Toyota Avensis T4 D-4D - DPF help

[tmalik70]

Hi,

Sorry for the long post but I'm hoping you can help. I've got an avensis estate 09 plate with 116k on it. I don't know much about cars so apologies in advance if I get any of the terminology wrong!

The car has been driving fine until it suddenly gave out on motorway after a long drive. It lost power so had to pull over and get it recovered. Since then the garage had problems getting it started and using the diagnostic machine it looked like an injector issue. It would start after a jump start but just about and let out a load of white smoke.

All 4 injectors were tested and one found to be faulty so replaced with a new one from Toyota which helped the car start but it wouldn't stay running for longer than a minute or so. Garage thought it was the EGR and looking at it, it was massively blocked up and not letting the car 'breath'. Cleaned that all out and tried again but still same issue but now black smoke was coming out instead.

All the above has cost me £460 and the car which is probably with about £1500 still isn't working. The garage have now said the last port of call is the DPF being clogged up and needs cleaning and re-programming (might not be the right term) and that should fix it as can't be anything else as the engine looks fine.

Now after the previous two fixes (injector/EGR) I'm a bit wary of paying an additional £350 to try and fix the DPF which might fix it but if it doesn't my bill is at £800. Screaming the car which would be the only other option would only get me £500 and don't have the cash to keep guessing on a fix.

I'm hoping someone who has more experience can help me with whether to go ahead with this or if I'm just throwing more money that will go to waste? The car at the moment will start but cuts out after a minute or so and when you put your foot on accelerator nothing happens so there is no power at the moment.

Happy to provide more information if needed.

Thanks.

 

[2009joe]

im not sure these cars at this year even had dpf  i know my 2014 one has a dpf and i do not cover many miles so im sure im waiting for a dpf problem in the future of mine. now it has  52k genuine on the clock

[avetoy]

Please, read the thread above... 

By the way, do you know what the  dtc's were?

[tmalik70]

Thanks for the response. I've read that thread but been told by the garage that the EGR has been fully cleaned so that cannot be the issue which is why they're moving to the DPF but not sure if that's the right approach or if it's just wasting more money.

As mentioned before I'm not knowledgeable when it comes to cars so no idea what the DTC was or what it even is.

Sorry.

Any further help is appreciated.

Thanks.

[yossarian247]

DTC=Diagnostic Trouble Code, ie the fault codes read when plugging a code reader into OBD port. If it was the DPF I would be surprised if there wasn't at least one fault code relating to the DPF stored. Normally the engine management light would come on too. 

[tmalik70]

The fault code was along the lines of large fuel leak which the garage translated into an injector issue. Replacing the faulty injector did get the car to start so the was improvement. Not sure if the fault code has changed since the replacement of the injector and will ask on Monday.

The main question I have is if the DPF could be causing this issue as really don't want to spend £350 on doing this and being in the same situation where I'll end up having to scrap the car and it costing me to scrap it due to the bill that's getting created.

 

Thanks.

[yossarian247]

I think a very badly blocked DPF could cause this issue, but I would be surprised if it would do without throwing up a DPF related fault code, and the car continually trying to regerate its own DPF. I'm concerned that the garage appear to be just assuming its the DPF because they don't know what else to do? 

[tmalik70]

I've got a very similar concern as I think it's just a checklist exercise they are going through. They've told me it can't be anything else as the injectors, EGR and the engine itself is all running fine and it's the only thing left but once I've done this the full bill all in is £1k and if the car still isn't running there's not much I can do.

I'll ask about the fault code now. Is there anything else I can do from this stage to help myself as I'm deferring to the garage due to my lack of knowledge

[yossarian247]

It is really difficult to diagnose a fault like this without physically having the car in front of you. If they think the DPF is blocked then one test would be to completely unbolt the exhaust after the turbo and try running the engine with the exhaust (and therefore the DPF) temporarily disconnected. If the engine runs reasonably normally with the exhaust removed then its reasonable to assume that the DPF, or at least some part of the exhaust, is blocked. If it makes no difference and the engine still runs badly then the fault must be elsewhere.

[avetoy]

On 1/21/2023 at 1:28 AM, 2009joe said:

im not sure these cars at this year even had dpf 

I´ve been thinking that too...

It would be very important to know what the fault codes were. Do you have any friends who might have a dtc reading device?

[yossarian247]

My recollection was that Avensis T27 diesels all had DPFs from launch, but I may be wrong?

[avetoy]

29 minutes ago, yossarian247 said:

My recollection was that Avensis T27 diesels all had DPFs from launch, but I may be wrong?

I´ve googled a bit and I think you´re right... diesel engines had to meet the Euro 5 standard  in 2009.

 

[yossarian247]

27 minutes ago, avetoy said:

I´ve googled a bit and I think you´re right... diesel engines had to meet the Euro 5 standard  in 2009.

 

That would fit, as new models which need a new type approval have to meet the latest Euro emissions standard from the off, whereas existing type approvals get a year or so's grace to meet the updated standards. That explains why existing models such as the Skoda Octavia were still being sold non-DPF through 2010, but the newly launched T27 had to meet Euro 5 right from the start in 2009.

[2009joe]

1 hour ago, yossarian247 said:

That would fit, as new models which need a new type approval have to meet the latest Euro emissions standard from the off, whereas existing type approvals get a year or so's grace to meet the updated standards. That explains why existing models such as the Skoda Octavia were still being sold non-DPF through 2010, but the newly launched T27 had to meet Euro 5 right from the start in 2009.

Was 2010 non pd skoda with the 1.9tdi have no dpf on them 

[yossarian247]

6 minutes ago, 2009joe said:

Was 2010 non pd skoda with the 1.9tdi have no dpf on them 

Yes that's right, I bought one in 2010 which is why it sticks in my mind. They were pretty much the last non-DPF diesels you could buy.