dpf Loose wire near battery and check VSC, engine management but no driving problems,

[T33]

Hi ladies and gents,

I'm new to the forum here and bought a IS220D a few months ago. I must firstly thank everyone and website admin for the tons of information its been extremely helpful! However there is one thing (or two) that I've tried searching and haven't been able to locate a solution. 

Firstly theres a small wire with what looks like just a rubber gromit or something on the end, hanging loose next to my Battery. I've included a couple of pics of it. Its the one just the one hanging between the Battery and egr valve pipe. Any idea where that goes and more importantly if that could be a sensor triggering my second issue?

 

 

 

 

Secondly and more confusing is the check VSC and engine management light which comes on. Now I'm sure its to do with the DPF being clogged up as i've read on here but the car loses no power and doesnt go into limp mode etc. The VSC ofcourse is no longer active, but apart from this I feel nothing different. It happens when I've been driving the car for around about 40 miles or so i'd say. I first noticed it when I was keeping the revs quite low around 2000rpm in 6th gear.

I was aware of the DPF and egr valve issues with this car so I've previously added redex fuel line cleaner and always given it good powerful runs on the motorway when I can. I've taken it up and down the country and never had any issues and I thought it might have been because I try and force the DPF regen. Obvioiusly the local driving and low revs on the day it started could've been the trigger. Nevertheless this is where I get confused: I cleared the code (P2002 - DPF below threshold) and been driving it around local again with no issues. I could do as many miles as I like with no problems. But once its on the motorway again, 40 miles in the lights are back up. This has been repeated a few times and again no issues with driving. The mpg has dropped over time from around 30 to 28 over the course of a few months but thats it. 

I have just done an EGR clean, which was quite clogged up. I'm assuming/hoping it was trying to regen the dpf but due to the egr being clogged there was an issue with that. Or maybe because of it being clogged, the dpf has messed up? Nevertheless i'm taking it again on a motorway run tonight and hoping that its all sorted. Going to try and get it to regen if possible. Can anyone advise further? Thanks in advance.

P.S. The wire hanging loose near the Battery, could that be the trigger?

P.S.S. Any additives someone could recommend for forcing the dpf to clean as it must be in a bad shape...

[juicestop]

The loose wire is not the problem. It just needs putting back in its holder which is that bit of plastic sticking out from left of the Battery cover, but doing that just tidies the wire - it won't have any effect on the running of the car if you just leave it where it is.

[normski2]

1 hour ago, juicestop said:

The loose wire is not the problem. It just needs putting back in its holder which is that bit of plastic sticking out from left of the battery cover, but doing that just tidies the wire - it won't have any effect on the running of the car if you just leave it where it is.

Yep that looks like the heat sensor for the Battery.

It can trigger a warning I believe, but don't think it would be a VSC type more likely to be a "Battery Low" warning. But these things can work in funny ways ... so maybe it could trigger a VSC. Get it back in its rightful place and see if the VSC stops. I had a innocuous wire loose on my old 220d and that caused a VSC message to be displayed. Looked like a mechanic had possibly bashed it (and partly crushed the wire) against the engine body with the spinning of a socket handle. At least that was my best guess.

If you have a code each time with VSC for the DPF then that is your issue.

Wynn's and I think Millers make a dpf cleaner additive....Halfords or Eurocarparts should be able to oblige.

 

[T33]

Hi guys just an update to the post. 

So as I said, on the day of the post, I took the car on an approximate 160 mile round trip. A little while before I left home, I did a few miles where it was being kept between 1500 - 3000 rpm and then just before I hit the motorway, the fault code (p2002) kicked in again. This is the first time its happened on a local drive. 

I carried on to the motorway and 80 miles in stopped at my destination. I cleared the code and within an hour, was back on my return but this time, hardly used 6th gear. For the most part of the journey I was keeping it around 4000rpm to heat up the engine etc and then bringing it to around 2500 rpm to try and burn off the junk in the DPF. I repeated this process many times during the journey and the code didnt kick in whatsoever. Once I reached my destination, after a bit of local driving, the lights came back on. 

Now I've just done another 80 miles on the same trip, using the same method in 5th gear and the code has not kicked it at all as of yet. I'll probably use it on some local trips tomorrow and then back on the motorway the day after but i'm thinking I'll use 6th gear this time to see what happens. Or I could carry on using 5th, cos it might potentially be working it seems, although i have no idea why or how...maybe someone could explain?

[T33]

On 09/01/2017 at 8:33 AM, normski2 said:

Yep that looks like the heat sensor for the battery.

It can trigger a warning I believe, but don't think it would be a VSC type more likely to be a "Battery Low" warning. But these things can work in funny ways ... so maybe it could trigger a VSC. Get it back in its rightful place and see if the VSC stops. I had a innocuous wire loose on my old 220d and that caused a VSC message to be displayed. Looked like a mechanic had possibly bashed it (and partly crushed the wire) against the engine body with the spinning of a socket handle. At least that was my best guess.

If you have a code each time with VSC for the DPF then that is your issue.

Wynn's and I think Millers make a dpf cleaner additive....Halfords or Eurocarparts should be able to oblige.

 

Thanks for the help guys. I'll get that wire back in its place. 

@normski2

Any recommendations or particular ones that win over the others? I heard of some BG244, is that any good? Thanks :D

[T33]

Hi guys just an update. 

Firstly I've used a couple of recommended DPF cleaners so far (Wynns & Normfest) on about half a tank and gone along the motorway for about 70 miles. Flooring it 4th and 3rd and then bring it back down after 10 minutes at a time for a while. None of the DPF things solutions seem to have helped. I am going to try the BG244 for another trip soon. The car still drives as normal with no limp mode. Just the annoying lights!!

There is something else that I have picked up along the way. The code seems to kick in once I reach the last quarter of my fuel tank. This is something I'm going to confirm later by filling it up with the BG244 and a full tank on my next motorway run. 

The point is, the lights come on after a while of driving. I've been reading so many posts about the DPF code but nobody states anything similar or even close. I was going to change the fuel filter because the mileage is still slowly declining, but I heard its tough. I took a look at it and could see the bolts I need to take off. There were only 2 bolts on though and i'm sure theres meant to be 3...could this be a potential cause?

Apart from that could it potentially be anything else? Head gasket? Leak in the fuel line? But the code is for the DPF...2002. Any help appreciated. Thanks in advance. 

[Daniel1234]

Hi any updates, got identical problem with my is220?