“With Active Regeneration There’s No Need For An Additive”
The possibility of the DPF becoming over-loaded with soot is something vehicle manufacturers are aware of. One of the methods commonly used to avoid DPF blocking is ‘Active Regeneration’. This involves kick-starting DPF Regeneration by squirting fuel directly onto the DPF (either on the exhaust stroke of the engine or through a dedicated fuel injector fitted in the exhaust system). The extra diesel effectively acts as ‘lighter fluid’ to ignite the trapped soot and burn it away. The system runs automatically when the vehicle ECU detects soot build up in the DPF.
Some people with such a system may think they would have no need of a DPF cleaning additive. After all, the vehicle sorts itself out. However, if the DPF has to actively regenerate very regularly – for example in slow speed urban driving – this will negatively impact on the fuel consumption. The driver may notice a considerable drop in mpg; as each time the DPF actively regenerates, another dose of fuel is effectively wasted.
Additionally, on some systems where the fuel is injected on the exhaust stroke of the engine, a small but significant amount of fuel may mix into the engine oil. Over time this leads to dilution of the engine oil which has a negative impact on the running of the engine and may mean changing the oil more frequently.
All of which means that some vehicles with active regeneration systems may well benefit from the use of a DPF cleaning additive, or FBC. The additional cost of the additive may be compensated for by the improved mpg achieved due to fewer regenerations needing to occur – less wasted fuel. There is also the potential of increasing the service life of the engine oil (reducing oil changing interval).