Hilux, Prado, Fortuna diesel particulate filters (DPFs)

[Lance]

Anyone having a Hilux, Prado or Fortuna may find this interesting.

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Lawyers alleged Toyota Australia had been installing faulty Diesel Particulate Filters (DPFs) in its Hilux, Fortuner and Prado diesel cars sold nationwide from October 2015 to July 2019.

Lawyers allege the faulty filters cause foul smoke to spew from exhausts, dramatically decrease fuel efficiency and increase wear and tear on engines.

More.....

www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-01/toyota-faces-class-action-over-hilux-prado-filter-issues/10821680

[notathome]

Interesting read Lance.

I actually saw a Hilux yesterday that appeared to be laying down a white smoke screen as it was accelerating from the lights and my thoughts then were, I wonder if the DPF was trying to do a burn !!!

I sincerely hope a solution can be found and that the manufacturer is compelled to wear the costs and associated bad press.

Just my thoughts.

[jr]

This DPF issue is very disturbing. I had heard about Toyota fitting a switch on the Hilux so to do a manual clean.

My grandson owns a 2008 Suzuki Vitara Diesel and it has a DPF and now has 170,000Kms up and the exhaust is as clean as new.

The Suzuki uses a Renault diesel engine which is a bit of a Heath Robinson thing as I have replaced his glow plugs and the EGR valve and changing the oil filter is about as difficult as it gets you do it by feel you cannot see what you are doing!

Anyway his DPF is still working OK touch wood.


My big worry is my 2017 Landcruiser as it has a DPF in fact two of the things. Not sure why they are not having the problem like the Hilux but they do a clean at any time even if you are parked. Occasionally I have noticed a different smell when driving into our garage.

The Landcruiser can display a bar graph to show how blocked the DPF’s are but I don’t think it is a true indication only what it thinks it should be and if they really get blocked there is a DP alarm that operates and then you can operate a manual clean button but this button is not available until the DP alarm is up.

The clean is done by biasing some of the engine ejectors to fire on the exhaust stroke so you end up with a couple of hundred degrees more in the exhaust. This means you don’t need to get out on the highway and do a high speed run to generate the extra heat required to burn out the DPF.

You cannot just remove these DPF’s as the smart computer knows it’s not there. Now there are emulators out there that will tell the vehicle computer that all is good even though the DPF is removed. These emulators can be sold but it is illegal to remove the DPF.

Photo of the Landcruiser Bar Graph, it must have just done a clean as there are no bars. once three bars are up an auto clean starts.

The manual clean bush button next to the Redarc dial. This button is not armed until the DP alarm comes up. Never seen any alarm to date. 

JR

[dieseltojo]

Its going to be a bun fight. I mean if recalls are almost always voluntary they will fight tooth and nail. Its like the air bags saga. They get the cheapest available and then blame the supplier who like themselves gets the cheapest components to cut corners.

The customer is the final tester and the most inconvenienced. I had read that the problems were associated with not enough heat on small trips etc. The man that went to Alice was doing big kays so I don't know how that fits the arguement. Of course he might have done many small trips around home and the thing had been previously blocked up. Only he would know if he did manual cleans.

He is not going to admit he didn't.

The first thing a manufacturer does id blame the consumer or the service agent. You cant say you burned out the hand brake if you drove with the thing on. You can't complain about the exhaust if you don't press the cleaner button on short trips.

In the end it is unproven allegations and they will replace a few converters and get on with it.

But what a crappy converter it must be to cause such problems....