[Slipstream11]

Originally Posted by wooka

Question - was the DPF light blinking as well? Did you get intermediate stages (REGEN indication etc) and can you please send me the DTC codes when you read them through the OBD tool?

The CEL is on and the DPF light is blinking. I might have got the warnings but missed them - they come and go way too fast to know what's happening. I do now recall the cluster going blank for a second and then reappearing again - not sure what that was for.

[wooka]

Originally Posted by Slipstream11

The CEL is on and the DPF light is blinking. I might have got the warnings but missed them - they come and go way too fast to know what's happening. I do now recall the cluster going blank for a second and then reappearing again - not sure what that was for.

You're definitely at stage 4 (37g+) failure. How it got this bad is debatable. There should have been plenty of warning time / beeps from the console. If you're a similar victim as I (immediate stage 4) then perhaps the same protocol will be in order?

Try swapping out your DPS sensor and if the reading remains constant, then check your engine harness. If you've got an MT it's a 930N harness. AT - 950N. Vikram will know best, give my regards to him (UP Thar is how they'll probably know me best haha! He and I both can't remember names well.)

Don't drive the car much.. I've heard that it can climb to 100+ if active regen is dead for whatever reason in high altitude. Could also be dodgy fuel! They will take a fuel sample yet.

[sinharishi]

We traveled to Bikaner from NCR and came back via Jaipur on the same day in a brand new Thar purchased by a bhpian friend. I was in the rear seat for about 300 kms and it was not that bad, of course not as comfortable as those monocoque SUVs from the segment but it was surely better than expected. The trip was planned to see how comfortable or uncomfortable the Thar can be on such long drives. It did what it does best, dismissed bad roads like no other! While others kept slowing to navigate through potholes, undulations, we just kept flying!

• Kms covered: 1,050 KMs
• FE (as per MID): 15.3 kmpl
• Average speed: 80-90 kmph
• Top speed: 110 kmph
• Route: Dwarka-Panchgaon-Jhunjunu-Fatehpur-Bikaner-Jaipur-Dwarka

[AjitSen6333]

Dear Forum Members,

I own a Thar MT Diesel. It has done 5600 kms and i have got a DPF regen alert yesterday which made me panic, called the service head of NR Auto Kolkata who just advised me to either do a parked regen or told me to drive above 60kmph for like 25-25 minutes and that should fix it. The next morning i hit the highway and was doing 80kmph in 4th gear to get the rpm to cross 2000 for like 20 minutes and that seems to have sorted the issue our for now.

The service centre guys did follow up couple of times to check if it was sorted, my concern is they are unable to answer why the alert was triggered in the first place. My workplace is hardly 5 kms one way and Thar is my daily driver and the only car i own as of now, before purchasing a diesel vehicle i was well aware of the fact that short distance commuting is going to be a concern in terms of DPF issues so to counter that i ensure that every weekend i give it an Italian tune up for good 100-200 kms trying to maintaining above 2000 rpm and hovering around 90-120 on highways, i do this consciously every weekend to have some fun & keep the soot deposits at bay. As this is my daily drive i am now constantly paranoid about the DPF cropping up and service centre is not able to give me a proper answer on why this error pops up in the first place in spite of me taking all the precaution in regards to giving it a weekly running that should clear out any accumulated soot in the first place. Now am thinking that i should have gone for petrol because for someone with a beater car might be fine with this but i cant be in a constant state of paranoia about when the issue might crop up again.

Just when i was falling in love with diesel engines it throws me a curveball. And this being my first diesel car i want to have a peace of mind and these things just constantly bothers me like a tooth ache if you know what i mean. Kindly shed some light and is there any way that i can either have a permanent fix or come in terms by living with these minor niggles. I have owned an Esteem & two swifts before my Thar and those were zero issue cars i mean absolutely nothing i have ever spent on them except fuel and yearly servicing.

Any advice on how to fix this or avoid this situation would be very helpful.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by AjitSen6333

Dear Forum Members,
I own a Thar MT Diesel.
Any advice on how to fix this or avoid this situation would be very helpful.

What can one say in this situation.

You seem to be doing everything absolutely right to ensure this DPF issue is handled. From what I have read over the last one year and more the only thing that works is to keep the engine on the boil for longer distances and time periods at higher revs.

Or else simply visit the service centre every now and then and ask them to do a manual regeneration.

Like you, even my commute is an occasional and short one, and my overall usage is low. I also love those once in a way highway spins. Hence, I chose the Petrol AT.

[Bibendum90949]

Originally Posted by AjitSen6333

i was well aware of the fact that short distance commuting is going to be a concern in terms of DPF issues so to counter that i ensure that every weekend i give it an Italian tune up for good 100-200 kms trying to maintaining above 2000 rpm and hovering around 90-120 on highways, i do this consciously every weekend to have some fun & keep the soot deposits at bay

Since rpm and not speed is the key, you can hit 2000-2500 rpm in third gear and stay in third itself and be within 80-90 kmph. It's much more easy to manage and maintain > 2000 rpm that way on highways than be on 120+ kmph on the trot.

For your city commute of say 60-70 kms a week, I don't think you need to do a highway run every weekend to compensate for soot formation. In fact, it's not the city kms that matter, it's the duration you take for that 60-70 kms that matters. A 60 kms of weekly city run done in 2 hours is vastly different from the same distance done in 4 hours(crawling city traffic) from the DPF point of view. More idling and crawling means more diesel is burnt without the passive DPF regeneration taking place.

Sadly, the DPF headache is something which the diesel lovers(me included) have to live with and find ways to work around it. On a lighter note, doesn't that give us enough reasons to hit the highways every now and then

By the way, it's not all greener pastures on the other side. The Ethanol mix in petrol will bring in it's own share of problems too. The E20 regulation is looming large on the horizon as well.

And I shudder to think of a Thar in EV avatar.

[ph03n!x]

Originally Posted by techfreak

...
But was surprised to see the number of service action pending on my vehicle!!
...

From the list of work, your Thar seems to be a 2020 manufactured one, is that right? Some of these service actions should have been done earlier by the dealership, please sound them off!

Originally Posted by Slipstream11

The CEL is on and the DPF light is blinking. I might have got the warnings but missed them - they come and go way too fast to know what's happening. I do now recall the cluster going blank for a second and then reappearing again - not sure what that was for.

You cannot miss a DPF regen warning, it stays on. The one with cluster "blinking" is an autoregen, not the same. IIRC, your Thar is mid -'21 manufactured, right? Should be interesting to see if yours too needs a engine harness replacement like @wooka's.

My Thar got E21 within the city/ plains, and I had the engine wiring harness recall, so got it completed. Fingers crossed, my no-issues-with-DPF will continue!

[techfreak]

Originally Posted by ph03n!x

From the list of work, your Thar seems to be a 2020 manufactured one, is that right? Some of these service actions should have been done earlier by the dealership, please sound them off!

Yes my Thar is Dec 2020 manufactured and 01 Jan 21 delivery.

Actually not the fault of dealership as I have been changing place too often between Bhubaneswar to Jammu to Jaipur etc so had got my 10k service done at 8000 kms and at that time there was no recall for all these issues. It's only now when i went in for 20k service at 15k kms that saw these recalls pending.
But I do agree Mahindra should have mailed/called for the recalls.

But the best part is in all these kms drive Thar never troubled me and it has seen all kind of roads from highways to absolutely no road condition and she has run flawlessly. Only thing that i kept doing is topping up the DEF tank every 4-5 k kms.
In the DEF warning thing one major factor might be ones driving style as my workplace is just about 3 kms and I do not necessarily go for long drives in the weekend etc still she hasn't thrown any DEF warning (Touchwood )

Note : Mine is a Diesel MT HT model.

[Vikbats]

Originally Posted by wooka

Question - was the DPF light blinking as well? Did you get intermediate stages (REGEN indication etc) and can you please send me the DTC codes when you read them through the OBD tool?

Hi all,
My first post and its full of anxiety. We're scheduled to take a 18day trip thru Zanskar and the Lake Trio in early Aug. I have an October Manufactured Diesel AT, having drive a tad over 4k with absolutely no DEF issues to report, even though its been mostly in hot n heavy Gurgaon traffic.
I'm seriously concerned after reading your review and the potential for a resultant disaster. I don't think I can go through another of those after the horror I faced after my Thunderbird failed at Gata loops eons ago. Only positive that came of it is, I always have a story to tell.
I hope Mahindra is listening and will proactively engineer a solution.
A holiday/trip/adventure once spoiled by a failure of machine which is supposed to crunch the Himalaya, cannot be retrieved by a recall or an apology.
I feel for all you guys and wish you all the best.

[Slipstream11]

Originally Posted by ph03n!x

From the list of work, your Thar seems to be a 2020 manufactured one, is that right? Some of these service actions should have been done earlier by the dealership, please sound them off!

You cannot miss a DPF regen warning, it stays on. The one with cluster "blinking" is an autoregen, not the same. IIRC, your Thar is mid -'21 manufactured, right? Should be interesting to see if yours too needs a engine harness replacement like @wooka's.

My Thar got E21 within the city/ plains, and I had the engine wiring harness recall, so got it completed. Fingers crossed, my no-issues-with-DPF will continue!

The tell tale signs are super confusing. I am sure the green REGEN sign never came up on the tachometer. That's probably because the soot mass went above 37g. However, at the Leh service station after an OBD scan, they managed to get the number down to 25g after numerous parked regens. That number further came down after some 80 kms of hard driving.

I have been advised to drive at high revs in the mountains - 2500 - 3000 rpm. The thin air up in the mountains alongwith adulterated fuel cause havoc to the filter. The incomplete combustion generates extra soot which gets accumulated and in no time the entire process fails.

I spent the last two and a half days with Vikram who is the Lead Tech at Mentokling Mahindra Leh. There are at least 5-7 cars that turn up everyday with DPF issues. And this includes a considerable number of local vehicles.

The DPF issue is very much real. One needs to change his/her driving style once up in the mountains. Revving the engine hard is possibly the only way out.

The altitude is making my MID act funny. The gear shift indicator has disappeared. The TPMS shows low tire pressure in all four wheels where I pumped in just yesterday.

You are correct, mine is a July 21 make. I am due for an engine harness change however the Leh workshop didn't have one in stock.

[Vikbats]

Originally Posted by techfreak

Yes my Thar is Dec 2020 manufactured and 01 Jan 21 delivery.

Actually not the fault of dealership as I have been changing place too often between Bhubaneswar to Jammu to Jaipur etc so had got my 10k service done at 8000 kms and at that time there was no recall for all these issues. It's only now when i went in for 20k service at 15k kms that saw these recalls pending.
But I do agree Mahindra should have mailed/called for the recalls.

But the best part is in all these kms drive Thar never troubled me and it has seen all kind of roads from highways to absolutely no road condition and she has run flawlessly. Only thing that i kept doing is topping up the DEF tank every 4-5 k kms.
In the DEF warning thing one major factor might be ones driving style as my workplace is just about 3 kms and I do not necessarily go for long drives in the weekend etc still she hasn't thrown any DEF warning (Touchwood )

Note : Mine is a Diesel MT HT model.

A couple of things come to mind:

The quality of fuel
Driving style. Shifting up early especially in low Oxygen areas
Seems like only MT variants are having this issue
Faulty DPF valve/Harness

I scoured this review and no AT versions seem to be afflicted. As @Wooka mentioned the wire harnesses are a different model.

[Slipstream11]

Originally Posted by Vikbats

A couple of things come to mind:

The quality of fuel
Driving style. Shifting up early especially in low Oxygen areas
Seems like only MT variants are having this issue
Faulty DPF valve/Harness

I scoured this review and no AT versions seem to be afflicted. As @Wooka mentioned the wire harnesses are a different model.

I saw two Thars (both local) and one XUV7OO, all ATs at the Leh workshop with DEF malfunction.

One of the Thar's had a permanent DPF failure and they were awaiting the spare parts.

[Vikbats]

Thanks for inputs @Slipstream11. I hope this keeping the Rpms above 2k helps in burning off the soot. Do keep more solutions coming in. The only other solution I can think of is to carry a large Oxygen cylinder plugged into the Airfilter.
A thought on the airfilter; more air in = more Oxygen. wonder if a K&N would work for better combustion translating to lower soot levels and better power delivery.

[Pancham]

Thar’s DPF issues seem to go much beyond the usual natural causes of DPF failure. DPF itself is a pain but it seems Thar has a few quality issues as well (e.g., sensor issues) which is aggravating the whole issue. So while driving once in a while in the highway at 2k rpm might help, it will not guarantee that you won’t get DPF issues. The fear of getting stranded will always be lurking round the corner. For someone who relentlessly defended the diesel in the early stages (booked one too), I will never touch one with a 100ft pole. It’s petrol all the way for me no matter what the FE is.

[ph03n!x]

Originally Posted by Pancham

...
It’s petrol all the way for me no matter what the FE is.

Doesn't look too bright there either - the country will be switching to E20 blended petrol soon, and that will cause havoc there too

On the Thar, I've said this earlier too - the Achilles' heel is the wiring. Caused a mess for me in the initial days, caused a mess for @wooka recently. The good news is M&M knows this, and has issued a Service Action already.

While it's true that there are DPF issues across manufacturers in altitudes, that is something we can adapt our driving style to - example, heavy vehicles had initial issues with clogged DPF, especially those that ply in altitudes. But 2 years later, you hear very little from that sector.

As long as the niggles are taken care of, and we drive at a lower gear than we do in plains, we should be fine. It will be good is M&M and other manufacturers can put the DPF soot mass and DEF level in the MID for all Diesel vehicles - as long as this is more of less accurate, will soothe most of our apprehensions.