2015 VRS TDI DPF replacement - OUCH!!!

[Lucas_R]

If your car has done 2x regens in 2 days then you may have something else playing up (overfuelling for example) which is causing the DPF to get clogged much more quickly than normal. Before you start removing the DPF id recommend some diagnostics on the car to make sure you haven't got......boost leaks which will cause overfuelling, and injector issue which will cause overfuelling, MAF sensor issue which could cause overfuelling etc etc.

Check all your hose clamps for the boost pipes and check the condition of the boost pipes in general as they can split as they get old.

The DPF always gets the blame for the issue, but in 95% of cases something else has failed and its the DPF that gets clogged up and then the finger is pointed at the DPF.

So what im trying to say is, don't rush to remove and clean the DPF withouth being certain that everything on the engine is working as intended.

[gadget007a]

in my case it turned out it was the turbo oil seals were gone, effectively dumping oil into the exhaust.

as for removal I had to
- remove battery and battery tray
- remove intake pipes (airfilter box, air flow meter etc)
- remove bracket holding the exhaust back pressure sensor)
- undo exhaust clamps from turbo outlet, dpf to egr cooler, and clamp from dpf to exhaust
- there's two bolt at the bottom drivers side of dpf to be removed
- two bolts (12 spline socket head (10mm i think) that hold the DPF to the block
- one bolt holding cat converter end of dpf to head
- remove egr cooler, disconnecting water hoses and small right angle bracket to block, electrical connector and hose to turbo inlet
- I removed temperature sensors in dpf so they wouldn't get caught
then supporting the engine and transmission on jacks I undid the engine mount, gearbox mount and dogbone mount.
slowly lowered the jacks and pulled the engine as far forward as I could I was able to get the DPF out through the top, the main obstacle is the mount that holds the DPF, if necessary you may find it easier to get that out, the DPF does lift out over the turbo if you can get it past the DPF mount bracket.
I don't know if the AWD setup will allow much movement of the engine and gearbox.

but basically I just removed anything connected to the DPF and dropped the engine down and forwards to get it out.