DPF and white smoke

[RPP]

My 08/18 light never comes on for a dpf burn it just says it will come on if you need to do a manual regen or if there is issues with the dpf

where do I see this percentage ? I’ve never seen it? I’ve noticed a strange smell sometimes comming in to the garage to park the car smells like burning rubber ? Would this be the dpf smell ?

To see the DPF percentage you need an OBD scanner that reads it.Toyota's display does'nt provide that type of data.

[RPP]

Just got my 2018 Prado back from the dealer. Their second attempt to have the new DPF switch work in custom mode failed.
They understood the mode this time and had a few goes at programming the ECU but gave up.
They've sent an enquiry to the Toyota HQ help desk.

On the plus side tho' I got a copy of their 34 page DPF Button Installation guide.
The installation process involves pulling just about all dash panels, radio, instrumentation, trim out and a lot of wiring and fiddling with conectors.
Just the sort of thing that can lead to mistakes that would be hard to track down.

[404pug]

OK Ta.Yes that would be the DPF smell because it will be very hot in the exhaust during a burn. If it is an auto it will also be idling at 900rpm or 1200 if a manual.

[Gurilla]

My 08/18 light never comes on for a dpf burn it just says it will come on if you need to do a manual regen or if there is issues with the dpf

where do I see this percentage ? I’ve never seen it? I’ve noticed a strange smell sometimes comming in to the garage to park the car smells like burning rubber ? Would this be the dpf smell ?

[404pug]

Question for those with 2018 and beyond as well as those who have custom mode enabled with or without switch. Do dpf burns ever occur without the light flashing as mine appears to be doing? Currently I believe that custom mode is NOT enabled on mine despite the dealer tech bloke saying it is [ as per post above].

[cuda]

I am experiencing similar characteristics. After a regen the DPF % will zoom up faster than 1% per Km to 50-70%.
Then it will dive to below 30%, and then increase slowly. This would occur driving around the city. Had been getting 230-332Kms between regens on the new ECU firmware.

Over the ANZAC break went for a 1,800 Km holiday, mostly on the highway (110Km/hr) with about 150 Km on beach and dune tracks.
Logged many Regens. The Kms between regens on the highway dropped from mid 200Kms to 95, 109, 147, 165Km.
The regens went quite quick tho, in 25-31Kms. Happy with that.
On the dune track I watched a regen complete in 4kms. Happy with that too.

However my new DPF button doesn't work, so its back to the Dealer on monday.
I'm not going to worry about the new/variable regen duty cycle until I see a few more thousand kms.

I think you need to request they look at your DPF. I took mine into Toyota and they said nothing was wrong and had reset everything. Funnily though it came back from the workkshop with an increase of .5l/100km . SUPERBURN I suspect. Now behaving differently. Current run I'm at 80km and only 20% full and this was after previous run of 267km and temp reaching 720 deg which is greater than ever before. Percentage increase is now stable and fuel consumption is terrific.

[404pug]

After 280 km the car did a burn lasting about 12km at 80-100kph. Idle at 900rpm. BUT still no flashing light and still no action possible using the switch despite my post above with the Tech using the laptop and showing me that all was well. What gives? I think that custom mode is NOT enabled despite the Tech saying that it is and showing me it was working. Any similar issues?

[RPP]

I am still unsure about what that bloody button does. As I posted above I went back to the dealer and the Tech bloke clearly showed me that the button worked as it should and we turned the burn on and off etc. BUT 200 + KM later the DPF should be over the magic 28% but no amount of pressing the switch initiates a burn. This raises the question that maybe the switch is there to turn a burn OFF if you don't want it at that point eg. parked in long grass??? Does anyone really know what it does and how it works [including the dealer network]?

Either go to the Toyotamanuals.com.au web page, or click the link provided a few pages back here and print off Toyota's "Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) Information Booklet".
Or google it on the web.

It explains exactly how it should work on a Prado. If the button is working, it says there should be a 5 second warning on the screen on startup when the button is enabled (ie DPF over 28%).
If you have a Scangauge reading the DPF saturation level you will see the DPF % reading also. If you don't then I wouldn't assume that it is over 28% if I have driven 200+Kms as regens can happen under 200Km. Your DPF may be at less than 28%.

[404pug]

I am still unsure about what that bloody button does. As I posted above I went back to the dealer and the Tech bloke clearly showed me that the button worked as it should and we turned the burn on and off etc. BUT 200 + KM later the DPF should be over the magic 28% but no amount of pressing the switch initiates a burn. This raises the question that maybe the switch is there to turn a burn OFF if you don't want it at that point eg. parked in long grass??? Does anyone really know what it does and how it works [including the dealer network]?

[RPP]

Well mines going back to Toyota. DPF is definitely playing up. Performed a burn and with 20km DPF is already 30% full. Toyota confirmed that the new firmware uses the differential sensors and feeds this back to determine how full the DPF really is. It will override the algorithm if the value is greater than the calculation. Should know by mid next week if the DPF is defective or blocked. Hoping to get the button installed as well.

I am experiencing similar characteristics. After a regen the DPF % will zoom up faster than 1% per Km to 50-70%.
Then it will dive to below 30%, and then increase slowly. This would occur driving around the city. Had been getting 230-332Kms between regens on the new ECU firmware.

Over the ANZAC break went for a 1,800 Km holiday, mostly on the highway (110Km/hr) with about 150 Km on beach and dune tracks.
Logged many Regens. The Kms between regens on the highway dropped from mid 200Kms to 95, 109, 147, 165Km.
The regens went quite quick tho, in 25-31Kms. Happy with that.
On the dune track I watched a regen complete in 4kms. Happy with that too.

However my new DPF button doesn't work, so its back to the Dealer on monday.
I'm not going to worry about the new/variable regen duty cycle until I see a few more thousand kms.

[CamJam]

Well mines going back to Toyota. DPF is definitely playing up. Performed a burn and with 20km DPF is already 30% full. Toyota confirmed that the new firmware uses the differential sensors and feeds this back to determine how full the DPF really is. It will override the algorithm if the value is greater than the calculation. Should know by mid next week if the DPF is defective or blocked. Hoping to get the button installed as well.

That's an absolute shame - especially when you trusted them to purchase a new on over the old thinking they'd have fixed it by now.

On another note - got a call from a senior investigator at the ACCC today. They got my details from Toyota, who has been asked to stump up information on DPFs, customer faults and Toyota's response to customer complaints. They chatted and wanted further details - all of which I have still got on file and duly forwarded. So at least they're investigating this now... I had heard they were before, but now I know it's official (albeit I was told it's in the scoping and gathering evidence phase at this stage). The issue appears to be a denial to the customer that anything is wrong, and Toyota fobbing off options such as buying the vehicle back, swapping for a new model, going for a petrol or anything other than keeping the vehicle in for days and days on end as they play around with it.

[Faulco]

Now , the interesting part. It did the burn at 1200 rpm [ it is an auto] which he says is the correct idle speed for a burn in Prados and HILuxes manual and auto . I told him that every burn for the last 30000 km had taken place at 900 rpm and I knew of other autos were the same. No explanation for that he said.

I think you will find the characteristics of an automatic regen and a manual regen are different. I now have the DPF switch installed and also have custom mode active. This means I can initiate a burn when the PM reaches 28%. I did a manual regen to make sure the switch was working. 260km since last regen so PM would definitely be above 28%. Parked car (in safe spot) select park and handbrake on. When I pushed the switch the Rpm went straight to 2000rpm and DPF light started flashing, after less than a minute the rpm reduced to 1200 and stayed there until the regen was complete after approx 10 mins. When complete idle returned to normal (700) and DPF light extinguished. My understanding is that is how a manual regen should go.

[cuda]

Well mines going back to Toyota. DPF is definitely playing up. Performed a burn and with 20km DPF is already 30% full. Toyota confirmed that the new firmware uses the differential sensors and feeds this back to determine how full the DPF really is. It will override the algorithm if the value is greater than the calculation. Should know by mid next week if the DPF is defective or blocked. Hoping to get the button installed as well.

[Faulco]

I can confirm in over over 90,000km my idle has never been above 900 (auto) and since custom mode has been activated it will do a burn every (approx) 300km with DPF light flashing. I have also won the DPF switch lottery and will have my switch installed soon. I’ve got to say I’m feeling a bit more confident that Toyota are finally getting on top of the issue.

[404pug]

Further to this saga. After the update the engine appears smoother and quieter and is using about 8-10% less fuel but I have only done about 500 km since the update and installation of the Custom Mode and switch.BUT the one burn was at about 300 km [20-30 km better] and very quick - much quicker in fact. However I did not get the flashing light nor could I get the switch to work. Hmm. Back to dealer and got to see the head tech bloke. He plugged in Tech stream which showed DPF at about 60% [200 km since last burn.] He initiated a burn which quickly bought the temp up to 700 deg. he was able to get DPF to 100% at which point the light flashed and I was able to turn the burn on and off at will ie whole system normal and functioning. It took about 5 mins for the whole burn to occur and DPF back to zero.
Now , the interesting part. It did the burn at 1200 rpm [ it is an auto] which he says is the correct idle speed for a burn in Prados and HILuxes manual and auto . I told him that every burn for the last 30000 km had taken place at 900 rpm and I knew of other autos were the same. No explanation for that he said.
The key point he said that often you wont see the light flash because in the right driving conditions the burn will occur before the 100% trigger point for the light. If the light does flash a burn will still occur normally but having the switch allows you instigate a burn at a place of your choosing if needed eg away from long grass. I hope this info is of use.