Particulate filter issues - 2014 Broadway EB

Hi all, can you help us please?


We purchased a new Autosleeper Broadway EB in March last year and hope to take it abroad for long periods this year. Due to family commitments, so far we have only done 1600 miles (normally do around 4000+ miles - we previously had a Pollensa, with no problems!!


The mileage we have done in the Broadway, on our four trips away, have involved mainly long distance, 60+ mph speeds on motorways and trunk roads.


A week ago we went to fill the van with diesel prior to travelling down to Autosleepers in Broadway, Cotswolds for its first habitation check. That's as far as we got!!. After filling, I started the engine and spotted the orange engine shaped management symbol appear. I immediately rang our local garage (half a mile away) and they said  bring it round and they would do a diagnostic check. We had to go slow as I think the turbo charger had shut down putting us into limp mode!! As you guessed it suggested problems with the particulate filter. I am aware of the information in the handbook regarding particulate filters and the need , following an yellow 'particulate filter' shaped symbol appearing on the dash, to drive the vehicle at 40+mph to clear the carbon and to regenerate the filter. This warning symbol has never appeared on the dash, only the orange 'engine' shaped symbol. Today the vehicle is with the Peugeot Dealers following a journey, in rush hour, in limp mode - 14 mph, and they are looking into it for us.


Has anyone else had this problem miles away from home (even abroad) and if so how have you dealt with it? How common is this with these new engines?? We are quite concerned that this new legal addition to the engine will cause us lots of grief in the future. Can anyone offer any positive advice on how they have dealt with this? I have read that the filter can be removed, and the engine remapped, but I do not want to go there as this is, after all,, an environmental device!


Any help would be much appreciated


Pete and Caroline

The only bit I can help with is not to remove it. When your first MOT is due, if a DPF was fitted when new, then it must be fitted at test time. Hope you get it sorted soon.

Hmmm.... That's disconcerting. You were clearly aware of the demands of these DPFs, and drove the 1,600 miles accordingly. That being the case, it's a worry for the rest of us who may find ourselves in similar circumstances - so do please keep the Forum posted as to what your Peugeot Dealers say and do.

Thanks for your comments.


Peugeot Dealer have just come back to me on the phone. It looks like the particulate filter is blocked and has to be manually cleaned out to regenerate it. He says that this is down to the driving style of the vehicle i.e. short journeys and short periods of non-use. Well as you can imagine I politely put him right regarding the four long distance trips we did in the UK and the fact that there was no warning 'filter' light prior to the 'engine' light coming on and subsequent shutting down of systems. We have always taken the motorhome out for a 25 mile minimum drive over the winter period (of between 4 -6 weeks of standing idle) up the A38 dual carriageway. They say they cannot make a decision regarding what to do, as there maybe another reason for the problem, so as the workshop supervisor isn't there today we have to wait for a decision tomorrow. We originally had to wait ten days to get an appointment with the dealers, as the diagnostic equipment wasn't available till today. I have been assured that this will be covered by the warranty (well the comment was 99% certain!) So who knows. In the end all anybody wants is reliable vehicle.

I will update later tomorrow

Pete (feeling a little grumpy!)

I quite understand your grumpiness! Your case is even stronger than your first post suggested, insofar as you also did the monthly 15 miles trips up the A38 out of season. I don't know enough about modern diesel engines to say that "it's running too rich" (as I would were it a petrol engine) but it certainly sounds as if it's a fuel injection problem which has caused the PDF to clog.

Thanks for keeping us informed.  Persevere, and insist on warranty!

Hi Peter, I can't help you with this , I have the same motorhome bought it last March the same as you and I've now done 8,500 trouble free miles mostly motorway on 2 journeys down to Benidorm. I Hope you soon get it sorted.

John.

Hi Pete.
I had a Peugeot based Nuevo just over a year ago, this is a very none technical note to you but I too had two occasions when it shut down on me. Once on a very steep hill and once in the middle of a major junction on the motorway !!  After two visits to our local Peugeot dealer, I left it with them and I believe it was an injector problem.  They replaces them and all seemed well.  Good luck.

John.

I have a 2014 Duo (same engine) and had a visit to my local Peugeot dealer concerning another matter (that of the radio occasionally showing, "Code error" when switched on). During the course of this investigation, they said that there were no less than 3 software updates for my particular vehicle and that they had implemented all of them.

The result was quite impressive. From new the engine was really harsh when first started and put under any kind of load before it warmed-up; now it is much better (quieter).

My suggestion is to ask your dealer to see if there are any updates for your vehicle; after all it will do no harm to have them if they are available and it may well prevent your problem recurring.

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for all your suggestions and support.

As a consequence I have spoken briefly to the Pete at the Peugeot Service Dept. and mentioned a few possibilities (tactfully!) and he appreciates the comments and said that they do sometimes miss something, but regarding software updates this would happen automatically whenever they do a diagnostic check on the engine, and depending what the chief technician(supervisor) comes up with tomorrow they will need to regenerate the filter electronically (not manually as I thought!) by running the engine for two hours. (good job I filled up with diesel!) 

Thanks so much for your responses

I will let you know more tomorrow.

Pete (still feeling grumpy!)

Hi all,

Peugeot Service Dept. came back to me today. They say they have got to the bottom of the problem - a faulty differential pressure sensor and faulty fuel sensor. Hopefully parts due in in 2 days time and then they will fit under warranty.

I hope it sorts out the problem!

Pete

Excellent news, Pete - for you and for us who use / drive our motorhomes in the same way as you. I was worried that even your driving regime was insufficient to clear the PDF, so I'm as relieved as you are to learn that the cause was elsewhere. A pain for you, of course, but good to know it's not more fundamental. I hope it's fixed soon.

I bought an A-class Merc a few years ago - my first car with a PDF. The instruction book was full of scare stories - just how you drive an auto at 5,000 rpm att lawful speed for 20 minutes beat me! I just use it normally - and (touch wood) it's fine. Pongs a bit when it's been regenerating!

Thanks very much indeed for keeping the Forum informed.

Cymro

Hi Pete,

I have had a similar problem. The first time, whilst in France, the light went out of its own accord after about 40 miles. I had no loss of power.
The second time, back in England a few weeks later, almost a complete loss of power and a loud noise under the van. I 'limped' to the Peugeot dealer who discovered a hose had come off the turbo. It was soon rectified, an update of the software, and, 'touch wood' no problems since.
Hope you get sorted soon.

Frank

Would you believe the parts did not arrive at the Peugeot Dealers until today, Friday 5pm!!  I was told the sensors would take 3 hours to fit, therefore cannot now be done until Monday. I have had assurance that our motorhome will be securely locked up in their workshop over the weekend, and not on the dealers vulnerable forecourt. I will be checking!

Hope all will be well when I collect on Monday.

Pete

What a llad of hassle for you and especially the time taken to rectify a relatively simple fault as far as faults go. Hard to believe a Peugeot main dealer had to wait for the diagnostic kit. 

Fingers crossed now sorted you will have trouble free motoring 

I bought a 2010 VW Polo 1.6 diesel as a family run-about six months ago, we have had the "engine management" light on and off, the "diesel glow-plug heater light" flashing several times but never the "diesel particulate filter blocked light" on. I read about the issues on the VW forum and it seems that both these lights are due to dpf cleaning issues and are well known with this engine. This car is very highly geared to achieve 70+ mpg, so it does not seem to regenerate. VW tell you to drive for 20 minutes on the motorway in 4th gear every couple of weeks to cause the dpf to regenerate! So out of the window goes the economy.

Someone on the VW forum (a VW technician actually) swore by this stuff:

http://www.cataclean.com/emissions-crusade/cataclean-dpf/

My immediate reaction was "snake oil" but I bought some and... touch wood... no more warning lights! 

Is it me, or do sensors seem to fail as a matter of course these days?

The reason for the long "regeneration" time is to allow the DPF to get hot enough to allow the particles to burn off.

Driving at 3000 rpm or whatever is only part of the story, it needs to be in a low gear especially in winter time as the filter simply cannot get hot enough due to wind chill over it.

My suggestion if the DPF light comes on is to drive for around 3 to 5 miles in a low gear at around 3000 rpm to clear it - or do it stationary, after all, that's what the regen equipment does in the garage. The equipment automatically raises the rpm to burn it off while the mechanic gets on with the rest of the work wearing earplugs 

Strangely enough my warning light came on this morning (4x4). Took about 12 miles of motorway driving to get it off. Good excuse to nip down to Catterick Caravans and have a nosey round 

Brian

I've never had the dpf light come on on my 2010 2.0ltr Passat. It's done 180k, up and down motorways in 6th gear at 2000rpm. A mate has a 1.6 Skoda Superb also up and down motorways all day long, now over 250k in 4 years and never had his dpf light on either. So if they are regenerating correctly then they don't seem to need low gear and high revs, maybe just regular use at normal operating temp.

I'm with you on that Paul - regular, proper use of a diesel engine and it shouldn't need regen, although it will automatically be regenned in the Dealership at major services.

Dealers are now uneasy about selling diesel cars if it is known the customer is a regular town/short journey user - it's becoming a hassle for the dealers and it's a fine line for a diesel vehicle being sold as fit for purpose it it's only doing short town journeys

dandywarhol wrote:I'm with you on that Paul - regular, proper use of a diesel engine and it shouldn't need regen, although it will automatically be regenned in the Dealership at major services.

Mine hasn't seen a main dealer in over 100k miles.

ok

Yes... but the Polo 1.6 diesel 4-cyl was sold as a "city car".. VW have given up on this engine and it's no longer available. The tales of woe from the techies at the dealership would have put me off buying it, had I heard them first! I was an "early adopter" of diesels, bought my first in the early eighties, when many filling stations either had no diesel, or just a single pump. This Polo is the first one which has ever given me a problem. It is rather slow compared to our previous 1.4 3-cyl diesel Polo!

I have checked today and she is nice and safe in the dealers workshop.  Phew!

Looking forward to bringing her home on Monday, hopefully sorted!! 

Pete

Masai Warrior wrote:I have checked today and she is nice and safe in the dealers workshop.  Phew!

Looking forward to bringing her home on Monday, hopefully sorted!! 

Pete

Good result 

Given that the majority of such vans must be sold as tradesmans white vans, how do they manage ? When, day in day out, you drive your van round suburban or urban streets, stopping frequently, sometimes parking all day outside a job and possibly never going near a motorway or fast stretch of road from one year end to the next, do they get problems ?

Than you for the head up OP and hope your van is back, mensed, today. Ours has just had 280 km of the A4 from Seville so should be thoroughly cleaned out !

Q