Posted by: KHTS Articles in News Articles September 6, 2022 - 11:38 am 0 57 Views

If you’re driving a diesel-powered vehicle, looking after its aftertreatment system can be essential to keep it running properly. It plays a crucial role in vehicle maintenance because it helps make the diesel engine’s exhaust much cleaner and less harmful to the environment. But among the several parts of an aftertreatment system, the Diesel Oxidation Catalyst or DOC filter is often neglected.

Therefore, it’s essential to know that a DOC filter can be crucial to a vehicle’s emission system. When it’s not maintained properly, it may experience contamination and other engine-related problems, resulting in premature deterioration. To avoid this situation, cleaning your DOC filter can be an excellent option. However, there are things that you should and shouldn’t do when performing a cleanup.

Read on to learn the two do’s and don’ts of cleaning your vehicle’s DOC filter.

What Is A DOC Filter? 

A DOC filter refers to a part of a vehicle’s emission system responsible for reducing particulates and pollutants before releasing your vehicle’s exhaust into the environment. It transforms harmful chemicals and other organic particulates into water and carbon dioxide through a process called oxidation.  

Moreover, a DOC filter can be located in different areas, depending on the vehicle’s year and the manufacturer. But regardless of the location, this part of a vehicle engine is essential in all on-highway, heavy-duty, diesel-powered vehicles. These can include buses, garbage trucks, and semi-trucks.

Given these applications, a DOC filter should be taken care of to avoid the risk of failure or deterioration. Some common reasons for a failing DOC filter include contamination, exhaust leaks, excessive idling, and lack of maintenance. Also, when these issues aren’t addressed properly, you must replace your vehicle’s DOC filter as soon as possible.

However, replacing this vital part of an emission system may cost you a considerable amount of money due to the 1500-3000 cost range per DOC. This price range may be high since the filter has precious metals like platinum. Because of this expensive cost, cleaning your DOC filter can be an excellent way to save money in the long run.

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What Are The Do’s And Don’ts Of DOC Filter Cleaning? 

To avoid spending more money on a DOC filter replacement, inspecting and cleaning it regularly is essential. But to achieve a more favorable outcome, below are the do’s and don’ts of DOC filter cleaning: 

To clean your vehicle’s DOC filter successfully, you must ensure the engine is cold. Otherwise, the cleaning process may become more difficult. Also, using water on a hot engine may crack it and cause severe damage. Furthermore, cleaning parts of a hot vehicle engine may dry off the cleaner quickly and leave the engine with some spots.  

So, to eliminate these issues, you should wait for your vehicle’s engine to cool off. You can do this by waiting for a few hours or overnight to ensure it’s cold during the cleanup.  

Make sure to clean your vehicle’s DOC filter for every 200,000 miles reached. At this point, your DOC may have been contaminated with chemicals and particulates that should be removed to keep it running smoothly. However, if you’re using your vehicle for hauling heavy loads more frequently, you may not need to wait for 200,000 miles before a DOC filter cleanup is performed.  

Generally, some environmental laws are in place to properly regulate diesel emissions. This is because every truck driver is in charge of minimizing the number of chemicals and particulate matter released into the air.  

Because of this, don’t make the mistake of taking the legal aspect of DOC filter cleaning for granted. Always follow the rules and regulations pertaining to diesel emissions and DOC cleaning. Otherwise, you may face legal trouble for violating specific environmental laws. Remember, DOC filter cleaning can be essential to protect the environment.  

Don’t attempt to do the DOC filter cleaning yourself if you don’t know how. Otherwise, there’s a possibility you’ll damage the filter and the vehicle engine. To prevent this situation, it’s essential to entrust the cleaning job to an expert who has the necessary skills. The professional you hire should know how DOC filters work and how to clean them properly. By doing this, you can have peace of mind knowing your filter is clean and your engine has better performance.  

Indeed, the DOC filter of your vehicle’s engine is crucial for its proper operation and fuel efficiency. Hence, if you want to get the most out of this part of the aftertreatment system, you should clean it whenever necessary. By keeping the information mentioned above in mind, you’ll know what to do and not to do during the cleaning process to ensure a successful outcome.

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Tagged with: Car Maintenance catalytic converter DOC filter Filter Cleaning Fuel Efficiency

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