Mitsubishi  Shogun comes with a diesel particle filter/ Dpf fitted on its exhaust as required by emission standards. It is unusual for Dpf to fail however the Dpf Team has worked on a number that developed problems. The dpf problem will affect the drivability of your vehicle. When the Shogun starts to have the following signs just know that your Dpf is failing.  

Signs of Dpf malfunction 

Check Engine Light + Dpf Warning Light 

These two lights will start to show as below on the dash and will not go away until the problem has been resolved.  

High fuel consumption + low performance 

When the Dpf is clogged the vehicle will deliberately over fuel to try and cook the soot. However, it cannot effectively use the extra fuel therefore it enters into “restrictive performance” mode to prevent further damage.  

 White soot 

The Shogun will occasionally let out white soot. This usually happens when the dpf has been breached or tampered with. 

The faulty codes that will appear when taken for the diagnosis will be as shown below  

• P2002 – DPF efficiency below threshold (Bank 2) 
• P242F – Dpf restriction – Ash accumulation 
• P2458 – DPF regeneration duration 
• P2459 – DPF regeneration frequency 

• P2463 – DPF Restriction – Soot accumulation 
• P244A – DPF Pressure too low (Bank 1) 

Causes of a Dpf Problem

The major causes for Dpf malfunction include but are not limited to poor quality fuel, bad driving habits, and erratic air-fuel mixtures. The quality of fuel is dependent on where you on the globe. If you are in a developed country you are safe. When it comes to developing countries the chances that the diesel your Shogun is using is contaminated is reasonably high. The dpf does not like substandard fuel so it will easily clog. 

Did you know that driving prolonged short distances is considered a bad driving habit for the Dpf system?  Some Mitsubishi Shoguns are failing because the owners are city residents who use them for daily short drives. This type of driving does not allow the dpf to self-clean as driving at low speed for short time does not raise the exhaust temperature to optimum levels. 

Leaking air intake leads to excess production of soot that overwhelms the diesel particulate filter. This will quickly get the dpf blocked as soot accumulation is occurring at a higher rate than the cleaning of the filter. 

Solutions  

There are a couple of solutions available for the Shogun Dpf problem. The solution you will choose will depend on your desired results so below we will discuss the options. 

Regeneration  

Get a technician who will use an advanced diagnostic tool to initiate a forced regeneration. This is a process that removes soot from the diesel particle filter by raising exhaust temperatures. When executing this process always remove all flammables as a safety precaution. Ideally, if the process succeeds, the dpf issue would have been resolved.  A change in the driving habits and maintenance of the optimum air-fuel ratio will keep you clear of the problem.  Quality of fuel, on the other hand; may prove to be a hard aspect to deal with as it is out of control for many of us.  

Important to note on forced generation is that it can result in catastrophic damage to the engine if done too many times. When this process does not yield expected results the next option will be to replace the diesel particle filter  with a new one  

Replacement 

Buy a brand new dpf and find a specialist to fit it. While this option seems to be a perfect fix to the dpf problem it often proves futile if root causes are not addressed. Essentially if the conditions that caused the dpf to get blocked the first time will ensure that it blocks again. You may have looked up the cost of buying a brand new dpf and found out that it is expensive so it has to be an informed decision. We recommend you take a look at this video before you click buy. 

This may work well for you if you in a developed country as they have top-quality fuel widely available. However, developing countries experience the problem of buying up to five Dpfs as they are more prone to use contaminated diesel. This is due to fuel shortages and subsequent storage of diesel in substandard and often contaminated containers. Imagine using this type of fuel in your Shogun and expecting the Dpf to last; not happening!! Conversion may be the only way to get rid of the dpf problem for good.  

Conversion 

Converting your vehicle to non-dpf is a more permanent solution. This entails modifying both the hardware and software of the Dpf system. The DPF Team highly recommends that you check with your country’s laws if such modifications are permissible. If the laws have not yet been implemented in your country then conversion to non-dpf will do away with the dpf woes. The Mitsubishi Shogun will switch off the warning light on the dash, get in full performance mode and lower fuel consumption. Never again will you have Dpf problems after completing the conversion. 

Other Solutions   

• Dpf Additive Fluids are chemicals used to boost exhaust temperature to very high levels to try and cook the soot. The danger lies in the diesel particle filter melting due to greater temperatures. Moreso the exterior may also dissolve as there is no way of regulating the additives ounce added. In the end, your dpf and other components of the vehicle may be rendered useless. At our workshop, we have seen vehicles that have melted Dpfs which destroyed the turbo. We discourage the use of these fluids they might result in a vehicle fire.  

• DPF Emulators are devices installed on the exhaust system to mimic a perfectly working diesel particulate filter. Now, if you read that right and understood what it means, then you know why it is a terrible idea to put an emulator on your vehicle. It seems like a very cheap way to deal with your problem but can you rely on a device that sends false signals to the Engine control unit of your vehicle. Just because foreign systems fail, you will learn that failures linked to your Engine control unit often lead to bigger problems that are hard to trace the source. We have seen a lot of vehicles with emulators at our workshop and we recommend against their use. 

Conclusion 

The decision you make is primarily based on the laws of your country and the root causes of the Dpf problems. We recommend the conversion if it is permitted legally in your territory. Contact The DPF Team, a Zimbabwean-based company; as they assist you wherever you are on the globe.