[na33m]

Hi All,

I have been a proud owner of a RAV4 2015 model. A few days ago, I got an error message saying DRF Full, Engine Service Required, and at the same time I got also another warning "Check AWD System" and the light for "trac off" showed up at the same time. My thinking was that due to DPF being full, the car went into some sort of safe/limp mode... having said that I can still drive at 70 to 80 MPH so I don't know if I am correct on safe mode theory?

So far I took it to a garage who cleaned the dpf but all the lights are still there... now I have been told to drive the car for a few days and all the lights will go off automatically which sounds a bit silly but the garage asked me to take the car back to them on Thursday. I took it to an average garage thinking how hard cleaning dpf would be.

Can you shed some light on this as its driving me insane... I love my car but I do not want to drive it in case I make it worse... I have attached

 

[Dr. Dyno]

DPF?

 

[Uncle Rico]

DPF = Diesel Particulate Filter.

 

[Dr. Dyno]

With most members being in N. America we know nothing about Diesels.

 

[Bigphil555]

The trac lights etc are on because of the DPF warning - they will go off once it is cleared.

If the garage cleaned it properly, it should clear pretty quickly - give it a try. Go back to them if it is not, but do not take any BS from them - if they start talking about new DPFs etc, walk away and get your original money back

 

[meeder]

Do you drive a lot of shorter distances? If so try to get the exhaust really hot by driving a long distance at highway speeds. This might clear up the DPF.
If it fails you can try to get it cleaned but the results may vary. If cleaning doesn't work you don't have much choice other than replacing the filter.

Another thing to check is if the pressure sensors are both working properly. The message is triggered by a pressure difference over the filter, if one of the sensor isn't reading properly you could get this message as well.

 

[na33m]

The trac lights etc are on because of the DPF warning - they will go off once it is cleared.

If the garage cleaned it properly, it should clear pretty quickly - give it a try. Go back to them if it is not, but do not take any BS from them - if they start talking about new DPF's etc, walk away and get your original money back

Thank you Phil, This is highly appreciated... I am wondering if I should be driving as instructed by my garage. is it safe to drive while DPF is full, I have not driven it yet as I think it might damage the DPF. I am due to take the car back to the garage on Thursday.

I do appreciate the advice. I was actually more worried about Trac being off etc...

 

[na33m]

Do you drive a lot of shorter distances? If so try to get the exhaust really hot by driving a long distance at highway speeds. This might clear up the DPF.

I do drive a lot of shorter distances. Having said that, after getting it cleaned, i took it out for long drive which didnt clear the DPF.

Another thing to check is if the pressure sensors are both working properly. The message is triggered by a pressure difference over the filter, if one of the sensors isn't reading properly you could get this message as well.

How do I check the pressure sensor? and to be honest I don't even know what they look like...

Thank you for replying back.

 

[Bigphil555]

If they have done as they said, drive it on a motorway to help it regenerate/clear - then see what they say on Thursday

 

[RichardC69]

I have just had the exact same set of warning lights simultaneously appear on my 2013 RAV4 with 77000 miles on the clock. Have your warning lights cleared yet? If so what did you do to get them cleared please?

 

[SLS Artemis]

You have to drive it a long, long ways to get it to clear. I know this because a friend just had this issue on another make and model of car. He took it to somebody and he had to drive it like 400 miles to get it to clear. Like keep driving it. Not 100 miles here and a 100 miles there. On my truck I have the ability to force it to regen. It gets so hot that it can melt things near the exhaust. Your siding on your house for example.

There are cleaners available to aid in cleaning too. Video is an example.

 

[na33m]

I have just had the exact same set of warning lights simultaneously appear on my 2013 RAV4 with 77000 miles on the clock. Have your warning lights cleared yet? If so what did you do to get them cleared please?

Hi Richard,

first of all, Sorry for the late reply.

I spent so much time on this and spoke to many mechanics about that. they were all after to get the money while knowing very little about this dpf issue.
I paid two different people to clean the dpf which didnt help. they both said, i need to take it for a long drive which i did and it didn't help at all.

Solution:

Unplug the battery for 15mins and plug it back in which will clear those messages and after that you will be left with one error "Dpf Full, See the manual (or along those lines) once you see this error message that's when you need to take it for a long drive.

Hopefully, that makes sense. if not, please let me know and ill go into more detail.

 

[na33m]

I have just had the exact same set of warning lights simultaneously appear on my 2013 RAV4 with 77000 miles on the clock. Have your warning lights cleared yet? If so what did you do to get them cleared please?

How did you get on, issue resolved?