Redex DPF additive

My first proper post so please be gentle.

Has anyone got any practical experience of using Redex DPF cleaner regularly? I bought a near showroom condition 2012 Freelander 2 (with dpf) three weeks ago with 94,000 miles on the clock and fsh. The car is working faultlessly at the moment but im just planning for the future and maybe looking at adding an additive to the fuel so it dont get clogged up later.

My previous work van (2012 Ford Transit) failed its last mot i had done in 2022 because allegedly the dpf filter was clogged. The garage said all they did was sat the van in carpark with a brick on the accelerator for an hour with a bottle of additive in the tank then retested it and it passed.

Im aware the problem is caused by not over revving which my employer loves because it save them fuel/money but the engine clogs up with crap as a result. With this hindsight, im driving my Freelander 2 a lot more aggressively. I've only filled it up once with supermarket fuel i must add. Would go-faster diesel do same?

I am searching the forum for more answers like k&n filters (which im no longer looking at getting) so dont shoot me!

TBH a DPF regen is basically sitting there with the equivalent of a brick on the throttle - regardless of whether there's any additive put in the tank.

It just needs to run hot for a period of time and an hour sounds like a long time - but I suppose the longer the cleaner!

Someone like @lynall might know.

Spanky-spangler said:

My first proper post so please be gentle.

Has anyone got any practical experience of using Redex DPF cleaner regularly? I bought a near showroom condition 2012 Freelander 2 (with dpf) three weeks ago with 94,000 miles on the clock and fsh. The car is working faultlessly at the moment but im just planning for the future and maybe looking at adding an additive to the fuel so it dont get clogged up later.

My previous work van (2012 Ford Transit) failed its last mot i had done in 2022 because allegedly the dpf filter was clogged. The garage said all they did was sat the van in carpark with a brick on the accelerator for an hour with a bottle of additive in the tank then retested it and it passed.

Im aware the problem is caused by not over revving which my employer loves because it save them fuel/money but the engine clogs up with crap as a result. With this hindsight, im driving my Freelander 2 a lot more aggressively. I've only filled it up once with supermarket fuel i must add. Would go-faster diesel do same?

I am searching the forum for more answers like k&n filters (which im no longer looking at getting) so dont shoot me!

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DPF issues can happen at any time to.

We've had a virtually brand new van on only its 2nd or 3rd hire recovered on a tow truck today from Kaikoura 200km to Chch because its gone in to limp mode after the DPF and MIL lights coming on.

I was in Tesco earlier and saw one bottle on the shelf so i bought it. Not cheap at £9.99!

Haven't put it in yet as im still 3/4 full so might wait for next time i fuel up.

As DPFs become the norm more folks fall foul of how they need to choose the fuel of the car (petrol or Diesel).
DPF/EGR equipped cars do not like lots of small runs around town to school and shops. It needs some good runs for a period for the brains to do the cleaning if required. If its a regular driving habit on the motorway/dual carriageway then it will not really need to regen.

You don't mention your driving habits to really comment if you will have an issue.
Be very careful of the "we clean your DPF" search here for the member with the blown DPF and knackered engine.

Personally, additive that is put in fuel then burnt and cleans a DPF sounds like a bit of snake oil TBH.

J

marjon said:

As DPFs become the norm more folks fall foul of how they need to choose the fuel of the car (petrol or Diesel).
DPF/EGR equipped cars do not like lots of small runs around town to school and shops. It needs some good runs for a period for the brains to do the cleaning if required. If its a regular driving habit on the motorway/dual carriageway then it will not really need to regen.

You don't mention your driving habits to really comment if you will have an issue.
Be very careful of the "we clean your DPF" search here for the member with the blown DPF and knackered engine.

Personally, additive that is put in fuel then burnt and cleans a DPF sounds like a bit of snake oil TBH.

J

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My own personal driving isn't very much. I drive for a living using a Transit van and do anything from 200-400 miles monday to friday so when it comes to weekends i tend not to drive much because it drives me nuts and i walk instead. Today,i went to Tesco in next town 6 miles away and gave the car a thorough blast through then went long way back-again doing same.

Spanky-spangler said:

My own personal driving isn't very much. I drive for a living using a Transit van and do anything from 200-400 miles monday to friday so when it comes to weekends i tend not to drive much because it drives me nuts and i walk instead. Today,i went to Tesco in next town 6 miles away and gave the car a thorough blast through then went long way back-again doing same.

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Give it a good run up the motorway for 30-45 mins every now and then

Freddie17 said:

Give it a good run up the motorway for 30-45 mins every now and then

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Will do. I must explain that i do 200-400 miles daily. Not over an entire week!

There's a lot of myth's about dpf's on the web.

Yer FL2 will regenerate the dpf when it's full, or if it hasn't done a full regen for 1200km. Yer FL2 measures the soot content. If it gets to 24 it will request a regen. Said regen will only happen under certain conditions. 37mph or above with a warm engine while travelling. It takes 9 minutes for a full regen at 50mph.

Part of the regen process requires hotter gasses in the exhaust. That requires a post injection of diesel around the time the gas leaves the engine. It burns making the gas hotter. This is used to burn the soot oft. Revving a car hard whole stationary won't do this alone. Yer need a diagnostic to over ride the normal regen process to switch on said process if the car is stationary. Thats what LR main dealers do if they force a regen in the garage. I can't see other cars being different. The brick pedal method isn't the full story.

The amount of soot an engine creates is down to how its fuelled. Thats dependent on how hard its working, which is dependent on what yer asking it to do. Hence why "town" driving fills the dpf quicker than motorway driving, cruising at speed for long distances. I do constantant short trips of 3.5 miles. I'm up and down the gears all the time due to light and cirneting. Its not a problem. I have filled my dpf up on purpose to see what happens by staying at max 30mph. If the dpf is more than what it considers full it will go into limp mode if the engine revs above 2k. Limp mode dissapears if you restart the engine but will come back if the engine goes above 2k revs before a regen starts. You get an error message on the dash when it happens. "Limp" it to a road where you can gently accellerate to 37mph or above without going past 2k revs and a regen will occur when conditions of speed and engine temp are met. There will always be a case when it doesn't happen but that will be down to a fault like a failed sensor.

There's many myths of how to "treat" yer dpf, or FL in general. A blast on the motorway or italian tune up. Complete myth. Whilst high air flow through the exhaust by a hot engine does drop the soot value very slightly, it won't regen the dpf. As said that only happens if the car is due a dpf regen.

If you want yer dpf to regen less often then buying the more expensive diesel from BP instead of the normal stuff, is the way to go. Other garage options available but I ain't tested them. When burnt in yer engine the expensive diesel produces less soot. Hence the dpf won't fill as quick.

When yer dpf soot count gets to 24 it will request a regen. That will happen when certain conditions are met. Speed above 37mph and engine hot, while travelling. The dpf regen will then start. If it completes then all is ok. If not, it will be counted as a partual regen. Lets say the partual regen drops the soot count to 16. As more soot is stored after this it continues to count up from there. Yer FL2 can do several partual regens one after the other, when requesting a regen when the soot count gets to 24 again. Mine has on my regular short trips on roads with max speed 30 and 40mph. It's not a problem. But a full regen is preferred which is why theres a counter that requests a full regen if there ain't been one for 1200kms.

I have a gap iid bt diagnostic so have monitored my dpf many times. Regular short trips dun't concern me. Mine has done many partual regen's on short trips. When I spot it's full near 24 I go for a drive and it does a full regen. I dun't put any addatives in. No idea if they do what they claim or they're of benefit.

My FL2 is one of the last ones made. It's requested 160 regens so far. 77 of them have been full regens. The rest will have been partials. Thats over about 36k miles. If yer worried about general maintenance of yer FL then buying a diagnostic would be my preferred option over additives. I take my FL2 for a drive once a month to empty his dpf when full.

So long as you service it on or before time and do not drive it like miss daisy it will be just fine.
Some additives do work, but not for long! and can help come mot time, but again if the car is looked after it should pass as presented.

Click on the 'watch on youtube' link, to play

Thank you to everyone who replied. This is the first diesel i've personally owned with a dpf so everything is new to me.

Spanky-spangler said:

Will do. I must explain that i do 200-400 miles daily. Not over an entire week!

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Yes - but your F2 don’t on your commute.
Just needs a good run every now and then

Freddie17 said:

Yes - but your F2 don’t on your commute.
Just needs a good run every now and then

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I don't commute. The van comes home with me so my personal miles is really low. Previous vehicles mot's have shown them being sometimes 2k from one year to next.

However, as we all know cars deteriorate when not used which is my trouble.

I'm purposely taking the FL2 for mad thrashes to keep it all sweet.

Get a code reader that can give live figures and it will give you the dpf in and out pressure. Should be virtually the same. That would give you an indication of if it is even clogging up.

J_D said:

Get a code reader that can give live figures and it will give you the dpf in and out pressure. Should be virtually the same. That would give you an indication of if it is even clogging up.

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Where is the port on a FL2?

Spanky-spangler said:

Where is the port on a FL2?

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Diagnostic port is just under the dash, by the drivers knee, on a right hand drive car.

Hippo said:

Diagnostic port is just under the dash, by the drivers knee, on a right hand drive car.

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Cheers. I'll have a look on Amazon for a reader.

Spanky-spangler said:

Cheers. I'll have a look on Amazon for a reader.

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I have just purchased the TOPDON AD500 PRO+ works great but the one below is better I'm talking to the seller to see if i can send it back and replace with the one below.

Now realised that the TOPDON AD600S Professional can do the DPF regen if the car allows it too, you need to really read through the listings.

There is also the iCarsoft LR V2.0

I am not saying get one of these, just there are a few out there, it's a mine field really.

Others may have an option too, so don't be in a rush to get a code reader right away.

Any reader that helps you out after five times as paid for it's self, if you have to ask a garage for diagnostics at £50 an hour.