[qa15ar]

Hi Guys,

My E90 325d has the DPF light on currently, tried to regen but no luck. Carly shows 50g of Soot and 8g of Ash.

I have noticed the car is using a lot more oil than usual, could this by down to the higher back pressure? or could the turbo seals be leaking oil into the dpf causing a higher pressure and triggering the light?

Car spends most of the time on the motorway. have the following fault codes 00480A, 0042DE, 00481A, 004D00, 004530

Am I looking at new turbo and dpf?

any advice appreciated.

[Aragorn30d]

The car wont regen with 481A on.

480A is set when the filter is becoming clogged and the ECU has been unable to start a regeneration. If you ignore it and continue driving, eventually the ECU will set 481A and will no longer attempt regens.

The reason for this is if the soot loading is too high, the filter can go into thermal runaway if it does start a regen. 481A is set once the soot loading reaches that "too high" point.

4D00 is a fault with the exhaust back pressure sensor, potentially the reason its become blocked in the first place.

If there are certain fault codes set, the car will not regenerate.

Some people have managed to force a regen by repeatedly resetting fault codes while driving and requesting a regen in DIS. The idea being if you get all the criteria met, then clear the 481A code, the ECU will start a regen. Ofcourse this risks thermal runaway of the filter and potential fire... Others have removed the filter and cleaned it out (jetwash apparently works), which seems to dislodge enough soot to let the car start regenerating itself.

As for the turbo, at this point its unknown. When you remove the DPF you can inspect the turbo and see if it looks healthy.

What mileage is on the car?

[qa15ar]

Thanks Aragorn30d for the reply. Mileage on the car is 215k miles.

I cant seem to clear these codes, they seem to be always there on Carly.

Had the same problem last year. I changed the pressure and temp sensors last year, what they go that quickly?

[Aragorn30d]

Unlikely they'd fail that quick.

at 215k, if its the original filter, it might well just be time served and needs replaced...

However if the 4D00 code isnt clearing, then theres definitely a fault with the back pressure sensor....

Theres two sensors on the DPF, so perhaps its the other one that wasnt replaced last time?

[qa15ar]

Its the original filter.....
Will get a new back pressure sensor see what happens.
Any ideas how to clear the 481A code? is it a case of just keep on clearing on Carly?

[Aragorn30d]

have a search on here, i've come across discussions about it.

You also need to make sure the other criteria for regenerations are met, no fault codes (other than the DPF code ofcourse), more than 1/4 tank of fuel, coolant temperature over 75c etc.

So 3 of those 5 codes need sorted. Google each one and figure out what it is, and fix it. Obviously the two DPF codes will remain.

[bishbosh]

That's very good going for the DPF to last as long as it has. Mine failed around 145k miles so got it changed. I also had codes 480A and 481A. Managed to regen it but they kept coming back and it never seemed to take long for the DPF to block again.

[qa15ar]

thanks guys

[Len_Beach]

I had 480a due to a MAF issue.

Once I'd sorted the MAF code; I used Rheingold to initiate a regen. Even with 480a set; the car regenned on the next couple of short trips.

Carly is unlikely to be advanced enough to fix this sadly.

[qa15ar]

just thought would post an update.... Managed to clear the DPF light, used a bottle of carplan dpf cleaner and took for a drive, kept clearing codes on carly, driving and car suddenly felt a lot more responsive... not sure what did the trick but worked. Need to see now if I can trigger a re-gen...

[Aragorn30d]

you probably already have triggered a regen.

Make sure all the fault codes are clear, if they arent fix them pronto.

[qa15ar]

all fault codes are clear. so good for now