DPF and white smoke

[RPP Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 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.

[vxowner18 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 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 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 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.

[Faulco Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 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. ☹️

[JohnLynn Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 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 !

[dBC Member Find all posts View Profile Close 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.

[Faulco Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 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 Member Find all posts View Profile Close 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.

[vxowner18 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 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,

[Faulco Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 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.

[RPP Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close RPP]

Its just going to confirm what my Scanguage is telling me so I'm not not busting with joy about the new feature.

[dBC Member Find all posts View Profile Close dBC]

Can I ask what year and model your prado is?

Mine's a 2016 Kakadu. I see from your signature yours is a VX. All the guides I got with my letter seem to suggest the VX and Kakadu have the same multi-function display system.

[cuda Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close cuda]

2018 Prado has a slightly different MID display. I'll try take photo next time it happens.

BTW. Everyone who has posted on here regarding regen time. Please take into account time that it takes to burn not km's as of course if you are travelling at 100km/h and the burn takes say 10 mins then you would have travelled far more km's at 100km/h than say 60km/h. Too me it looks like the regen is similar for both speeds with respect to time. What I have notice with the new version the temp stays in the mid to high 500's for about 70% of the regen and then starts to increase to around the 700deg mark towards the end no matter what speed you are doing. Fingers crossed theyy have finally resolved the issue.

[Yellowdog Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Yellowdog]

Mine is an early-2018 GLX but I get the same "DPF regeneration in progress" message as on dBC's Kakadu (though the rest of the screen contents are different of course). I've never had any dpf light flashing to indicate regen. The "DPF regeneration in progress" message has started showing since the ECU update and switch install.

[bing10 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bing10]

hi. its been 650km since my ECU update. ive not detected the usual RPM increase to 950 as in the past, during a regen. Mine is a vx with the custom message enabled. so no message or warning light or RPM increase. i would have thought over the last 650 km i would have experienced at least 2 passive regens. For a post ECM update what RPM increase have others experienced? Just to confirm with others who have the function enabled, the "Regen in progress" message stays on for the entire burn i.e 20-30 mins
thanks.
Bing