Ford Focus (Mk2 / Mk3)DPF Cleaning & Common Problems
Off-car cleaning for the Ford Focus (Mk2 / Mk3) — inspected, deep-cleaned, flow-tested and returned with the before/after data. Trade and public welcome.
Service summary
- Engines covered
- DV6 1.6 TDCi
- Emissions stage
- Euro 4 / Euro 5
- DPF type
- Wall-flow DPF; early cars use the Eolys fuel-additive system
- Typical price
- from £130 trade · from £220 retail
- Turnaround
- Same day local drop-off · 48hr courier
- Get it to us
- Drop off at N18, courier, or collection
Diagnose first
Cleanable in many cases, but this family needs assessment before we commit — send details first.
Check your exact vehicle
The Focuswas built with more than one engine and emissions setup. Enter your registration and we'll confirm the exact unit before anything is quoted.
Vehicle data from the DVSA MOT history service. We confirm the exact unit on inspection. Privacy
What we see on the Ford Focus (Mk2 / Mk3)
Worth knowing about this model
- →Early (Eolys additive) and later coated-DPF cars behave differently — the additive tank level matters on early cars.
- →The same DV6 engine appears in Peugeot, Citroën, Mazda and Volvo models with the same patterns.
What commonly goes wrong on this engine
- ·The DV6's oil-feed pipes and pickup gauze carbon up, starving the turbo — failing turbos then pump oil into the exhaust and soak the DPF, which is why so many DV6 DPFs arrive oil-contaminated.
- ·On pre-2011 cars the Eolys additive tank running empty stops effective regeneration; the filter then loads to failure with no engine fault present.
- ·Cerium additive ash accumulates permanently on FAP-system filters — cleaning must remove additive ash, not just soot, to restore capacity.
Faults that look like a blocked DPF but aren't
- ·A failing turbo losing boost reads as limp mode before the DPF is actually full
Check these before removing the filter
- ·Check turbo condition and oil-feed pipe before attributing the fault to the DPF
- ·On pre-2011 cars, check the Eolys additive level and dosing history
When cleaning won't fix it
- ·Oil-soaked core where the turbo/oil-feed fault has not yet been fixed
- ·Cracked or melted core
General diesel causes (shared across engines)
- ·EGR valve sticking
- ·Short-journey use preventing regeneration
- ·Differential-pressure sensor faults
Mistakes we see garages make
- ·Replacing the DPF on a DV6 without checking the turbo oil-feed pipe — carbon-blocked oil feeds kill the replacement turbo and re-contaminate the new filter.
- ·Ignoring an empty Eolys additive tank, after which regenerations quietly stop working.
Test evidence
Every unit is flow- and pressure-tested before and after cleaning. You get the readings, photo evidence and a completion certificate with the unit — proof for you and your customer, not marketing numbers.