2013 Vauxhall Astra CDTi Diesel - Cost to remove and clean DPF unit

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Mon 17 Feb 2025 19:45
2013 Vauxhall Astra CDTi Diesel - Cost to remove and clean DPF unit - Richard_R

I've been quoted £300-400 to remove the DPF from my Vauxhall Astra CDTi, clean it on a "proper" cleaning rig, reattach it and then run the diagnostics.

Does this seem expensive? It's a garage that I trust in terms of workmanship, they've always done a good job but they aren't exactly the cheapest place. For the DPF I've seen other places advertising a similar service "from £99" but whether this is actually true or not I don't know.

Does anyone know what it would normally cost and is £300-400 excessive?

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Mon 17 Feb 2025 20:40
2013 Vauxhall Astra CDTi Diesel - Cost to remove and clean DPF unit - elekie&a/c doctor
Doesn’t sound a bad price , but usually dpf gets blocked due to other issues with the emission systems. Also a dpf has a finite lifecycle, if it’s the original, it may not be cleanable.
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Tue 18 Feb 2025 08:37
2013 Vauxhall Astra CDTi Diesel - Cost to remove and clean DPF unit - pd

If it includes removal and diagnostics it's possibly not too bad.

What's actually wrong with the car though? DPFs rarely go wrong, they are a symptom of a fault elsewhere.

The most common thing on an Astra 2.0 is a split boost pipe which will throw the car into a limp mode and bring up a message about a blocked DPF. Usually once you replace the pipe it regenerates on its own.

There is no point in cleaning it unless you have fixed the fault.

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Tue 18 Feb 2025 09:33
2013 Vauxhall Astra CDTi Diesel - Cost to remove and clean DPF unit - craig-pd130

There's a very quick and simple test that's worth doing before you do anything else.

Wipe your finger around the inside of the exhaust tailpipe. Does your finger get liberally covered in black soot? If yes, the DPF matrix is broken and needs replacing with a new unit.

If your finger just gets grey/brown deposits on it, the DPF matrix is OK. As others have said, a DPF will only need a clean if it isn't being regenerated. Has your garage looked at live data from the ECU with the engine running, e.g. DPF temperature, pressure etc? It's this data that shows if there's a problem, and points to what the problem could be (leaks in the intake / exhaust, failed sensors etc).

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Tue 18 Feb 2025 15:13
2013 Vauxhall Astra CDTi Diesel - Cost to remove and clean DPF unit - SLO76
Waste of money, cleaning a DPF never works longterm in my experience. Both bus firms I’ve worked for tried this and it’s never worked. It’s a 12yr old motor, a new DPF will be needed, and possibly there’s another fault causing contamination. Older DPF equipped diesels are a liability.
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