If you can afford it best to get the DPF removed, EGR disbale and remap. Probably about £700, someone will confirm I'm sure....obviously just a remap will be cheaper but won't make any difference with the EGR. You should be good for about 180bhp, mpg will improve a little but the driveability will improve alot!!! Just mention you have had a remap when you take it in to be serviced so they know not to mess about with the ECU. There should be no problems with the emissions. I've not had any as yet and I have had about 6 cars remapped

Alfatune are a good bet as you are in the area

 

gus at alfatune in st helens is your man - give him a call 01744 25499 :thumbs:

 

Or these guys. Im looking at just a remap and EGR shut as im not convinced the MOT will change some time in the not too distant future regarding DPF's
Alfa Romeo 159 2.4 JTDm Remapping and DPF Removal by Angel Tuning

 

I have used Angel as a straight tuner before, no EGR/DPF change, just more power and better economy. Didn't have any trouble at all on the 159 1.9jtdm.

The 159 I have now has a remap via a company in Burnley called Autograph. Had a long chat with the main man there before I bought the car. He called it a mid range map, not too aggressive on the power or torque, but still 180bhp/390Nm.
He also said that he had altered the DPF regen process, making it much less intrusive. I have to say I haven't felt or sensed a remap in the 1000 miles I have driven the car so far.

Pros and cons to each solution.

 

I'm tempted to do this, just a remap however I'm in two minds about the EGR. But I'm definately not comfy with the idea of mulching the DPF.

 

I would defiantly recommend having dpf removal of you want a remap and do low mileage day to day... dpf struggles with regen around town as it is and gave up the ghost altogether with a remap... Hence my alfatune dpf removal and map, no problems since.

 

I don't do massive mileage every day, however I do, do a 300ish mile round trip once a month or at worst every two months and run down to the coast or up to the Ikea in Croydon every now and again so if my understanding of the basic function of the dpf is correct the dpf should behave itself as it'll passively burn off the accumulated 'soot' in the dpf on the long runs when the car is doing the national speed limit for a couple of hours and running at a high enough temp exhaust gas wise.

It's the EGR that worries me because that does seem like a complicated piece of rubbish.

 

My 2.4 has spent the last 7 months doing a 2 mile commute monday-friday, and normal runs on the weekends. Never had any DPF issues and it regens on the normal runs every so often. In the real world there isnt much point in removing the DPF in my opinion. Most issues are caused by the EGR valve, and if the DPF did block (and it is unlikely), all you have to do is drive for about 10 - 15 mins with high revs.

I know all the attempted arguments about 'faster turbo spool', 'less back pressure', 'less weight' but if your drive it hard enough to really notice a difference in DPF vs no DPF i will expect to watch you on F1 some time soon.

Yes, id have a remap. And yes id shut the EGR valve as that is where nearly all of the problems are from. But smash a hole in the DPF when it is a real possibility the MOT next year could start to check for it? Just to stop a regen here and there and have smoke out the back and dirty exhaust tips every week? Hmmm, im not sure.

Just my two pennies

 

I would go for an Angel remap with EGR delete, this would be one of the cheaper options and there are plenty of positive reviews both on here & the rest of the internet.

The DPF is up to you, they are a pile of poo and as you do a lot of short / slow journeys I personally would have the innards removed, that way it appears as though its still legit when it comes to MOT time.

 

As others have said, the DPF bit is up to you, just letting you know my experiences. BTW my DPF is completely intact, in a plastic bag in my garage...
Just a couple of points to note.
I'm fairly sure you won't get the best mpg if you don't disable it, it does use fuel to regen itself.
The DPF is a restriction in the exhaust so you won't get the best out of a remap with it in place.
As for smoke and soot, my car is exactly as dirty at the back as it was pre removal. Which is fairly dirty . The only time it smokes is when I really provoke it (hard). The rest of the time it is exactly the same.
The main reason I had it removed was to reduce the number of things that could go wrong, and guess what, it hasn't givien me any trouble at all (I have had to move it a couple of times to get to the lawn mower but that's about it).
As for the MOT, I've read the new regulations, yes, actually read them! and there's no mention whatsoever about DPF's let alone inspection of them. Catalytic converters, yes, DPF's no. My last emissions test was 50% of the strictest limits used for >08 Euro IV regulations.
Oh and obviously I can tell how much lighter the car is without it

Not trying to change anybodies opinion, just letting you know my experiences.

 

Ok thanks for that. I'm not too bothered about losing a few bhp off a remap due to the dpf. If the ECU has been remapped to provide extra torque and thus power it's already an improvement. As far as the DPF goes then the use of fuel is when the car is not at a high enough temp to 'passively' burn the soot off correct? In that case fuel is used to ignite the accumulated crud in the dpf so it's a secondary function when the primary function of a quick 10-20 mile blast up the motorway at continous speed (ie when a certain temperature in the exhaust system has been hit) hasn't been afforded to the car in a while.

 

As far as I understand it, the DPF system uses extra fuel injected whilst the exhaust valves are still open to heat up the exhaust system. It is not done "passively" at any time.
I could be wrong, but that was my understanding.

 

If you think about it the DPF is in the exhaust system trapping the particulate rubbish that the engine chucks out so the soot builds up rather than into the air, and lots high temp heat is needed to burn the stuff off. The car knows when it's getting clogged (in theory) due to the sensor so it should kick off a regen when a certain level is hit, ie using the fuel to get a higher temp in the exhaust gases to burn it off into ash (normal town driving isn't going to get it hot enough thus more time to clag up). However blatting down the motorway for several miles at speed is going to raise the temperature anyway ie the exhaust system will be bloody hot and the soot should burn off.

 

The dpf ad egr just clog your car up and both are expensive repairs waiting to happens...get them out the way before they bite you in the bum big time. Angel did mine - superb job

 

dpf's are just trouble waiting to happen. there are 2 routes to go down - some tuning companies smash the insides out of it and then put it back on. others (alfatune for example) remove it altogether and replace it with a straight through pipe, that way you get to take the dpf home intact. if ever vosa decide to make it compulsory to have one in place, simply have it fixed back on and it'll be back to full functionality

wherever you go, if they do anything to the dpf, make sure they know what they're doing so they can give you a map thattakes into account the dpf has gone. if you have the dpf removed/destroyed but the ecu thinks it's still there, you're in for trouble

 

if ever vosa decide to make it compulsory to have one in place, simply have it fixed back on and it'll be back to full functionality

For a price of re-fitting the filter and adjusting the map to include a regen cycle

 

Well without talking to a Fiat engine guy or some poor sod poring through the ECU code to figure out what it's doing we can't really know.

I did find this though which was quite interesting

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/pdfs/deer_2005/session5/2005_deer_johnson.pdf

Looking at the slide

Closed loop control of exhaust gas temperature ensures
reliable regeneration process also during transient

does suggest that you are correct.

Mind you it's clearly quite a labor intensive process for the ECU. You'd really want to be sure of the quality of the software engineer that went messing about with several bits of code in a DSP. Which based on all of those temp graphs must be in the ECU somewhere.

 

Mind you it's clearly quite a labor intensive process for the ECU. You'd really want to be sure of the quality of the software engineer that went messing about with several bits of code in a DSP. Which based on all of those temp graphs must be in the ECU somewhere.

and herein lies the rub. you might end up paying more at some places, but it's a price worth paying to benefit from the knowledge, expertise and countless hours of trial & testing performed by someone who really understands what they're doing

 

Guys, that's excellent advice. I'll have a wee chat to Gus at AlfaTune and see what my pennies can afford! Definitely want a remap and egr to be shut off. Will wait and see over the dpf!!! Thanks everyone once again!

 

i think the regen only happens if the conditions to do one are right. i remembered reading somewhere what the conditions need to be for a regen to happen. might have been on here. the filter is only there so people walking by don't have to breathe it in but filter is a rather crude process of removing soot by burning extra fuel.

 

It's not quite that simple and its actually in theory a really quite clever system, the particulate stuff is bad for your lungs, asthmatics especially unless we want to go back to smog filled London and attendent breathing problems.

I'm assuming that since something like 70% of new car purchases in Europe are diesel now the increased potential health risk from just the sheer larger number of the things kicking out these particulates is why the dpf is so common so now not so much one individual motor but hundreds and thousands of the things..

 

Dave - if AHM are too much to get the DPF removed try Angel as well

 

do angel do removal or smash the insides out? or both?

 

Both. I think its around another £60 for the pipe

 

help,i have a 159jtdm.2006,
i'm haveing a remap that will add about 40bhp,any advice,will it be faster,can i harm my car,with a remap do i have to do anything to the exhaust.tks.frank

 

with 40BHp it will clearly be faster, the 1.9 can struggle with the clutch (which unless new may new replacing) and gearbox. Most remapers will remove the DPF in the exhaust.

 

Hi all

By reading everyone's posts and the fact that MOT's now check for DPF's that have been factory fitted to the car, I'm guessing the general feel now is 1: A decent remap 2: EGR blanking

Giblets46, does this also refer to the 2.4?

Thanks all :thumbs:

 

....and DPF hollow through.