davidad

They don't on cars with FAP. What a mechanic can do if the filter is clogged is to perform a forced regeneration which is done in the workshop, not on the road.

But you still don't seem to understand what the FAP does or how it works! The whole point of the FAP is that it traps all the soot particles which cause the black smoke emitted from a conventional non-FAP diesel. When the ECU senses that the filter is getting clogged it puts the engine into regeneration mode which increases the exhaust gas temperature to a point where the soot burns and is converted to ash. All this happens inside the filter so there is never any black smoke from the exhaust. Eventually the filter becomes clogged with ash and has to be replaced. Under normal driving conditions all this happens without the driver ever being aware of it. In certain driving conditions (e.g. moving slowly in heavy traffic, stationary with the engine idling for a long period, lots of short journeys) there is a risk of the filter clogging because under those conditions the ECU is unable to put the engine into regeneration mode. When this happens the "Risk of particulate filter clogging" message will appear on the dashboard display or whatever on your particular model. The solution is to drive the car as soon as possible at a steady speed of more than 40mph for at least 5 minutes which will allow the regeneration to take place and unclog the filter. This is not the same as the usual advice for a non-FAP diesel which is to drive the engine at high revs to blast out all the crap. To go back to the original post, if the FAP filter was changed only 4000 miles ago and the car is not just used for short journeys or constantly in heavy traffic then it should not be displaying warning messages. Nor should it EVER give out any black smoke. I would take it back to whoever changed the filter and get it checked out. I presume the eloys fluid was replenished at the same time as the filter was changed?

On an Hdi with FAP you should NEVER see any black smoke or crap from the exhaust. If there is then there is something wrong with the FAP.

As I understand it the particulate filtration system needs the eloys fluid to work properly. Replacing the eloys with something else will surely cause premature clogging of the particulate filter?

It shouldn't be like that. There's definitely something wrong. What is the age and mileage of the car?

My Mk1 04 VTR 2.2hdi has the sport button. I have a little ritual of using sport mode on the bends on the M5 between junctions 1 and 2 in Birmingham, especially if the road is quiet and I'm cracking on a bit :lol: . Other than that I never use it.

Doubt it, mine's being doing that for 3 1/2 years/55k miles. I think the battery would have died well before now if that were the case. Pressing the Traffic Master button shuts it up.

I agree with kfk. That price sounds pretty good, I would just get it done.

To clarify that, the soot burns and is converted to ash and it is this residual ash which eventually builds up and requires the filter to be replaced. The important point is that the soot particles which can be harmful to health are never emitted from the exhaust into the atmosphere. That is very different from cleaning an engine out with the old Italian tune up trick. I notice that Renault now have a particulate filter which they claim never needs to be replaced and will last the lifetime of the engine.

That's not how it works. The soot builds up in the filter and is periodically burnt off at a very high temperature.

You're completely missing the point of the FAP system. What it does is filter soot particles out of the exhaust so you don't get the blasts of black smoke commonly seen when following a VW/Audi/BMW/Merc etc and makes an FAP equipped diesel one of the cleanest on the road. That isn't reflected in the road tax as it has no effect whatsoever on CO2 emissions on which road tax bands are crudely based. As for FAP being a moneypit, I am quite happy to do my environmental bit and pay the £400 or so every 75K (120k on the latest versions I believe) in the knowledge that I'm driving a cleaner car.

All this removing of bumpers, batteries etc is very confusing. My C5 is a 04 2.2Hdi estate and I don't have to do any of that to change the headlamp bulbs. All I have to remove is the plastic cover over the coolant expansion bottle/hydraulic fluid reservoir on the driver's side and the plastic battery cover on the passenger side.

Here's a few more that I know of:BMW diesel turbo failure - a very common problem on some pre-2003 models Jaguar S type gearbox failure - a friend of mine got through 3 auto boxes in 100k miles Audi brake failure - collapsing vacuum pipe = no brakes ;) Vauxhall Zafira diesel oil consumption - 1 litre every 700 miles seems quite common and within manufacturer's tolerance!

Yes, the trick is knowing how to undo the clip as you can't see it and have to do it by feel. The first headlamp bulb I changed took ages and left me with skinned knuckles but I can change one in a couple of minutes now :) .

NO NEED TO SHOUT!!! The service interval on my 04 2.2 Hdi is 12,500 miles but I'm not sure whether that has been the case throughout the life of that engine so you may need to be more specific about the age of the car. The recommended mileage for some jobs, e.g. particulate filter, has certainly changed - it's 75,000 on the later ones like mine but I think it was 50,000 on the earlier models. For a service book I would suggest contacting a Citroen dealer or keeping an eye on eBay. A Haynes manual is due for publication at the end of the year.