Please advise me on my car.

[twigs02]

Bought a 1.4D-4D Excel recently. 

2 months later, EML comes on. Contacts vendor, they point blank refuse to help me, and were aggressive to the point I have tried to sort issue myself to avoid dealing with the vendor again. 

Took it to my local garage who put it on diagnostics machine, said it was soot accumulated on dpf. No loss of power. Advised me to take it up with vendor. 

Vendor ignored my email clearly stating my rights under the CRA. 

 

From this point on, it has become apparent that the standard advice stretches to drive it like mad down an A road for a 'good run' and most mechanics i have come across seem quite vague as to what the issue could be or how expensive it may be to resolve. 

I took it to the garage the vendor uses for their presale inspection who ran a diagnostics and verified it was soot accumulated in the dpf. They offered to do a forced regen and an oil change. 

Upon researching, I decided I'd rather have it cleaned. 

I drove it 60 miles, still no loss of power, to a mechanic who has extensive experience with dpf's. He cleaned it and reset the fault codes. He said there was no reason for the car not to regen now, and he believes there is nothing wrong with the dpf, and told me to see how it goes. 

I have had conflicting advice as to how far to drive it, how often, and how hard. Some say 'drive it like I stole it' once a week. Others say this increases the soot accumulation in the dpf if I drive it like this from cold. 

I admit I haven't taken it down A roads too often, but in a month, the EML is back on. 

Took for another diagnostics and it's the dpf filter again, this time, I'm told they don't have the readout for the % of blockage and apparently, I am not to concern myself with that. It doesn't matter, but they seem to think it is between 10 and 40%. Apparently, it was giving them different readings. 

There are no other issues with the car. 

This garage claim its not any faulty sensors because the fault code says dpf soot accumulated so it must be that, and they won't entertain the idea it could be a sensor. 

This garage have done an oil and oil filter change, the first that's been done since January 2023. This garage could not reset the EML. They said as soon as they reset it, it came back on.

So now I have a car that, admittedly, I didn't change the oil or filter on for a month after the dpf clean, which showed as successful, mainly because I couldnt afford the oil change before then and now has the EML light still on, meaning it won't regen on its own and no idea why it won't regen unless I need to drive it further, yet no one can tell me how far is enough? 

This car has done low mileage and only done 8k miles in 4 years. I suspect it has sat on a sales forecourt for most of that time before I bought it. 

 

Any advice extremely welcome!! 

Is a forced regen a good idea? Will I need to change the oil again then? Does it sound like it may be a sensor? Is this an expensive fix? Could a toyota dealer tell me if it is a sensor or would that be an educated guess after exhausting other options? 

I don't have much money to throw at this car but I do love the car so any help would be appreciated. 

 

Thank you in advance. 

 

[Mojo1010]

Okay so there is something like 6 months warranty usually with buying from a garage. If I was you I would be asking them to solve it and billed them the cost for what you have spent and get trading standards involved. 

I don't know much about diesel regen problem, others more knowledgeable may come by to advise.  

Just to add if the original garage cannot solve the issue, you are entitled to a full refund, product not fit for purpose. Tell them u will be getting trading standards involve. 

[Cyker]

You'd need to see a diesel specialist as it could just be the DPF is full of soot and ash and needs removing and cleaning out, but at the other end of the scale it could be the ceramic honeycomb structure of the DPF has fractured and causing a blockage - These both present as a blockage, but the latter means a new DPF, which either requires someone to cut the old one out and weld in a new one or the whole exhaust system to be replaced. Not great options.

If you have a friend who's good at being shouty and angry at people, bring them with you to the dealer and basically demand they fix it or give you your money back. Or if you have a friend who's done anything with law you could take them to court to get your money back.

If you didn't buy it from a dealer, getting it fixed is the only real option.

 

Normally, if it's just soot build up, getting the engine good and hot allows the hot exhaust to burn all the accumulated soot which is why the advice about 'driving like you're mad and stole it'  tends to get bandied about (TBH just going up some steep hills in 2nd/3rd gear would be enough too). In fact getting the engine hot regularly is almost required to keep a modern diesel engine healthy which is why I don't recommend them for people who don't drive much. If the DPF is physically cracked or the soot buildup is too high, none of that will help much tho'.

 

If you're that hard up, IMHO the best option would be to force them to give you your money back and get a different car - I personally would never buy a modern diesel (And I used to love diesels!) because of the DPF ruining their reliability.

 

[solero]

So how was the dpf cleaned? Removed or in situ? Did they check the inlet/outlet pressure readings. Could simply be a clogged up tube/pipe to a pressure sensor, or faulty differential pressure sensor.

Modern diesels are not good for lots of short daily runs. If so, i would return and swap it for a petrol car.

[Eddiefh]

Thrashing it won’t help , needs a motorway drive with a dpf cleaner in fuel tank for id say 45 minutes at least with revs over 2000 if that means one gear lower . All modern diesel car need fast a roads or motorways weekly if it’s a supermarket car the problem will come back and you should have been told this at point off sale . 

[twigs02]

3 hours ago, solero said:

So how was the dpf cleaned? Removed or in situ? Did they check the inlet/outlet pressure readings. Could simply be a clogged up tube/pipe to a pressure sensor, or faulty differential pressure sensor.

Modern diesels are not good for lots of short daily runs. If so, i would return and swap it for a petrol car.

It was cleaned in situ and pressure sensors were checked. Mechanic who did the clean seems to think it is possibly the 5th injector that's the issue. 

[twigs02]

Update:

 

I've now been told that the sensors were tested when the dpf clean was carried out and found to be working fine. 

I figured this left me with possibly 2 options. 

Either the EGR valve is faulty or dirty, yet this hasn't shown up on any diagnostics I've had so far, or it's the 5th injector which could be dirty or faulty. 

Update: I've now been told by a technician at Toyota that this model and age of car doesn't have a 5th injector and I can't find any information online to verify this.

Does anyone know if the 2014 Auris 1.4 D4D Excel has a 5th injector? 🤔

[solero]

Its a 4 cylinder engine,with 4 injectors, so 5th injector advice would ring alarm bells on a bum steer.

Agree with eddiefh's advice.

Cleaning egr is worth a try but doubt it will fix dpf error.

I would want to examine dpf honeycomb with endoscope camera or by eye, and if required get it professionally flushed by removing it. But if your driving pattern is lots of short runs, its a waste of time/money only to face problem again later.

Exhaust needs to get hot to clear out soot buildup in dpf. Short journeys dont give it a chance to heatup and cleanup, but instead accumulate soot.

 

[Krasimir DODEV]

Hello, I also have a Toyota Auris 1.4 d4d and once a month I go on the highway and drive 2500-2700 revolutions with an additive that is on facom and one liter,I use this brand because I live in France and at least here the original is sold in the shops and the people who drive diesels from this brand are very satisfied for cleaning a diesel engine, it is combined, cleans the DPF filter, cleans the entire fuel system, cleans the diesel injectors and also cleans the EGR valve, I use it once a month and I am very satisfied, I have no problems with my TOYOTA AURIS 1.4 diesel

[Krasimir DODEV]

The Facom 6 in 1 cleaner effectively and without disassembly cleans the main components of the engine: valves, combustion chambers, EGR valve, turbo, catalyst and particulate filter (FAP). It quickly and completely cleans the entire fuel supply system (injection pump , injectors ). Highly effective catalytic cleaning action. Restores optimal performance. Reduces polluting fumes and fuel consumption. Facilitates technical inspection. Effective from 50 to 100 km traveled, ideally on the highway, at high engine speeds DIRECTIONS FOR USE: Treatment is recommended every 20 to 30,000 km or before technical inspection Shake before use Pour the dose into the tank immediately before filling. Compatible with all diesel injection systems (common rail, pump injectors) and all decontamination systems Treatment: 1 L dose for 40 to 70 L diesel fuel.

[solero]

On 12/6/2023 at 1:19 AM, solero said:

Its a 4 cylinder engine,with 4 injectors, so 5th injector advice would ring alarm bells on a bum steer.

Agree with eddiefh's advice.

Cleaning egr is worth a try but doubt it will fix dpf error.

I would want to examine dpf honeycomb with endoscope camera or by eye, and if required get it professionally flushed by removing it. But if your driving pattern is lots of short runs, its a waste of time/money only to face problem again later.

Exhaust needs to get hot to clear out soot buildup in dpf. Short journeys dont give it a chance to heatup and cleanup, but instead accumulate soot.

 

I stand corrected.apparently there is a 5th injector in the exhaust.

[twigs02]

Thought I would update you on here, in case it helps someone else with the Auris 1.4 D4D. 

I decided to take the car for a diagnostic at Toyota to see if they could perhaps do a more indepth diagnosis. 

Surprisingly, Toyota said the reason the car wasn't regenerating was because the oil level was too high, (except it wasn't too high at all). The oil sensor on a large number of these models has been set to register as overfull when it gets above the halfway mark on the dipstick which then prevents the car from regenerating when the oil level is above halfway. 

I had put this car through a service at an independent garage and as I would expect, they changed the oil and it was sitting just on the maximum notch on the dipstick. 

Toyota drained enough oil out so the dipstick registers just under the halfway mark, and took it for a drive. Almost immediately, the car did a regen naturally and so far I've not had any further issues with it. 

Toyota's advice was to drive it as normal, no need to 'thrash' it to get it to regen, and in fact, driving it hard from a cold start can be more stressful to the car, and to keep the oil level on the dipstick just below half way. 

I'll update if I have any further issues, but so far, so good. 

 

[Mjolinor]

That is bizarre.

[Goran3456]

See this video, this guy is a diesel specialist and seems very good and professional. Don't know how far he is from you but it might help to contact him: