If you have ever been sitting in traffic on a Texas road behind a diesel truck in need of maintenance, it was likely not a pleasant experience. This is why it is so important to keep your big truck in good condition. Newer engines are fitted with diesel particulate filters (DPF) and they are designed to trap a lot of soot in the exhaust system and keep it from getting into the air we breathe. However, unless you maintain your engine and have regular diesel particulate filter cleaning, you could be causing a lot of problems for your business. Here is important information on DPFs and why you should take good care of them.
Why Do I Need These Things?
Diesel exhaust can be full of a wide range of contaminants. In fact, standard anti pollution techniques have proven to be ineffective so the Environmental Protection Agency raised their standards for 2007. This rule states that all diesel engines must have some kind of device to filter the exhaust before it enters the atmosphere. This is why your engine must have a DPF. It is the law and not just in Texas, but all over the US.
Why DPFs Develop Problems
As the DPF filters out exhaust it traps a great deal of debris and once there is too much in the filter, the engine can no longer breathe properly. Without regular diesel particulate filter cleaning, this results in increased backpressure in the system.
Aren’t DPFs Self Cleaning?
Some people in Texas believe DPFs have the ability to clean themselves because of the design. They do have a regenerating feature which allows them to burn excess gases once they have been trapped in filter walls. Here is how it works. Materials pass into the filter and settle into different walls or levels. Eventually internal heat lets the unit burn them off. This helps to keep the filter unit clean but is not totally efficient. Soot can be burned but material like ash stays inside the filter. As a result, periodic diesel particulate filter cleaning is required.
Can I Clean My Own DPF?
There are special additives on the market today, designed to clean DPFs. However, research shows that these products may help but there is no substitute for professional periodic diesel particulate filter cleaning in Texas. It takes special equipment to do the job properly and a trusted diesel service center (like your dealership) is one of the most qualified sources to turn to. Cleaning should be done about every thousand to fifteen hundred hours. Depending on the type of engine you own, this is about every 100,000 miles.
