Grande Punto Multijet Engines... Do they have DPFs?

lordrobs · 18 Oct 2010 at 15:54

OK, we are in the market for a Grande Punto and whilst it looks most likely that we will be buying a 1.4 16v Petrol I wanted to keep the option of the 1.9 Multijet open.

One concern though is that during the week the car will only do 6 mile trips through traffic but will do a longer run most weekends. Do these have a DPF and will this usage be likely to cause problems?

hohum · 18 Oct 2010 at 16:50

I was under the impression all modern diesels used a particulate filter? Someone feel free to prove me wrong though. Either way, I'd have thought the petrol would be the better option in your situation.

lordrobs · 18 Oct 2010 at 18:20

hohum said:
I was under the impression all modern diesels used a particulate filter? Someone feel free to prove me wrong though. Either way, I'd have thought the petrol would be the better option in your situation.

The oldest cars that we are looking at are around 4 years old if that makes a difference.

I agree that the 1.4 petrol in 16v spec is more suited to our mileage on paper but I don't want to rule out the diesel. It is a cracking motor and the most powerful in the range at the price bracket we are considering.

mjt · 18 Oct 2010 at 19:38

Most probably, I think most manufacturers introduced them around 2004/5.

focus130 · 19 Oct 2010 at 07:05

I own a MJet Diesel and the answer is (helpfully) that some do and some don't. I am a member over at Fiatforum and some 07 cars have them and some 08 don't so I don't think you can tell just by the year. Only sure way is to check the vehicle you are interested in.

Pete19s · 19 Oct 2010 at 09:44

Is the Polo dead?

lordrobs · 19 Oct 2010 at 10:47

focus130 said:
I own a MJet Diesel and the answer is (helpfully) that some do and some don't. I am a member over at Fiatforum and some 07 cars have them and some 08 don't so I don't think you can tell just by the year. Only sure way is to check the vehicle you are interested in.

Ah ok, that was what I picked up from a google on the subject but I wasn't sure if there was more order to it than that! Thanks

Pete19s said:
Is the Polo dead?

Pretty much. Needs a new sump, suspension is pretty soggy, there are some interesting sounds on tight right handers, strange rumbly vibration under load at 2000 rpm which I think might be the big end bearing etc etc.

It has served her well for 8 years and owes us nothing so it seems like a good time to get Jane in something a bit nicer

We have two we are considering at the moment. A 57 plate in Norwich with just 8k on it which is mint but with no options. The other is out Stanstead way which is a 56 plate but every option ticked (about £2.5k of options which is rare on a car that retailed for less than £12k) which I'll have a look at this weekend if it is still available.

manic_man · 19 Oct 2010 at 10:50

my Megane has an FAP (yes i know...), and I mainly do small trips. Aside from occasionally seeing the "Regenerate Soot Filter" message which goes away after 20 or so minutes of even just idling, it hasn't caused me a problem yet.

As far as I am aware, their design has been massively improved since they were first introduced, so they no longer need you to be revving the engine highly etc. for them to be able to burn the carbon, they just do it more slowly.

Having said that.. should the system ever break down I believe Renault charge around £1k for a new one...

lordrobs · 19 Oct 2010 at 11:38

manic_man said:
my Megane has an FAP (yes i know...), and I mainly do small trips. Aside from occasionally seeing the "Regenerate Soot Filter" message which goes away after 20 or so minutes of even just idling, it hasn't caused me a problem yet.

As far as I am aware, their design has been massively improved since they were first introduced, so they no longer need you to be revving the engine highly etc. for them to be able to burn the carbon, they just do it more slowly.

Having said that.. should the system ever break down I believe Renault charge around £1k for a new one...

I assume that once the message comes on you shouldn't switch the engine off until it disappears? I can see that causing her huge problems as she tends to get to work about 2 minutes before she is due to start... and that is on a good day!

manic_man · 19 Oct 2010 at 13:33

Well tbh, I don't think that modern cars systems are that fragile, it must have been in the design clause that this might hapen.

Not to say it wouldn't be preferable for the cycle to complete, or that the Italians and French may get the design a bit wrong in places

but from my experience, when the message appears I just go about my daily life, the message keeps coming back and eventually I end up on a long enough run that it goes out by itself. Perhaps not best practice, but i'm not altering my daily plans so a little pot of soot can be burned off

From my perspective, they are great in that I no longer produce a cloud of smoke when I put my foot down, the system is so effective it passes as zero on the MOT smoke test (guy thought his machine was broken as it was the first FAP vehicle he had tested), however i'm sure one day it'll break down and cripple the car until a very costly repair has taken place.. I just hope I'm not the owner when that happens!

lordrobs · 19 Oct 2010 at 16:56

Ah ok. I have to admit that I have no idea how they work. It seems that they collect all the crap that would normally be pumped out of the exhaust... then when they are full they burn all the crap off and pump it out of the exhaust :confused:

I've been behind cars when they are doing a regenerative burn off (or at least that is what I assume they are doing) and the smoke they chuck out doesn't look healthy!

manic_man · 19 Oct 2010 at 17:17

What you typed is what they do, but there shouldn't be any extra visible exhaust emissions during a regeneration cycle, sure the carbon is still being released, it has to be, but afaik, they work by recycling a portion of the exhaust gasses in such a way that they are used to heat something which literally burns the carbon rather than it simply being emitted as in the more usual cloud of black soot you see coming from buses and non filtered diesel cars.

Clearly it must still enter the atmosphere, so it doesn't help in that respect, but (without knowing all of the details), it is better for it to be done like this than allow it to be pumped into the atmosphere in the form it is created from unclean burning of diesel fuel. Specifically, I imagine it leads to cleaner air and less of the black soot you get covering everything if you happen to live in a city...

The cars you have seen have just been idling for a while, don't have filters, and the driver has just booted it. Or perhaps they are massively over-fuelled (read: badly chipped/tuned...) . Nothing worse than a highly/badly tuned VAG diesel tbqh, the amount of smoke you see coming from cheaply chipped golf's etc. is astonishing.

having said all that, this is all knowledge based on my research of the FAP (*sigh*) system, Fiats DPF may be different!