Vauxhall Insignia DPF Removal
If your Vauxhall Insignia DPF is blocked or causing problems, this guide explains why it happens and what your options are, so that you can make the right choice for how the car is used.
For more information on DPF’s (Diesel Particulate Filters), how they work and our services.. check out our in-depth article on What Is A DPF.
The Vauxhall Insignia when released, came into the UK market at a high price and although we believe it was over priced, it did sell very well. In fact, more than 30,000 Vauxhall Insignia’s were sold to fleets in just 18 months of being launched. It is a very well designed and practical car with plenty of engine power from the 2.0CDTi and spacious enough to be used for taxi’s as well – they are also very fuel efficient.
We’ve done our research on this car because it’s one we were a bit particular about. We liked it a lot and couldn’t really find much else wrong with it. After doing our research, we found there aren’t any major common faults to worry about with this car – other than the obvious Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF).
Vauxhall Insignia Blocked DPF
Unfortunately there is the one major fault as with almost all modern diesel cars now days and that’s the issues with Blocked DPF’s (Diesel Particulate Filters). The Vauxhall Insignia DPF system is no different and is prone to getting blocked up which can of course lead to other problems in the future.
When the Vauxhall Insignia DPF gets blocked, the excess back pressure makes its’ way back to the turbocharger and can cause “backspin” which will damage the turbo charger unit. Once the seals on the turbocharger fail, the unit will begin leaking oil into the inlet which will then also coat the EGR valve system in oil. The back pressure can make it’s way back up to the engine and cause some real major issues when the crank case over pressurises. We’ve seen it all:
- Blown / Leaking Turbocharger
- Injector Seals
- Seized Engine
- Over Pressurised Crank Case
- Carbon Backup
- Damaged EGT Sensors (Exhaust Gas Temperature Sensors)
The longer you leave the DPF unit blocked on your Vauxhall Insignia, the worse things become and the more damage the back pressure can do.
Vauxhall Insignia Blocked DPF Solutions
If your Vauxhall Insignia DPF is blocked, there are three routes. For a car used on the road, a professional DPF clean is the road-legal fix: it clears the soot and ash the filter can no longer burn off by itself. A forced regeneration on its own rarely lasts once the filter is blocked beyond the point where it can regenerate naturally, because whatever blocked it is still there, so we do not offer it as a standalone service. Short journeys are the usual cause, so a change in driving pattern helps the filter stay clear.
You can fit a replacement filter to the vehicle and this will cure the problem but we only recommend new genuine parts, not second-hand used parts and not copy / aftermarket parts. They will not be manufactured to the same standards, regardless of whether or not they say OEM specification, they will not last as long as a genuine part.
The third route is removal, which is for off-road and motorsport vehicles only (the legal position is set out below). On a vehicle that is not used on the road, having the DPF system professionally removed ends the blocking problem for good, because the filter is no longer there to block.
Vauxhall Insignia DPF Removals
We offer a bespoke and completely custom 4-stage DPF removal session for all Vauxhall Insignia customers. This will consist of both the calibration of the vehicle electronics system to de-activate the DPF electronically and also remove the entire DPF physically from the vehicle as well. This will ensure no more fault codes, no more warning lights, no more loss of power and no more problems.
- Delete fault codes & reset ECU (Turn off Engine/DPF light)
- Physical removal of DPF filter (Removing the blocked DPF completely & permanently)
- Custom Sinspeed DPF Removal software – bespoke to your vehicle
- Smoke-Correction service – Unique to Sinspeed DPF Removals
When remapping the Vauxhall Insignia DPF out of the ECU, we do things manually – not with automated softwares. We will download the data from your Vauxhall Insignia Bosch ECU and manually scan through the 1000′s of data strings to remove & modify all DPF related data strings. Some of the data strings for the DPF system will be interlinked with other sensors such as EGT sensors (Exhaust Gas Temperature Sensors), EGR Valve (Exhaust Gas Recirculation), Lambda/o2/Oxygen Sensor and so on. Automated softwares will attempt to delete all data strings and by doing so, will delete partial sensor related data strings as well causing data corruption which may not always be apparent immediately after having the DPF removed. In fact, you may not realise there are problems for up to 250 miles until the ECU stores a permanent fault code and shuts down in to SAFE MODE (Limp Home Mode).
Every DPF removal we carry out includes a lifetime software warranty and our Smoke-Correction Service. To find out more about our smoke-correction service, please check out our smoke-correction article.
Removing the DPF will not cause your vehicle to smoke excessively — that is what the Smoke-Correction stage is for. It will not bring up any error messages and the car will not go into LIMP mode. Also, you will never experience any Regeneration messages where the ECU normally attempts to clean the DPF – this is because the DPF is no longer existing.
Finally, you will experience an overall increase in performance, smoothing out any flat spots and safeguard the life of both your engine & turbocharger.
Will DPF Removal Cause Me To Fail An MOT?
Removing the DPF is offered for off-road and motorsport use only. On a vehicle used on the road it is an MOT failure: the DVSA MOT inspection manual records emission control equipment that is missing, obviously modified or obviously defective as a Major defect (section 8.2.2.1) and names diesel particulate filters explicitly, and evidence that a DPF has been tampered with is a Major defect in its own right. This has been the case since February 2014 and applies to vehicles first used on or after 1 September 2002. Using a car on the road without its DPF can bring a fine of up to £1,000, or £2,500 for a light goods vehicle. Separately, the Road Vehicles (Construction & Use) Regulations 1986 make it an offence to use a vehicle on the road with its emissions equipment removed or rendered inoperative. If your Insignia is road-used and the filter is blocked, our DPF cleaning service is the road-legal fix.
To get started, send us your unit through our repair form, or contact us if you are not sure which part has failed.