How do you initiate a DPF regen in a 2010 RAV4 2.2 D-4D?

[kissinger]

I’m concerned about this because the car manual doesn’t say, and the only bit of vague guidance I can find online is a Toyota press release that states “Quite simply, this means regularly driving the car at speeds above 40mph for a period of at least ten minutes.”

I’d like to know the exact parameters so that I can take the car out and guarantee a DPF regen every once in a while. 10 minutes about 40 mph is also a lot less than my partner’s ix35 DPF guidance, which requires 20 mins at 2k revs. 

[Avalon]

Simply put, the exact parameters aren’t something you can guarantee unless you know the estimated particulant load level and it’s ECU trigger value, and if you did then you would have the ability to force a manual regen anyway which somewhat negates the issue - it’s pointless doing a regen if you don’t need to do a regen. Toyota generally employ two techniques:

Car is up to normal operating temperature and doing 40mph or above for 10mins, this will lead to a ‘natural’ regen cycle.

Car requires a regen, but is not being driven above 40mph for 10 mins, this will result in the ECU increasing the fuel in the exhaust post combustion and increasing the temp that way. It’s specifically designed for people who do short journeys and/or city driving and will resume if interrupted on restart.

What another engine in another car from another brand requires is largely irrelevant, I’ve seen brands use figures as low as 10mph before, it has nothing to do with your RAV.

 

[kissinger]

Ah, I see. That's actually quite reassuring. Not that hard to keep the car doing 40 for 10 mins. I thought it needed a lot more than that to kick-in, so I was worried about blocking it with doing less long-distance driving lately. My old Octavia and my partner's Hyundai were both slightly different, but both needed a lot more driving at high revs. 

 

But do I need to worry about stopping after the regen kicks in. How long would it usually take for the regen to complete after it initiates? And do you still need to keep it at min. 40 until it's finished. 

[philip42h]

The actual speed isn't that important - you want to keep the engine at or above 2000 rpm (ish). So, driving along in first or second would work - but might be rather daft ...

I always understood that the regen cycle took around half an hour - start to finish - but it is OK(ish) to interrupt it - it will just carry on where it left off when it next gets a chance. And, when I was driving such diesels, I reckoned that if I was driving for an uninterrupted hour down the motorway once a week I'd never be bothered about or even notice the regen cycles.

[Stivino]

When mine does it, it takes around 30 seconds max.  Sometimes in town when I accelerate and the smoke starts pouring out the back, I just keep it in the same gear at the same revs and it will clear in about 15 to 30 seconds.

[Avalon]

A forced regen via Techstream is 20 mins on my MK4 2.0D, I carried one out yesterday while doing something else (a waste of time as it turned out).

[flash22]

Most scan tools can do a forced regen if they have the DPF function, exhaust temp is key to a successful regen - 20 mins is about right from a cold start

[kissinger]

On 5/1/2021 at 3:19 PM, flash22 said:

Most scan tools can do a forced regen if they have the DPF function, exhaust temp is key to a successful regen - 20 mins is about right from a cold start

This is interesting. I wonder if it would be worth buying a scan tool and doing it at home rather than taking it to a garage, if all they're going to do is a forced regen? 

[Avalon]

6 hours ago, kissinger said:

This is interesting. I wonder if it would be worth buying a scan tool and doing it at home rather than taking it to a garage, if all they're going to do is a forced regen? 

If that’s all they are doing, yes. A VCI lead is cheap if you have a laptop or windows based tablet, the self contained diagnostic tools can be anything from inexpensive to silly money depending on what you want.