DPF - typical lifespan

[DaveG]

Car is a 2012 Insignia 2.0 Diesel Tourer Elite with 60,000 miles on the clock (which I have owned from new)
After reading an article, which suggested that Ford recommend replacing DPF at 72,000mls, I was wondering (a) if there is any broad indication on the typical lifespan of the DPF of the Insignia?
and (b) is there any way of determining when a DPF is approaching the end of its life?
Thanks Dave

[autov]

Our vectra auto's have 08 plate 93,000, 58 plate 100,000 and 07 plate 109,000 all with original dpf's. as for how long they will last till they want replacing or cleaning out i suppose it depends on how you drive it and just as importantly how the previous owners have as well. My thoughts on this is if you thrash it and don't do 1 ml runs it hopefully will see the car out, but if you drive miss daisy and drive 1/2 mile each way to get a litre of milk and drive every where at 29 mph then your asking for trouble early .As for Ford well they would would'ent they ,i wonder how much a new genuine Ford one is ? .I would only replace once the dpf was giving problems with running .

[DaveG]

Thanks "autov".
There must be others with a DPF.
Even if there has been no problems I would be grateful for the mileage your DPF has lasted.
Thanks Dave

[Inovator]

DPF is a part that really depends on how you drive your car. If you drive it on the highway most of the time, it will last at least 200000 km. Problems arrive around 80 000 km if you drive it mostly on short distances and without proper regen. Some people turn off the car during regen, and so on. So it's really hard to predict it's lifetime.

[NickT]

Vectra v6 z30dt, 135,000 miles and car did another 4 weekly/ 2 tank full regen today. I do full the track to the brim and only refill when the yellow warning light showing low level comes on.

A Car is not worth periodically changing components like this if there's nothing wrong with it. Just don't use a diesel for town traffic and stop start type driving.

Just enjoy the driving

[GaryK220]

The dpf on my Signum V6 Z30DT failed about 18 months ago at 72,000 miles, about 2 weeks after buying the car. It had been through 3 owners in less than a year after the original owner sold it on at around 65,000 miles after 10 years of ownership. A valuable lesson to research the ownership and service history more thoroughly next time.

The spanner warning light came on intermittently not long after buying it and after a bit of digging around I found a split in the intercooler to inlet manifold pipe. It had been taped up but the tape had melted and was leaking boost. I think this caused the ecu too overfuel which quickly clogged up the dpf. The car ground to a halt a couple of miles after replacing the boost pipe and the engine refused to turn over.

I had it cleaned at a cost of £400 plus the same again for labour and new sensors. It is now on 98,000 miles and has been running great since - apart from the suction control valves acting up for the last few months and overdue for replacement.

I have only noticed it doing a regen a couple of times, but I do a lot of motorway miles and live in the country so do very few stop-start short journeys.

[EugeneYes]

07 Vectra 385,000km original DPF. In my experience they only become an issue because of another component failing thus preventing regeneration and causing them to clog with soot. Lesson is, ignore engine management fault at your peril with modern diesels.

[DaveG]

Thank you all for your replies.

I have a diagnostic tool and can see the current state (fullness) of the DPF. Is there any way that this tool could also be used to predict when the DPF is nearing the end of its life? I'm planning a lengthy driving holiday and it would be a disaster if the DPF packed in then.

Dave