How to clean a DPF

In this video I'll show you the easiest and one of the most effective ways to clean your DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter). Air cleaning will remove some of the built up Ash only. This method will remove nearly all of the Ash, Soot and even other contaminants that may have gotten in there.

Detroit Diesel, Cummins, International, Caterpillar, etc. It doesn't matter. It will even work on light duty applications.

Hi Folks. Today I want to show you a cheap, easy and effective way to clean a Diesel Particulate Filter, or "DPF".
Now in this example I'm using a heavy duty Diesel Particulate Filter out of DD15. A Detroit Engine. Now here you see one of the DPFs. This particular engine used two DPFs working together in what they call a "1Box". The number of filters used or shape or size and anything like that doesn't really matter. The overall purpose of the filter is the same. It's there to trap and collect Soot from the Engine. Now we won't go into how to regenerate these filters or how they work that way, that's for another video. This is just about cleaning them when they've reached the end of their service life. When they're filled with Ash.
Now most manufacturers are going to recommend that you replace these filters. They're going to have exchange programs set up where you give them your dirty filter and they'll give you a previously cleaned filter that they've cleaned themselves. This usually costs a lot of money. Some manufacturers have authorized cleaning procedures that can be done at your local shop for example. Air cleaners are typically what's used. We've found that Air cleaning is not very effective. A lot of manufacturers are not getting away from that. They're not recommending it, they don't endorse it. Air cleaning leaves a large percentage of the filter plugged. You're not getting full flow through it after it's cleaned. Manufacturers are now starting to go to a liquid cleaning process. It's a little fancier than what I'm going to show you here but it's also a lot more expensive. What I'm going to show you now is very effective. We've had great luck with it.
And it really couldn't be simpler. We're just going to pressure wash the filters out. This method looks pretty crude and you wont find it in any manual from any engine manufacturer but it works! We've ran this by some of the head trainers from people like Cummins and Detroit and they wont go on record to tell you this but they'll give you a nod when you tell them that you're doing it.
You want to make sure not to use any chemicals or cleaning solutions of any kind. Just straight water. Heated water preferably. You also want to spray in the opposite direction of the exhaust flow to push the soot and ash back out the way it came. If you're using high pressure don't get too close to the cell walls. You don't want to damage the substrate or knock out some of the plugs at the end of the cells. You'll be able to see the soot and ash coming out the back side of the filter as you spray it. Just continue to spray until the water coming out of it looks relatively clean. Be sure to get the entire face area of the filter. The outside edges can hold a lot too. This method is also very effective at getting contaminants out of the filters. If, for example, you've had a ruptured EGR cooler and you've had coolant enter the system, you can wash it out. I have access to an air cleaning machine but it's to the point now where it rarely gets used. This is usually the preferred method.

[hookahb]

Thanks for the video...I went ahead and did this...First i boiled lots of water, i put the filters in seperate containers big enough to hold each..Then i poured the rolling boiling water in, and sumerged both..Then after about 20 min i grabbed each filter and lifted them up and back down, swishing the water thru them..This got tons out of the filters..Next i pulled them out after about 45 min...Let them cool a little, and powerwashed them like you did..I did that for about 30 min, being careful to not go to hard and damage them.I then reboiled water and repeated this process the same way, and powerwashed again afterwards..They came super clean, i was very happy with the results .I then put them in the sun to dry..The next day they were reinstalled, and everything is perfect..I driven about 10, 000 miles since then, and life is good, no problems..

[bruceli]

My dealer wanted $17k for a new DPF replacement.
I decided to clean it myself for $20.
Haven't had a problems thus far.

[johnfunk]

I am a retired CAT field service technician and i was doing this for years. Especially when customers wanted to save money and had the time to spend . Rather then be in a rush and use reman or new parts and Cat ET has provisions for telling the ecm you field cleaned the filters. That’s essentially what this is.

[fordpowerstroke]

We just did this to our 2012 peterbilt with the mx 13 paccar engine and this worked amazing! We kept getting egr delta pressure codes and power derates poor fuel mileage and regens all the time. We washed out the dpf filter and haven't had a problem since, our fuel mileage increased from 5 to 9 mpg! That's almost double of what we were getting. Thanks for this amazing video and information! It helped us alot! Subscribed!

[GIGABACHI]

pretty much what EVERYONE has been thinking but were too afraid to try because these darn things are SO EXPENSIVE.
Thanks a lot for the backing it up with field tests and FACTS.

[JimBushJaxFL]

Dude, You are the Bomb. Thank you so much for clarifying this. I just did what you said and used my hot-water pressure-washer with a wide-angle tip and cranked back the pressure a bit [it is a 3500psi] to below 2500 or so and started cleaning very carefully. Dam if the whole cap popped right off and a ton of soot can out [They do a lot of short trips around town]. Did a quick Borescope and found no visible evidence of damage. Bought 2 gaskets and reinstalled the sensors. This is the fix.
Again thank you so much and my customer loves ya.

[nboca]

yup, thank you for the done this 2 times already to my 2013 Volvo d13...
works perfectly, just used high pressure clear water, no soap or any additives, and rinsed the dog in the opposite way of the exhaust flow...
let dry overnight, reset the dog service meter w a laptop, and good for 2 yrs and close to 500k km' each time I have done this...
only real cost each time are the gaskets and v-band clamps that need to be replaced...
cannot thank you enough for the video and the idea, saves a lot of money and time....

[JBFromOZ]

I've recently had a DPF issue on my Mini Countryman, and ended up cutting my filter open, performing a high temperature pyrolytic clean (in our self-cleaning oven no less...) and then pressure wash in the reverse direction as you have shown here.
By using the high temperature process first, it made sure all of the unburnt fuel in the filter was already turned to ash, (without chemicals) and making it much easier for the pressure washer to clean the remaining particles clean. thanks for sharing

[AlvjaDahat]

I maintain a fleet of 22 trucks and this is excactly what I do to all of them . Before installing it back we blow the water off with compressed air and replace gaskets and clamps with new ones . Been at this company for 5 years and had no problems due to liquid cleaning .

[chadeskelson]

Simple green and your method is best... Simple green is nontoxic and safe but does an excellent job of breaking down the carbons without hurting the filter system...

[delroyleroy]

I just want to take the time to thank you I used your method to clean my DPF filter I also change a few senses I did exactly what you prescribed in your video and it is unbelievable how everything turned out my miles per gallon are back up and it cost me less than $400 and I did it right in my own yard before I clean the DPF filter and change 3 senses I was down to four point to miles per gallon when I really noticed I was having a problem my truck wouldn't go over 45 mph I used the ugly plug to get it home I used two days to do this because I wanted to make sure I was doing it right but it can be done in one day my MPG 10.7

[davidfs.]

Yes it does worked.done this past wknd, with some Awesome. Cleaner from Dollar General..

[ArkansasInfidel]

I have a dd15 and will be doing this next week. I have new clamps and I have a pressure washer too. When I got my truck used (2018) Cascadia itd average 7.7 to 8.1mpg/a week. Now im lucky to stay at 7mpg. Im just under 400k miles. I hope my mpg's and power improves. Regardless this video alone will save me several hundred on the dpf service.

[nishevljanin]

Hi Dieseler
Just to let you know that your Chanel is the first what I subscribed
Number One reason is your clear and understandable language
Second one is your simple and helpful videos
By the way I am diesel mechanic for decades so yours videos on YT are ones of the best what I’ve seen
Good luck in the future

[tanako]

He is correct wash opposite and using warm water!!! I been doing this for 4 years

[MikeTrieu]

Huh, this is the second video I've seen recommending pressure washing. Good guidance about not doing it too close to the channels to prevent over-pressure and damage to the cells.

[LimousineIndianapol]

I watched your video on how to clean a DPF filter with water and made the decision to try it for myself. Never done it before didn't even know what a DPF filter was until a week ago and found another video and how to break it down so that I can clean it and worked out great trucks driving nice and it was extremely dirty I learned a lot from the process appreciate you putting the video out there telling people that there is an alternate way to take care of this problem other than spending one two three thousand dollars so thank you for doing that I'm going to add my own video link to yours and appreciate it.

[junioranderson]

Thank you very much for this information. As a new with my own authority I have to be on a tight budget and my DPF needs to be cleaned.

[evodriver]

Used to do this on my truck never had a problem

[chrishaynes]

That's the same way we do it. Works good. Got us another year out of a dd15