[Szgabor94]

Hi all,

I bought a hyundai i30 1.6 crdi (2016) a few months ago, and I noticed that the dpf regenerates too often.
As I read the normal regeneration frequency is above 400 km, but mine do that between 130-150 km. I check the oil level in a daily basis and I think its not increasing.
I bought a cheap obd device to track the regenerations more efficiently. It shows that the regeneration starts at 14,7g soot level. The dpf differential pressure sensor shows a 220 mbar value when the regeneration starts. I attached you a screenshot about the pressure sensor values and soot load. When I saved the log I was driving on the motorway (2000-2500 rpm).
Do you see any unusual with the attached log? The soot load and pressure values are normal? Where should I start to solve this issue?

[I30 GD]

There isn't an issue, mine does the same, I've done 20k miles and not had a regen problem, if the car drives fine and there's no regen error codes it's normal.

[Szgabor94]

There isn't an issue, mine does the same, I've done 20k miles and not had a regen problem, if the car drives fine and there's no regen error codes it's normal.

Its really annoying that the dpf regenerates 30 km from every 150 km. Due to the additional fuel consumption my average is 5,7 l / 100 km. I think its bad for a modern diesel (mostly motorway respecting speed limits).
Its also not easy paying attention to not to stop the car when the regeneration is ongoing so frequently.
Its definitly a problem to me and i want to solve it.

[I30 GD]

Fair enough, I will keep an eye on mine via the obd and report back the intervals as I think it might be too often on mine but unsure until I check. Fuel consumption has recently increased for me aswell.
I think it's fine as there's no error codes or issues apart from fuel consumption but that might be because I'm doing short runs at the moment.

[BrendanP]

What OBD reader are you using? Now I'm retired I do a lot more short journeys and my fuel consumption gets a lot worse periodically. It's a nuisance that there's no indication that DPF regeneration is in progress, so that you know not to interrupt it.

[I30 GD]

I use a generic elm 327 Bluetooth obd with an app called car scanner, allows coding, static dpf regeneration and various other options, I used to use torque pro but it's limited in what it does, I still use forscan on Ford's but car scanner works well on Hyundai's.

[I30 GD]

Checked mine over last couple of days, it regenerates at around 16g of soot, it regenerated at 30 miles twice during town driving, I had to drive along a dual carriageway to allow it to finish, on the motorway it regenerated at about 36 miles.
This doesn't appear to be normal but there are no error codes or problems apart from the fuel consumption going up during regeneration, it's more than likely always done this in the 20k miles I've had it, now on 105k.
After lots of searching it appears there's no cure for this, I will just wait until I start to get error codes then either clean the dpf manually or replace it, in the meantime I'm checking a few things on the car like boost hoses etc in case there is a cause.

[I30 GD]

Further on from this I checked my dpf sensor levels and they're not too good 27hpa at idle, 70hpa at 2500rpm and jumps to low 200hpa with a good rev.
I've put a bottle of redex 'snake oil' dpf cleaner in, after about 1/4 of a tank the idle is down to 17hpa, at 2500rpm around 50hpa and low 100s at a full rev so contrary to popular belief it seems to have done something.
Soot level went up 0.4g in 6 miles which puts me around 100 miles till it regens, not perfect but better.
I've got a can of foam dpf cleaner on order to inject into the top of the dpf through the sensor pipe, if that doesn't fix it, it's coming off for a manual clean but so far so good.

[Szgabor94]

Further on from this I checked my dpf sensor levels and they're not too good 27hpa at idle, 70hpa at 2500rpm and jumps to low 200hpa with a good rev.
I've put a bottle of redex 'snake oil' dpf cleaner in, after about 1/4 of a tank the idle is down to 17hpa, at 2500rpm around 50hpa and low 100s at a full rev so contrary to popular belief it seems to have done something.
Soot level went up 0.4g in 6 miles which puts me around 100 miles till it regens, not perfect but better.
I've got a can of foam dpf cleaner on order to inject into the top of the dpf through the sensor pipe, if that doesn't fix it, it's coming off for a manual clean but so far so good.

Is there any update from you? This redex stuff really helped? Could you attach a diagram like me about dpf pressures and at which pressure the regen starts?

[I30 GD]

I've updated with dpf sensor pressures, as above.

[Szgabor94]

I also tried a dpf cleaning fuel additive (stp). I would have never thought but it has some effect
Before that the dpf regenerated in every 120-150 km. Now with the additive I went 150 km and the soot load is still just around 55%. With this pace the regeneration will happen now around 250 km.

[I30 GD]

I had a 125 mile regen then the next was 20 miles, put another better cleaner in the tank and it's the same, looks my dpf is knackered, I shall drive it till it starts throwing codes then either replace and code it in or try to clean the original one, either way it's not looking good, this is probably the worst car I have ever purchased, money pit.

[I30 GD]

Further on, the soot level is now going up slower and to a higher level, think I've fixed it but will know more after another few hundred miles.
It now looks like it will be regenerating at a suitable mileage/time, just waiting for the next regen.

[Szgabor94]

Unfortunately the fuel additive didnt work for me also. It increases the regen intervals by reducing soot emission, but once it depletes from the fuel the interval will be the same again.. They dont worth the money.
I think there is no easy way to solve this issue..

[Vacious]

Further on, the soot level is now going up slower and to a higher level, think I've fixed it but will know more after another few hundred miles.
It now looks like it will be regenerating at a suitable mileage/time, just waiting for the next regen.

Curious if you have any update yet?
I've just bought a car that is suffering from this same issue (approx 130km between regens), it was left unused for 18 months before I bought it - Wondering if that could be a factor.

[I30 GD]

Further on, the soot level is now going up slower and to a higher level, think I've fixed it but will know more after another few hundred miles.
It now looks like it will be regenerating at a suitable mileage/time, just waiting for the next regen.

Curious if you have any update yet?
I've just bought a car that is suffering from this same issue (approx 130km between regens), it was left unused for 18 months before I bought it - Wondering if that could be a factor.

Hit and miss at the moment, had a few 200+ mile regens then a 15 mile one a couple of weeks ago, think I may be getting to the bottom of it, will see in the next few weeks.
I don't think your car being left unused has any bearing on the dpf regen unless it was left unused because of problems, it has more to do with faulty sensors and blocked intake parts, 👍
I  now using an Autel diagnostic as well as car scanner to monitor live data.

[Szgabor94]

A quick update from me. Now that the temperature dropped to below 15 celsius degree the regen interval increased to above 200 km. The issue is definitelly temperature dependent.

[Vacious]

After changing the engine oil and filters my regen interval doubled (only 1 so far, so this conclusion might be premature).  Looks like it was overdue an oil change (no service history), so this could have been a contributing factor!?

Have either of you tried any on-car DPF cleaners that spray directly into the DPF?  Wondering if this could be worth a go, though from what I've read, these are quite ineffective at removing ash which I suspect is the problem with my car.

[I30 GD]

All I can say is outside low temperature and oil changes will not make a positive effect on extending your regens, try monitoring your differential pressure readings because this is what triggers a regen amongst a few other things but this is the main one.

[I30 GD]

Just to elaborate on my oil changes statement, obviously dirty old oil will not be good for your engine or dpf regens but in my experience fresh oil may not fix a dpf that is regening too often if there is an underlying fault.
I'm not sure if newer models than mine (GD) monitor oil dilution, as far as I know mine doesn't but if they do, they can cause problems from what I've seen on other cars.

[Mndgs]

It is normal that regeneration takes place at around 14-18 g of soot:

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Robert-Mccormick-4/publication/239865630/figure/fig5/AS:669974683189259@1536745820486/Typical-time-histories-of-pre-DPF-temperature-vehicle-speed-and-ECU-estimated-soot.jpg

However with accumulation of the ash, DPF capacity decreases and ECU interprets  these 14 grams of soot differently. Before washing DPF of my car I would reach 16-19 g of soot every 30 km and thus regeneration would took place every 20-30 km. After washing DPF first regeneration took place after 200 km and now I drove 300 km without regeneration and DPF soot level is around 9.

The first thing to do to solve the problem of the frequent regeneration is to wash DPF using this method:

- YouTube

[I30 GD]

What did you do to the ECU after cleaning the DPF?

[Mndgs]

What did you do to the ECU after cleaning the DPF?

Nothing. There is possibility to reset DPF in ECU with more advanced diagnostic tools - if I remember correctly there is menu for reseting certain parts after new installation, and warning that you should reset the part otherwise the errors and suboptimal functioning may continue until ECU relearns. I don't have such tools so I just let it relearn and I think I does not take a lot of time to do it.

By the way, when my DPF was full of ash I didn't receive any errors either - just regeneration every 20-30 km and plus 2 liters of oil/diesel in crankcase in 2.5 month.

[I30 GD]

What did you do to the ECU after cleaning the DPF?

Nothing. There is possibility to reset DPF in ECU with more advanced diagnostic tools - if I remember correctly there is menu for reseting certain parts after new installation, and warning that you should reset the part otherwise the errors and suboptimal functioning may continue until ECU relearns. I don't have such tools so I just let it relearn and I think I does not take a lot of time to do it.

By the way, when my DPF was full of ash I didn't receive any errors either - just regeneration every 20-30 km and plus 2 liters of oil/diesel in crankcase in 2.5 month.

Fair enough if it fixed your car, mine was doing the same but not having oil dilution, at the moment mine is pointing to the dpf sensor as the readings were off, it's currently relearning a new sensor but so far so good.

[Vacious]

I've not had any luck - Had a separate issue where power was down and fuel consumption up - EGR error
code was present.  So had the egr temporarily deleted (software)  as a test (the garage said this was likely the cause of both the EGR and DPF frequent regens, as he saw no issues with the DPF pressure differential readings).

EGR issues immediately disappeared, so it must have been clogged, but no difference to the frequent DPF regens.

Not sure what to do next really - Maybe replacing the EGR will resolve the DPF issues, the garage was adamant that the DPF is fine.

[I30 GD]

I've not had any luck - Had a separate issue where power was down and fuel consumption up - EGR error
code was present.  So had the egr temporarily deleted (software)  as a test (the garage said this was likely the cause of both the EGR and DPF frequent regens, as he saw no issues with the DPF pressure differential readings).

EGR issues immediately disappeared, so it must have been clogged, but no difference to the frequent DPF regens.

Not sure what to do next really - Maybe replacing the EGR will resolve the DPF issues, the garage was adamant that the DPF is fine.

Would need more information, what the dpf sensor readings are key on engine off, idle and at 2500rpm.
As for the egr valve, I would clean it before replacing it, maybe the solenoid is stuck with too much soot or the narrow tubes are blocked with soot, a software delete isn't going to help in my opinion.
If the egr is blocked there's probably a good chance the intake manifold is dirty as well, mine wasn't too bad at 100k miles but cleaned it anyway

[Vacious]

I've finally found a way to retrieve the dpf sensor data , the pressure differential readings:

Engine off : 4 hPa
Idle : 28 hPa
2000 rpm : 90 hPa

I'm not sure what to make of these numbers though - Any idea what a healthy baseline would be?

[I30 GD]

I've finally found a way to retrieve the dpf sensor data , the pressure differential readings:

Engine off : 4 hPa
Idle : 28 hPa
2000 rpm : 90 hPa

I'm not sure what to make of these numbers though - Any idea what a healthy baseline would be?

I would think 4 hpa with the engine off is incorrect and 28 hpa at idle is high, mine was 11 hpa engine off and 23 hpa at idle, this was making it regen every 30 or so miles.
I've fitted a new aftermarket sensor, genuine would be better so I'm told, readings are now 0 hpa engine off and 0 hpa at idle, can't remember what the reading is when at 2500rpm but it goes up but not as high as the old sensor.
It took a couple of tanks of fuel to finally level out on regens as I couldn't reset the adaptations on the sensor but it now regens every 250 miles or so which is good enough for me.
I did also clean the intake manifold, throttle body, egr valve and MAF sensor on airbox pipe, whether this helped I don't know.

[Vacious]

Thanks - This really helps!

What was the aftermarket sensor that you used?  I'm wondering if this might be the best thing for me to try first, given that I'm seeing 4/5hPa even when the engine is off.

My EGR is clogged, as it was throwing an error, down on power and economy, but a software delete immediately resolved these issues.  So cleaning the DPF, EGR and inlet manifold sounds wise, but a lot of effort that I'd ideally postpone if a sensor replacement could resolve the regen issue.

[I30 GD]

Thanks - This really helps!

What was the aftermarket sensor that you used?  I'm wondering if this might be the best thing for me to try first, given that I'm seeing 4/5hPa even when the engine is off.

My EGR is clogged, as it was throwing an error, down on power and economy, but a software delete immediately resolved these issues.  So cleaning the DPF, EGR and inlet manifold sounds wise, but a lot of effort that I'd ideally postpone if a sensor replacement could resolve the regen issue.

I bought a Lucas branded one, about £25,was told a genuine one or a more expensive branded one would be more reliable but it's working at the moment.