Citroen berlingo DPF recurring problem..?

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stevewestern

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A few months ago (6 months, and 6000 mainly motorway miles) my DPF warning light came on, and as we were on a pre-Christmas trip to visit family I took it to a Citroen dealer about 270 miles from home.
They filled up the fluid and did the regeneration thing and I paid up the £383 thinking all would be well for another 90,000 miles (it had done 93,000 at the time)
My receipt just said what they had done, with no more info about levels etc.

Yesterday the warning light came on again, so I took it to my regular garage, who are in the 'Good Garage Scheme' and he said that I should have been given a readout showing the DPF fluid levels before and after which I have now asked for and that he would like to see this before doing anything. I am still waiting to hear back from the first place..

Anyway, my question is this - am I right to expect a repair to last more than 6,000 miles, and if so, am I likely to get the first place to cover the cost of getting it fixed at either my local guy or the closest Citroen garage, as I am loathe to drive 270 miles each way...

Thanks for any help !
 
I never knew has DPF had a fluid level! From what I can recall the DPF on my old SEAT Leon fluid was never mentioned or charged for.

Were I in your shoes I would check the details with Citroen and as for the garage paying question ask the CAB for some 'legal' insight???
 
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Box Brownie said:
I never knew has DPF had a fluid level! From what I can recall the DPF on my old SEAT Leon fluid was never mentioned or charged for.

Were I in your shoes I would check the details with Citroen and as for the garage paying question ask the CAB for some 'legal' insight???
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I believe that some filters just get replaced, some have fluid that can be topped up, at £135 plus VAT per bag....
I'll check what Citroen say at this stage - thanks for the suggestion. Hopefully it won't come to getting the CAB involved.....
 
Box Brownie said:
I never knew has DPF had a fluid level!
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It doesn't. But dependant upon age Citroen diesels have either an Eolys bag in the engine bay or an AdBlue tank in the spare wheel well (and the model description will be BluHDI). The additive is dosed into the fuel to help keep the DPF clean for longer.

The Eolys should be a complete bag replacement, but as the system works on a counter and not a fluid level meter it can indicate near empty when it's still quite full. The dealer also needs to reset the system to tell it a new bag has been fitted. The bag can theoretically be refilled, but from what I've read it's a messy job and there are two incompatible types of Eolys fluid.

stevewestern said:
I believe that some filters just get replaced
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If your DPF was replaced your wallet would know about it. For the price you paid you got a fluid replacement and the car was put into a forced regen mode. A DPF will only regen so many times, there comes a point it has to be replaced or refurbished.


Edit: It seems Citroen replacement DPFs aren't as expensive as I feared, but most of the owner forums suggest closer to £500 then £400 would be expected for replacement.
 
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johnnypanic said:
Some useful advice -

https://www.hypermiler.co.uk/technical/the-diesel-particulate-filter-dpf-faq
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Thanks -I'll take a look !

Alastair said:
It doesn't. But dependant upon age Citroen diesels have either an Eolys bag in the engine bay or an AdBlue tank in the spare wheel well (and the model description will be BluHDI). The additive is dosed into the fuel to help keep the DPF clean for longer.

The Eolys should be a complete bag replacement, but as the system works on a counter and not a fluid level meter it can indicate near empty when it's still quite full. The dealer also needs to reset the system to tell it a new bag has been fitted. The bag can theoretically be refilled, but from what I've read it's a messy job and there are two incompatible types of Eolys fluid.


If your DPF was replaced your wallet would know about it. For the price you paid you got a fluid replacement and the car was put into a forced regen mode. A DPF will only regen so many times, there comes a point it has to be replaced or refurbished.
Click to expand...

I guess mine is the Eolys type - at 93,000 miles it was about due to be serviced in some way - the receipt says that it was filled up as required. I gather that a replacement filter is more like £700 plus...
I'm just hoping that having paid near on £400 6 months ago I don't find myself paying another £700 or so !

Thanks for the help.
 
stevewestern said:
I guess mine is the Eolys type - at 93,000 miles it was about due to be serviced in some way - the receipt says that it was filled up as required. I gather that a replacement filter is more like £700 plus...
I'm just hoping that having paid near on £400 6 months ago I don't find myself paying another £700 or so !
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I was going to suggest around £700, but then I checked back with the Citroen owner forums (I have the 1.6HDi in a C3 Picasso) and there are several threads where DPF and Eolys were c.£500 in total. And they all agreed that regardless of when you last had the Eolys changed they will change it again with a new DPF.

For some ages/models Citroen have 90k as the service interval for replacing the DPF as routine, for others it's 50k. I'm surprised they went with the regen at 90k, but I'm guessing you wanted to be back on the road ASAP and I believe DPFs aren't a stock item with Citroen dealers but got in as required due to the number of possible variations.
 
wave01 said:
what fuel do you use
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If it's done 90k before the DPF/particulate control system has reported any issues then there are no problems with the fuel choice, it's bang on the money vs. the expected schedule.
 
wave01 said:
what fuel do you use
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The wise-guy answer would be 'Diesel' but I guess you want to know if I use supermarket or other..
Usually Texaco, BP advance or whatever it is called every few tankfuls, and Tesco every now and again.
 
Alastair said:
I'm surprised they went with the regen at 90k, but I'm guessing you wanted to be back on the road ASAP and I believe DPFs aren't a stock item with Citroen dealers but got in as required due to the number of possible variations.
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It was just before Christmas, and yes, I was keen to visit the inlaws......
However, I think I remember them saying that I'd be good for another 90,000 miles, though there is nothing in writing to prove this, and my memory isn't too good.
 
For what it's worth, I've been feeding mine Nitro+ for the last six months. Not sure it really make a difference.
 
did they replace the DPF filter?
90k miles i would expect it to be knackered
fluid alone will just put it a bit along the road.
 
Mr Bump said:
did they replace the DPF filter?
90k miles i would expect it to be knackered
fluid alone will just put it a bit along the road.
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No, just topped it up and did a 'regeneration'
It got me back on the road, but £400 for 6000 miles...?
 
They must have treated the symptom and left the underlying cause untouched. You'd have to figure what else may be wrong with the car, e.g. turbo issues, etc. Or take it as an opportunity to upgrade to a nicer car.
 
LongLensPhotography said:
They must have treated the symptom and left the underlying cause untouched. You'd have to figure what else may be wrong with the car, e.g. turbo issues, etc. Or take it as an opportunity to upgrade to a nicer car.
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what like a silly v8 mustang like you constantly get arroused about?
@stevewestern you need a new dpf mate its jiggered.
 
Mr Bump said:
what like a silly v8 mustang like you constantly get arroused about?
@stevewestern you need a new dpf mate its jiggered.
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That's a great plan. Let's replace all Citroens and other similar mishaps with mustangs. The roads would become cleaner and a lot faster flowing.
 
Mr Bump said:
@stevewestern you need a new dpf mate its jiggered.
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Mmm. I fear you may be right, but am hoping the garage will offer some sort of help on the cost..

LongLensPhotography said:
That's a great plan. Let's replace all Citroens and other similar mishaps with mustangs. The roads would become cleaner and a lot faster flowing.
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Sadly, there isn't much room for my tools in a Mustang. I didn't choose the Berlingo for its muscle-car appeal, more to prove I don't need to make up for lacking in other departments.............




Believe that ???
 
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