DPF and white smoke

[Faulco]

That almost sounds like a blessing if the only way to tell the difference between normal operations and an imminent problem is to time the flash rate. I guess either way, if it's flashing keep driving until it stops.

Yeah, when I pointed out the similarities of the warning/indications and asked how to best differentiate the two the Toyota service guy just looked at me like I was from another planet. Nice and polite guy to be sure but not a lot of DPF knowledge. Note, he was the reception guy not the mechanic. I guess if it goes into limp mode you will know you’re in trouble.

[vxowner18]

The display stays up for the duration of the regen. Although if another system (like the cruise control) steals the display away, then you need to scroll through with you right thumb to bring it back to the front. I'd reset TripB at the end of the last regen, so got 330km between regens.

Can I ask what year and model your prado is? My central display is totally different to yours, I haven't seen that message on mine and I will ask my dealer to enable that function if possible.

Cheers,

[dBC]

Clearly, having driven over 1,300km with no DFP light flashing at any time, the “custom mode” is not working in my vehicle.

That almost sounds like a blessing if the only way to tell the difference between normal operations and an imminent problem is to time the flash rate. I guess either way, if it's flashing keep driving until it stops.

[Faulco]

I’m sorry John, I was being facetious about the passive regen. With “custom mode” activated the DPF malfunction indicator light (MIL) is supposed to flash at 0.5 second intervals during the regeneration process which can take up to 30 mins to complete. This indicates a normal process and no action is required. However if the DPF MIL is flashing at 1 secs intervals then you do have an impending problem and action is required. Note this applies to the GX and GXL models, higher spec models which have a more sophisticated display will show a message as per dBCs post above. Clearly, having driven over 1,300km with no DFP light flashing at any time, the “custom mode” is not working in my vehicle.

[dBC]

The display stays up for the duration of the regen. Although if another system (like the cruise control) steals the display away, then you need to scroll through with you right thumb to bring it back to the front. I'd reset TripB at the end of the last regen, so got 330km between regens.

[JohnLynn]

I was only offered a message to indicate that a regen had started, nothing at all about flashing lights! I have only had two regens since the update and I must have blinked both times as I haven't seen any message. The distance between is about 350 Kms and the distance to complete is around 16Kms, once on short trips the other on the freeway. As for passive mode mentioned above I have heard from a friend with a Fortuner that his DPF temperature did get high enough when towing to prevent any increase in soot but although I have towed I was on an 80 Km/hr road and the temperature only reached 430, he said this just isn't fast enough for it to happen.
There are still people reporting issues on the Prado Facebook pages, it seems to me that the only way to tell in advance of future problems is to monitor the DPF temperature, % soot etc but obviously I realise that this is not satisfactory for the majority of owners.
Edit: someone posted on FB asking what the flashing light was, he had several replies none helpful then he reposted that he had asked the dealer and they confirmed that the light should flash while a regen is happening. News to me !

[Faulco]

I’ve had the lastest ECU update done. I asked for the manual burn switch to be installed as I do some touring in remote areas and pointed out that this was the fourth time I had the vehicle back for DPF upgrades and/or white smoke issues. My request will be forwarded to head office but I was told that this will be up to Toyota to decide depending on the readings they got from my DPF etc. You can’t even buy the switch and pay to have installed yourself, the dealer doesn’t have them as they are a “ controlled item”. Wow must be special. I also had “custom mode” activated, this will cause the DPF light to flash during a regen. So far, having driven from Sydney to the Gold Coast and several hundred kms of touring around, it hasn’t flashed once. This must mean that the new ECU program is soo good that passive regen’s are now taking care of everything.....................

.................or “custom mode” is not working. ☹️

[RPP]

I didn't get any updates to my Owners Manual.
As near as I can tell the DPF light will flash quickly (every .5sec ????) whilst a regen is underway.

This indication will supplement my Scanguage, I figured seeing them correlate might be useful.

[vxowner18]

You have to ask for that function to be enabled, its a bit cryptic and could send many a lay person running to the dealer when they first see it in action. DPF % was at 0%.

Hi RPP,

Could you please tell me a bit more of this indicator light? Is it a flashing DPF attention light or something on central info display? I might get that enable too when next service due.

Thanks in advance.

[RPP]

Just got my 2018 Prado back from the Dealer with the ECU firmware update + the DPF burn indicator light enabled.
You have to ask for that function to be enabled, its a bit cryptic and could send many a lay person running to the dealer when they first see it in action.
DPF % was at 0%.
I asked for the manual DPF regen button, the suits were unusually amenable this time around.
They took my down rationale and will send a request to Mr. Toyota, saying that they have been getting many thru the system so far.

Standby for results after I've done a few regens.

[JohnLynn]

As promised results after the first regen since the upate:
363 Kms before a regen, no recalculation as far as I could tell, this is a surprise to me, it could have been missed? No passive regeneration either even when towing although DPF reached 430C but engine not under much load as 80 Km speed zone. Once 100% reached the DPF temp reached almost 600C and reduced to 56% in 8 Kms before I arrived home and interrupted the burn. Next trip was only a short journey starting with a cold engine, % rose to 58% before the regen restarted when the engine was up to normal temperature. 7Kms later I had reached my destination and the soot had reduced to 8%, the engine had stopped fast idle, (1200 rpm as it is manual) but the DPF temperature was still almost 600C so I left it at normal idle to see what happened. Before the update the exhaust temps would quickly fall at this point but they stayed high and the % continued to drop right down to 0%. The temperatures then began to fall back slowly and I got bored and switched the engine off. So to sum up 363 Kms between regens and a total of 15Km to complete the regen in suburb driving conditions.

[RPP]

Thanks Guys

Interesting regarding the DPF button only working when the light comes on. Thanks for that, I won't get all excited when requesting it.

Reassuringly, I have been on remote tracks in 4Lo and 4Hi grinding along @10-15-20-30Kms/ hour and had a few DPF burns complete in 6 & 8Kms.
I have also been on the highway @ 110Kms/hr and slowed to 80Kms/hr (not on a busy stretch) just to speed up the DPF burn. Instead of 70-100+Kms it would take maybe 50Kms to complete.

So I'm sold, slowing down speeds up the DPF regeneration process.

When I get the ECU update week after next I'll be interested to see what changes.

[Prone]

So far with 17,000km on the clock the ecu controlled burns seem to cope with the soot accumulation and extra burns have not been required. The annoying thing about the longer more frequent burns at high speed and load is the extra 1 to 2 litre per 100km fuel consumption for the duration of the burn. Fuel consumption that was looking good until the burn stated suddenly takes a turn for the worse.

Cheers
Prone

[vxowner18]

Regarding the manual burn button, not sure it will do anything unless the dpf attention required lamp is on. I have tried pushing it occasionally but it does not seem to initiate a burn.

I've tried the same thing, pressing or holding that button for 3 sec does not do anything, it has to be used with DPF attention lamp on. I now still prefer using Torque to force a burn off, as I can do it on a solo basis.

Cheers!

[Prone]

Hi Bing10,
I have logged all my DPF burns (more or less) for 25,000Kms to date. I have found that DPF burns take anywhere from 70Kms to over 100Kms at highway speeds (100-110Kms/hr). But at low speeds 10-20Kms/hr it can take just 6-8Kms.

Less is more.
I surmise that at high speeds the regen process can barely keep ahead of the sooting up process.
There may be a speed at which the regen process can't make any headway!

Hi RPP, vxowner18 and others

I think you are correct, high speed and high load seems to increase burn time.

I have a my18 update VX with DPF burn pushbutton. I monitor with a scangauge.

My last 6 burns were all around Hobart but included some engine stops and sustained speeds up to 100kph on the southern outlet. Distance between burns ranges from 270 to 320 km.
1. 24.5 km 2 stops
2. 27.3 km 2 stops
3. 14.0 km 0 stops
4. 35 0 km 2 stops
5. 20.0 km 0 stops
6. 18.6 km 1 stop to 0% rose to almost 690 Celsius near end.

DPF temps usually 540 to 650 during burn. Normally starts to burn at 50% and finishes at 3%.

When I stop in during a burn it takes some distance before temps, water and then dpf get hot enough to continue.

When towing a 1700kg campertrailer during last year's 13,000km trip it could take over 100km to finish a burn at 100kph. Also it seemed to be a regular 170km between burns. After a while I found that lowering speed during a burn would allow the DPF temp to rise and I assume finish the burn quicker. Sometimes I slowed to around 85kph if traffic conditions allowed.

Regarding the manual burn button, not sure it will do anything unless the dpf attention required lamp is on. I have tried pushing it occasionally but it does not seem to initiate a burn.

Cheers
Prone