FuZzBoM

Hi all, Does anyone have any experience of the various scan tools popular on Amazon and eBay? (iCarsoft, Topdon, Autel etc.)
I'm looking for one that can perform a DPF regen on a 2011 Outback. A friend had the light come on and various garages have wasted her time and money without being able to fix it. They just run a regen and days later the light was back. I gave it a good going over and found the boost hose was split and I believe the DPF differential pressure sensor to be faulty giving a false reading. Now I have rectified these faults I need to perform a regen hence needing the tool. Many tools claim to be able to perform this task, but reviews say otherwise. Thank you

These are the three I’ve shortlisted

1509joe

iTrader: (2)

There's alot more to this scenario than you think. You need to read the live data and see is the soot/ash content is below the limits to allow for a forced regeneration. If not there is ways round it to fool it but it never really is a success. You need to make sure you are getting a valid reading from the differential pressure sensor and check the pipes are clear. If the vehicle is doing short runs it is possible that this is the wrong vehicle for her. There is a lot more to this than buying a diagnostic tool and doing a regen. Get it mapped out of it would probably be the best solution.

semih

we're using autel and quite good,

before regen you should check oil level, and general engine health

FuZzBoM

Thanks for the replies. The Soot/ash content sits around 170% at present. I unplugged both the pipes to the differential pressure sensor and made sure both are clear with an air line. When checking the sensor only the pre DPF side gives any reading hence why I think it could be faulty. I then capped the pipes with some bolts and ran the engine until the soot/ash now reads 0%. I was then able to clear the P1469 fault code as it is now below the 135% limit (EGR started working again too).



My friend has only recently purchased this car. She doesn’t do short journeys really. I think it was sold her as already having this fault. The dealer she got it from are being a complete waste of time. They kept it for a week and told her they removed the DPF and had it professionally cleaned. Looking at the bolts it’s clear it was never even touched.



With regards to mapping out I do have a Tactrix openport 2 and have done some tweaks to other cars in the past. I’ll see if I can get the ECU map off it and find out what’s involved. Going on past experience, disabling fault codes is probably a large part of it.

Smithys STI

iTrader: (1)

Also make sure you have reset the oil dilution as this will also bring the dpf light on.

FuZzBoM

It was at 8% the last time I checked as that has recently been changed. I think that would give a P1468 code if that was the issue? Thanks for the sanity check though.

1509joe

iTrader: (2)

With it being a diesel it would probably be better going along to the likes of Quantum tuning and getting them to map it out rather than disabling fault codes. Then you can gut the DPF yourself.

FuZzBoM

If it were my own car I'd probably go for it, but she's just your average car owner that has little knowledge. Soot test at MOT time would be my concern. I believe the DPF section also has the CAT in there!?

semih

generally dpf is after the cat, you can follow pressure sensor pipes. pipes located before and after the dpf

and if you disable dpf, you should not disable only dtcs, if you disable some dtcs, car will not regen again and choke the exhaust system


1509joe is right you need complete dpf off file

FuZzBoM

Last night I performed a DPF regen with a mates diag tool he borrowed from work. Connected the new pressure differential sensor up and it drove perfectly.
This morning we took the Outback on a 40 mile round trip of mixed driving. Again drove perfectly and more importantly no lights on the dash.
When we got back I plugged my DIY Autel reader in and soot accumulation ratio is at 10% with oil dilution at 6%. I know I should ideally change the oil after a DPF regen but I think I’ll leave it for now to see how it goes. I think things are looking promising though.