 miles per day up and down a motorway to work. So i dont get the dpf that much but them annoying things do happen.

[BuZZarD73]

Had a small nightmare with DPF fault causing the car to go into limp mode.
The fault was with the pressure sensor and NOT the DPF itself as seems to be the problem in many cases.
The new ceramic sensors, apparently, are much more reliable.

In hindsight, I'd possibly have gone for a fully kitted out 2.0 TDi Sport and got the optional extras available and then a remap to that of a 170 FR.

I drive 25 miles a day and the journey can be quite stop/start.
The car has done 28k miles.

[Compo1]

Not had mine that long and it its only showing 22000 so iwas shocked to see on the dealers workshop report (the checks they do before they sell you a second hand motor ) noted a pressure sensor had been replaced. At the time a asked what is was and was told it was the DPF sensor.

Doesn't bode well for my new car does it. Ah well it will be binned if it causes any hassle :funk:

[cambobfr]

I bought mine at 6 months old with around 7k on the clock. Almost straight away I had a problem with a sensor on the DPF. The sensor was replaced and all was ok, only occasionally saw the DPF light. The last two years however, I've not seen the DPF light at all. Having said that, I recently got an engine warning light which turned out to be caused by DPF sensor failure again. Since the warranty has just expired, I hard to fork out to have it replaced. Total cost for parts and labour, £197. I don't want to have to fork out this kind of money every time a sensor goes, so I'm now intending to have the DPF removed and a DPF-delete remap at a cost of around £745. This should also give me an mpg improvement of around 10-15mpg. Long term, it's the right move, but I'd definitely need to have the car for a few years for it to really pay off.

[stewb]

Evening all. I drive a TDi FR 2007. Where to start..........it has never run properly. Issues with cold start, misfiring, fuel injection, DPF etc etc.

I have had injector #4 and the fuel pump replaced on warranty.

I get lots of misfire and choked exhaust noise, but the dealer says its all DPF regeneration. So why is it doing it most of the time ? I drive 50 miles at speed each day.

The car broke down end July and I was towed home. Since the car is now out of warranty, I was charged £840 for injector #1 replacement. The car still ran rough and a couple of weeks later the DPF light came on, coupled with EMS light and ECS light, and into limp mode. New exhaust pressure sensor fitted. 4 days later, still lots of choked exhaust and misfire, plus idiling at c1000rpm. DPF light came on and back to the dealer.

Please can anyone help diagnose this issue, the car is costing me a bomb, and the dealer has not resolved these issues.

Thanks in anticipation.

[wjohnson]

The way I see it you've got two options I reckon.

a) Get rid of it and buy something without a pesky DPF.
b) Have one last spend on it and get rid of the DPF.

This is what I've basically said to myself should anything happen to mine. I would try stick to option b, its not that expensive (Compared to replacing the bloomin thing) Nets you a shed load more power and "should" fix a lot of the problems your detailing here.

That probably doesnt help much but thats what I would do.

[stewb]

Thanks. Its back in with the dealer now, so I will see what they come up with this week.

Stewart

[ippo seat]

I have a 2007 Altea 170 tdi fr & the dpf light has come on once about a year ago & cleared after appox 2 miles of driving at motorway speed. The car has covered 44500 miles & i have owned it since new 28000 of those miles were coved in the first year before i changed jobs so not sure there is a real problem with dpf.

[jasonbarry]

I have had a FR TDI 170 since November 2007, bought with 10,000 on the clock at 10 months old. I have had 3 DPF 'failures where the light comes on and it goes into limp home mode. The first two times despite driving at high revs it failed to clear and was into the Seat garage.

The 3rd time, it did clear temporarily a couple of times and then came back on. I mainly do rural roads as part of my commute and then into commuter urban traffic. The car is certainly getting a good run each day and the last time it failed in January I was actually doing regular motorway miles.

These have all been covered under warranty but now with the car 9 months out of warranty the injectors have failed. Like several posters, it's a great car to drive but it appears there are known problems with the 170 TDI engine

[FinGerS o FuDgE]

I've only ever had one problem with the DPF. Had it burnt off at a local garage and an EGT sensor on the exhuast replaced. My brother has a Leon FR and had exactly the same problem a week after.
Since then it's been fine. I'm going down the DPF Delete route within the next week or two as I no longer do high mileage & the DPF will end up clogging up.

Check out this topic if you haven't already, for some more info. A few of us have been trying to figure out through Vagcom, when & how the DPF goes into regen and how the crap system works:

http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=289443



Lee

[fadam]

Ive had my 08 fr for around 3 months now and love the car but ive had the light on to clear the dpf around 4 or 5 times, My partner uses it for work which is about 7 miles each way through towns so is around 30mph. When we bought it we didnt know that we should have a spare car to use for this kind of journeys :banned:
The limp mode has now come on and it is in the seat garage. I was told it might be done under warrenty if it was just to reprogram the software that apparently fail sometimes. When i told them it had done 91000 miles they told me its not covered under warrenty, And that the dpf filters have an expectance life of around 90 -95000 miles then need replacing. [:@] Wish i had known this before i bought the car. Ive never bothered about milage on vag cars before, Just sold my A6 with 183000 miles on and ran like a dream and never had any problems with that car at all. If it needs a dpf then im affraid its going to be coming off. Cant beleive vag had got it wrong with this pdd ones, but apparently the newer cr version are ok again. Maybe should of saved up a bit more and got a newer one :doh:

[Nath.]

I have had a FR TDI 170 since November 2007, bought with 10,000 on the clock at 10 months old. I have had 3 DPF 'failures where the light comes on and it goes into limp home mode. The first two times despite driving at high revs it failed to clear and was into the Seat garage.

High revs will not clear your DPF it will block it up more. 2.5k revs is what's needed to clear it.

[FenlandPosh]

I am looking at buying a Leon FR TDI 170 but after reading all this and many other threads about this DPF i'm worrying about it and thinking I should stick with my clapped out Mondeo that I know is reliable. Should I be as worried as I'm getting or are these problems only on a small percentage of cars?

[greenakd]

I had a few issues with my 08 FR TDI with the DPF mlight coming on at regular intervals. So Far so good (touch wood) with my new 60 FR TDI had since September and no issues yet with the DPF. Only another issue with some slight grinding on Right corner and a rattle that seems to come and go.:shrug:

[steroidchris]

Ive just bought a 56 reg leon 170 fr. Does anyone know if the 170 has had the dpf fitted since it's production because i spoke to a tuning company earlier and they said that not all early models have them. Can anyone back this up for me??? I want to get it tuned up but this dpf business frightens me.

[AndyVTR]

Mine is September 2006 and had one. Sure they all did.

[rllmuk]

The 140s didn't have them back then, but the 170 did from day one.

[Wai]

Hi all,

I brought my FR in Oct 2009, dealer in Marshalls Cambridge didn't say anything to me about the DPF, everything was fine till 2010. DPF has been on several times, over 10 times (I've lost count!), it's been to the dealers in Cambridge, Manchester and Stockport, several times, had various sensors replaced. The last straw was last week, usual thing, DPF light, then while trying to do a re-gen the limp home light, and then the emissions light. Took it to Marshalls Cambridge, after one day they decided to replace a sensor and then the next day they said that the DPF needed to be replaced! The total cost was to be £1800! I told them to get lost, considering I don't drive short journeys or like a nan! I paid the £150 they wanted for the "work" they had apparently done, which still had all the lights on, and they made me sign a disclaimer saying that I refused to get the work completed. I argued for about 30 mins but they weren't budging so I took my car elsewhere.

I had looked up some options and Jason at JWE in Hungtingdon was fantastic. He offered a cleaning service which he did, took him around 2 days, but he cleaned the filter and did a remap at the same time and was 1/3 of the price! Might never bother taking it back to Seat, and will be probably be doing the DPF delete or removing it completely.

[2011LeonFR]

I voted - No problems.
Car Age - 6 weeks
Mileage - 1100 miles
Driving style - 90% trips under 5 miles. School runs/social calls/shopping. Foot flat down when road clear.

[Glenn240]

As said by others no mention of dpf or peculiar driving technique when buying 170 FR 57 plate 40,514 mls from Perrys at Aylesbury however the dpf was regenerated by Perrys or some work was carried out relating to dpf before I collected vehicle 14th dec 2010 since then I have done 3,500 mls. The engine management light has been put out by a friend at least three times fault code ( unknown component earth fault ) then glowplug light comes on when driving with loss of power, to clear this I turned off and on ignition whilst still driving, However 1 mile from home last week eng man light is on glowplug light comes on and switching ingition wont clear glowplug light then dpf light comes on and FR goes into limp mode the FR is taken to perrys for a regen, What a cheek they want to charge me but I insisted it was still within the years warrenty they said i had when i brought FR, Only then did they start to explain dpf stuff!!!!!!!!!!! if i had known about dpf i would have brought a different vehicle.

[steroidchris]

I've only owned my tdi Fr for 3 weeks and hadn't had the dpf light on, had it mapped yesterday and coming back from a decent run on A roads earlier, not really caning it and not driving miss daisy about, it comes on for about 5 seconds also with something on the display, that I didn't catch. Any ideas why it came on for that short of time?

[Glenn240]

No sorry better keep your fingers crossed !

[AndrewJB]

I've only owned my tdi Fr for 3 weeks and hadn't had the dpf light on, had it mapped yesterday and coming back from a decent run on A roads earlier, not really caning it and not driving miss daisy about, it comes on for about 5 seconds also with something on the display, that I didn't catch. Any ideas why it came on for that short of time?

It will be DPF + Glow plug warning light


That is the start of the End :cry:

[steroidchris]

It wasn't another warning light, just the dpf one, something came up on the red digital display, all I read was diesel particulate filter before it went off.

[steroidchris]

Dpf light and ecu light on earlier, cleared the dpf light with a run up the m-way. Took the car to my bro to connect his diagnostic kit to it and it comes up with exhaust pressure sensor fault. He cleared the fault code and I've had another good run and it hasn't come back on yet. If it comes on he'll change the sensor for me. He also told me his bit of kit can do a dpf regeneration if I need it.

[menagaza]

big problems with the DPF

had my ibiza mk5 1.6 cr tdi

used on days off not for commute 4,500 ml
(ain't no sunday driver...speed limmits are the minimum)

14 months old and has been to back to the dealer 5 (yes FIVE times) often having to wait over a week for them to look at the car. on the service back in Jan had the comp update.

two weeks later the filter was blocked again, so the engine went into limp mode took it back to the dealership who reset the car BUT hadn't managed to regenerate the filter

they gave me the car back with a blocked filter "suggesting" that i should regenerate it my self
did as the manual suggests .... still didn't fix it (in 4th or 5th between 1800 and 2500 revs for 15-20 mins)

phoned customer service they referred me back to the manual then told me to contact the dealership to arrange with them to TEACH me HOW to drive my car.:censored:....so i did this and I was still waiting for the dealer to contact me after they had conversed with seat uk and now the engine is in safety mode AGAIN

phoned the dealer ....two weeks wait 'cos their techie is on holiday... GRRRRRRR

[connartiste]

Hi spent the last while having look through all the info on DPF lights and problems and still feel a bit in the dark! Wonder if anyone can help me!

Had the DPF light come on late yesterday and didn't know what it was and seein it was the last mile of a 60 mile journey thought i would just leave it till the morning. Started the car today and the light was still there, rwlaised what it was and tried giving it a bit of a blast to get the DPF heated up. Then the coil light came on and the car went into "limp mode". I drove it conservatively home and I am now wondering if I can sort this without a trip to the dealer!


Thanks!

[dee_b]

ok where do i start , 2006 leon dpf , dpf light came on a few days ago took it for a long drive down the A road and cleared few days later back again this time with glow plug light and eml and gone into limp mode stealer reckons im going to need a new dpf filter and these aint cheap could this be the only soloution to my problem please help

[winnie101]

hi all

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just like to say hello, Had a look around site an seems spot on. i'm new to forums as well as being a seat owner. I recently bought a Leon 2.0tdi fr with bocanegra body kit. Been a spot on car despite dpf filter.

Here is my querie if anyone can help?
My warranty ran out on 29th April 2011, On 2nd May 2011 all hell breaks loose an every warning light on my dash decides its xmas!!!

Not sure about other posts about dpf not being covered on warranty. Until my warranty ran out i haven't had to spend a penny on my dpf faults!!

I took my vehicle to local seat dealer to have faults looked at. Their diagnostics came back with a faulty wire from the ECU to dpf filter causing it not to empty the dpf EVER!! Apparently there is a split link in this wire and with time can carode and cause resistance which made my dpf filter redundant.

£180 and 5 days later i have the car back. I asked about maybe getting this done on warranty seeing as it was so close to expiry date and it being the bank holiday weekend, i had no way of getting vehicle into them.

when i was on the phone the mechanic turned to ask his boss about warranty (he never covered phone properly) i over heard that this fault had been logged with seat before and supposed to have been fixed.

needless to say they have fobbed me off and said they will look into MAYBE getting me some cash back????

Having rang seat warranty claim myself, I yet again got fobbed off!!

Got told wiring isn't covered by warranty!!

All i can say is whole experience has p****d me off. sorry for such large post but SEAT owner who has turned to the company for help an got nothing is now looking to fellow SEAT ownwers for advice.

Cheers

:help:

[paulfs]

@ Winnie101

Bud I would sit down & re-write what you've said above, about the fault, just out of warranty, regularly SEAT serviced, previously identified fault that was NOT repaired under warranty period. Record dates, times, who talked with, phone calls etc.
Keep it too factual information only.

Once you happy with what you've got down on paper call SEAT Customer Care 0500 222222 & go thro' your problem, keeping it calm & factual only, then express your disappointment in the service you've received & the fact that you are aware this was identified earlier & not repaired. Ask them to check their Service History Records, if it's on their records they "should" admit to it.

Then see what SEAT Customer Care say, they seem to be more helpful than Warranty people. Got to keep at these people. Record your conversation & ask for an email address, then send an email recording your call & the outcome (whatever it may be), do this every time you deal with them - I assure you that this "recording" will be worthwhile.

Best of luck.

[cambobfr]

Yes, good approach Paul - I remember doing something similar in the early days of owning my Leon. It worked a treat as Seat customer care do seem to take these things seriously. Just the mention of my talking to Seat customer care seemed to be enough to get my dealer to come round.

Believe it or not, shouting is another tool. After a heated argument on the phone, I said I was going to come down and give them a piece of my mind in person. The last thing they want is very unhappy customer shouting at them in their showroom and potentially losing them 1000's in business. When I got there, I memorised key names off their who's who board with pictures. In the end, I had my salesman, the chief engineer, and dealership manager all present with me and without even having to raise my voice much, my salesman offered me a car swap temporarily with his own(!) to get me out of a tight spot and the manager said he would get my car repaired immediately. The issue was a faulty DPF sensor (ugraded to better one as this was a known issue - of course!).

Since then I had trouble free motoring for around 30k until another sensor went. That was £200 to fix. Even with that tho', it's been a fantastic car, very reliable.
I've since had the DPF removed as I got fed up with fuel prices and needed more mpg, so depending on what year your car is, that might also be an option. Total cost to have that done was around the cost of 4 DPF sensors, so in the long run it'll probably pay for itself that way too.

Just to reiterate tho', those dates about when the fault was identified etc are really important, and the more you've got on paper the better. Good luck!

[paulfs]

Yep bud, can't beat a good shout either!!! Particularly if you've been calm & factual on all other previous occasions - it proves frustration, can be a very effective tool too :D

I'm guessing (cambobFR) gives a clue that you running a diesel FR, me too an 07 Mk2 - just getting the Injectors replaced by SEAT at the moment :censored:

How are you finding the dpf removal, any issues?


Cheers

[cambobfr]

Yeah, that's right - same year in fact! (have just updated my siggy to reflect that)

On the whole it's pretty good. It's generally a little noisier and less refined and I get a bit of engine resonance through the exhaust around 70mph, but I half expected that to be honest. It's not too bad tho', probably still quieter than the old 306 I used to own a few years back. Car sorta vibrates on idle, which I'm not so keen on, but at least I know the engine is running! There's also a bit of a kick on ignition, but nothing to worry about I don't think. I'm happy to put up with all these minor annoyances for the improvement I should be getting in MPG. I've only recently had it done, but I'm hoping for around 650 miles from a tank instead of 500-530. The 225bhp and 345 lbs/ft of torque are a bonus, but I'll only ever use it for tight situations and seeing off the occasional tailgater, not least since I want my engine to last! lol

Injector replacement? Hope that's something I wont' have to look forward to!?

Oh, one more thing I forgot to mention, since the DPF was removed I no longer get the 0.5s or so lag in throttle response. It used to drive me insane! To me, it was one of the major flaws with this car. Dangerous at roundabouts and pulling out of junctions. To rephrase Clarkson a bit, I want 'Yes men' on my pedals!