Car aficionados, think you know everything there is under the sun about cars, their maintenance and the most cost effective ways to prolong your car’s life span? Do you know what would happen if the filter on your car would stop working or become defective? Do you know why it’s essential to sometimes drive your car at a higher speed on urban roads, even if you might usually drive at lower speeds? Do you know why you should never ignore the blinking light on your dashboard that says you should drive your car at over 40 miles per hour? It all relates to DPF cleaning, a process that all Diesel-fuelled car owners should be informed on.

 Defining DPF Cleaning

All diesel engines accumulate diesel particulate matter and soot in the gas exhaust pipe. If left unattended for too long, the DPF filter will eventually clog and cease to work altogether. Basically put, take care of the maintenance or foot the bill by purchasing a whole new DPF filter. Some filters can remove at least 85% of the accumulated soot, while, under certain conditions, they will work with 100% efficiency. Find some of the more common types of such filters listed below.

Cordierite Wall Flow Filters

This is the most common type of filter with which Diesel fuelled cars are equipped. They are made of a ceramic-like material, which is very efficient when it comes to filtering and keeping our unwanted substances. On the downside, this common material tends to melt at the rather low point of only 1300 degrees Celsius. There have been several recorded cases in which filters that had become overloaded simply melted away during the regeneration process.

Silicon Carbide Wall Flow Filters

SiC, or silicon carbide, melts at a higher temperature than cordierite, specifically at 2700 degrees Celsisus. Silicon carbide wall flow filters are the second most common type employed. They, too, however, have their fair share of issues, among which the most unnerving is the fact that they are not too thermally stable. As such, they come in two variants: smaller filters, made of a single piece, and lager ones, made out of segments separated with the aid of a special cement, that keeps the core’s expansion process away from the packaging shell. This type of filter is usually more expensive than the cordierite one.

There are several other types of filters employed, among which the most common are ceramic fibre filters, disposable paper filters and partial filters, which are only used in specialized environments, such as coal mines. There have been several safety issues associated with filters over the years, the most commonly known of which involves automaker Ford and their F-Series trucks, 37,000 of which got recalled. Their DPF filters  had caused fuel and oil leaks, which in turn led to a highly publicized series of fires in 2011. There were no human injuries, yet the incident brought attention back to this piece of technology which is concealed from plain sight, yet is ever-so pivotal for a driver’s safety and the well-being of their vehicle.