This 2004 – 2010 Toyota Dyna (also known as Hino Dutro) is very notorious for Diesel Particle Filter (DPF) problems. Japanese & European emission laws have ensured that this utility truck comes fitted with a system that filters the exhaust air to limit the amount of diesel soot that enters the atmosphere. Unfortunately, owners of these trucks are left to be the ones to pay for the heavy costs that come with the emission system maintenance. The situation is particularly worse for third world countries especially here in Zimbabwe (and Africa as a whole). Our fuel quality is not of high quality like the one you find in Europe and Japan hence these DPFs clogs faster due to contaminants in our diesel. The situation of the DPF is even made worse by the driving habits of users.

Symptoms of Failure

You will experience any combination of the following when your Dyna or Dutro has a DPF malfunction;

Engine Check Light – This will show itself accompanied by DPF related faults. You will see any combination of the following faults when you connect your diagnostic tool:

 P2002 diesel particulate filter efficiency below threshold 
 P2463 Diesel Particulate Filter Restriction - Soot Accumulation 
 P2003 Particulate filter efficiency efficiency below threshold 
 P242F Particulate filter restriction - Ash accumulation 
 P2458 Particulate filter regeneration duration 
 P2459 Particulate filter regeneration frequency 
 P2464 Particulate filter Restriction - Soot accumulation

Power Limit or Rev Limit to 1100/2200 Rpms – The vehicle will deliberately limit power. Some trucks will also limit maximum RPMs to 1100 or 2200rpms. This is a way to prevent further damage from happening which may end up being the case if you continue to drive with a DPF problem

Occasional White Smoke – If you have breached the DPF (Hollowed or cut it), white smoke will occasionally (but not always) puff out of the exhaust which can really be embarrassing. This has nothing to do with an engine being worn out but is due to the computer excessively over-fueling as it is desperately trying to resolve DPF exhaust issues by raising exhaust temperatures

Excessive Diesel consumption – Fuel consumption of a vehicle with a DPF problem will generally be higher due to deliberate over-fueling by the computer as it is trying to raise exhaust temperatures at programmed intervals.

The Solutions

So to resolve this you basically have 3 solutions on the Table. I will go through each one;

Option 1: Regeneration – This is probably the cheapest solution. A mechanic with a diagnostic tool can put the vehicle into a regeneration mode for the car to clear its soot by itself. The problem with this solution is that it is short term. For those in 1st world countries, you can go months, however in third world countries, this solution can last weeks, days, or just hours. Sometimes this might not even work. Like I explained above our fuel quality causes DPFs to clog rapidly

Option 2: Buy New DPF – If Option 1 has failed the next option on the table would be to buy a new DPF. These systems are quite expensive. This will probably be a good option for those in 1st world countries. However, if you are in a 1st world country be sure to watch this video before getting new DPF. Here in Africa buying a new DPF is probably a waste of money unless you are also planning to start using the same quality of the fuel as that used in Europe or America. If not you are probably going to buy more than one DPFs in a short period as they will continue to fail. Usually, if a car gives you DPF problems once and you buy a new DPF the likelihood of those problems to resurface is 90%. DPFs are meant to last the lifetime of the vehicle and if that is not happening it means there is an underlying issue (Problematic Air to fuel mixture, Bad fuel or Bad driving habits)

Option 3: Convert to Non – DPF – This option is a more permanent solution that comes with profound benefits to your vehicle. Your exhaust will be converted to free-flow then followed by conversion on the Computer system which operates the DPF system through a Software algorithm. Similar cars manufactured from South Africa do not have DPF on the exhaust and inside the engine computer. This is why SA assembled vehicles are often believed to be more powerful. The conversion to Non-DPF aims at making your vehicle’s system to be the same with these South African Assembled vehicles that come without a DPF system. Engine Check light will disappear, power will actually increase and fuel consumption will improve. Unfortunately, this option isn’t available for those in Europe, Japan, or America. It is illegal in such countries to circumvent emission laws that forced manufacturers to put these emission systems in such countries. This is the solution that we provide at The DPF Team.

Other Solutions you may hear of

Emulators – At our workshop, we have seen cars with emulators. These are very dangerous as they mimic and falsify signals to the ECU. The danger lies in that most of these emulators are untested. Here in Zimbabwe we have seen damaged ECUs and engines due to inconsistent signals brought by emulators. The result is usually a malfunctioning ECU that ends up destroying the engine or hindering its optimum performance. Based on what we have seen our professional advice is to stay away from emulators

We can assist you with your DPF problem in most parts of Africa. Visit our contact page for information on how to reach out to us. Don’t forget to check out the video below. The Explains why driving the vehicle like that may lead to further and more expensive problems