Mitsubishi Lancer 2011 - Need help with DPF removal problem | Technical matters | Back Room Forum

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Tue 15 Sep 2020 19:20

Mitsubishi Lancer 2011 - Need help with DPF removal problem - Scott Davison

Hi all!

I need some explanation and advice regarding my Mitsubishi Lancer. I'm not much of a car guy so some basic dumbing down of whats happening would be appreciated!

I bought my Lancer last year, long story short it was poorly remapped, had a dpf and egr delete however the physical components were not removed. After i discovered this following some turbo problems (believed to be the result of the strong map put on causing it to overwork) resulting in the car going in and out of limp mode. i took the independent dealer to court but eventually lost the case due to some fabricated evidence he presented.

So currently stuck with the car and need to make it right. I was told by a garage that t he turbo had blown a d would need replacing, however a second opinion and the lack of smoke informed me that this wasn't the case, but that a proper map would solve the issue.

I contacted a remap company and asked if they could revert or put on a more sensible map, however the engineer was not optimistic that it would solve my problems. He threw some terms in i didnt understand, such as regeneration, and that having the physical components still attached was dangerous, and that turning the dpf on in the map wouldn't necessarily make the dpf work, that the physical dpf may still need to be removed before remapping, fire hazards etc.

I wondered if anyone can make sense and explain to me what the problems would be in getting this car back to normal from its current state (turbo-based limp mode, egr and dpf deletes without physical removal, powerful map currently on causing problems, in and out of limp mode, engine misfires and turbo boost failures logged in fault codes).

Many thanks in advance! Cars, amirite?

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Tue 15 Sep 2020 23:11

Mitsubishi Lancer 2011 - Need help with DPF removal problem - Big John

The DPF delete/remap was probably done when a previous owner was having problems.

Usually the DPF outer case has been cut open the innards removed and then welded back up to disguise the sin from an MOT tester. The remap is then required to stop error codes, who knows what is in the map though! If it is possible to restore an original mapping (where would you get that from?) you would have problems as active regeneration involves injecting diesel on the exhaust stroke to trigger regeneration in the DPF -but if the DPF isn't really there then this will cause all sorts of issues including a fire risk! The way forward is to replace all the components involved as well as the undoing of the remap (if even possible). This could involve EGR, DPF, exhaust, multiple sensors etc and still may not work correctly.

As well as the current running issues the car will not pass an MOT now and is illegal to use as it has emissions components removed.

I’m afraid the potential risky repair will cost more than the car is worth.

Sadly there are going to be a lot of diesel cars of a certain age out there with this issue as DPF removals were common a few years ago.

Edited by Big John on 15/09/2020 at 23:17

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Tue 15 Sep 2020 23:35

Mitsubishi Lancer 2011 - Need help with DPF removal problem - gordonbennet

I would think it's going to be almost impossible to get the original map put back on the car, and as Big John notes the chances are the DPF and EGR have been removed/disguised and even you spent out the costs involved on replacing all that lot there's no guarantee the rest of the injection system is intact.

A blown turbo does not always lead to a battlecruiser-like smoke laying, once its gone into limp mode it will have cut the fuel back.

About the only way i see out of this is to let a Diesel workshop (if they will play ball, they may not) inspect to see if the DPF is in fact intact, then find out why it's going into limp mode, it might be the case the injectors are past their best, it could be one or several other things.

Of course the legalities are another issue.

Edited by gordonbennet on 15/09/2020 at 23:38

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Wed 16 Sep 2020 18:26

Mitsubishi Lancer 2011 - Need help with DPF removal problem - Scott Davison

Thanks guys for your answers! I'm going to get the dpf inspected. At first glance there didn't seem to be any welding or signs of removal but will get this checked. What happens if the DPF is intact but just removed from the map, does this make things any better? Only ask because the EGR was untouched but not present in the map.

Edited by Scott Davison on 16/09/2020 at 18:26

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Wed 16 Sep 2020 18:51

Mitsubishi Lancer 2011 - Need help with DPF removal problem - gordonbennet

If the DPF is intact but removed from the map, especially if the car has been mapped for more power, increased fuel inevitably increased soot, then the DPF will block up in even shorter order and there's no program running to clear it.

The EGR might be doing nothing, maybe there's a blanking plate in the pipework, these are used sometimes but sometimes they need a small hole drilling through or the MiL gets triggered...but this is mainly when EGR's are not programmed out but people blank them off in order to stop the high amount of carbon that invariably builds up on the things.

Edited by gordonbennet on 16/09/2020 at 18:51

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