It is not uncommon for diesel car owners to cut out a faulty DPF to pass a technical inspection. Currently its existence is not checked, reported Rus.LSM.lv. Most cars in Latvia are bought used, and many buyers will purcahse a vehicle without even knowing if it still has a DPF fitted.
"We see various manipulations of particulate filters, or DPFs, taking place in many countries. Therefore, Latvia is one of the countries that wants to introduce a new inspection method. With its help, it will be possible to make sure that cars with Euro-5 and Euro-6 engines have not had the solid particulate filter modified," explained Head of the Technical Department of the Road Safety Directorate (CSDD), Jānis Liepiņš.
The task of the DPF filter is to reduce the toxic soot emissions that occur when the internal combustion engine runs on diesel fuel. If the filter does not work properly, it must be replaced. However, such filters are extremely expensive, so in some cases the DPF is simply cut out of the system. It is difficult to detect this either visually or on the equipment during a technical inspection.
However, this year several devices have been purchased for testing stations that will detect and count solid particles in exhaust gases. The CSDD is still conducting experiments with the new equipment in order to understand at what level of particles in the exhaust gases the system will be deemed defective – which will potentially mean a failed inspection.
In any case, diesel car owners have another year and reason to check and prepare their DPF filters.
