Audi Q3 2.0 TDI (2013 - 273,854 Miles) Struggling With DPF Residual Ash Issues

By Adrian @ F5ECC / 3rd August 2026

DPF residual ash issues – Audi Q3 2.0 TDI (2013 – 273,854 miles)

Audi Q3 2.0 TDI (2013 - 273,854 miles) struggling with DPF residual ash issues

Here we have an Audi Q3 2.0 TDI (2013 – 273,854 miles) booked in for a live data engine diagnostic and engine carbon clean.

The owner has had issues for a while with declining performance, spluttering and frequent visible grey smoke. Various garages had plugged in and said nothing was amiss, so she gave us a call to diagnose and clean it up.

Initial diagnostics showed no codes, but the live data told a different story. Much of the data was good, but the injector fuelling wasn’t ideal – not unexpected given the mileage.

The main issue seems to be the DPF. Soot levels very low, but pressures high and DPF residual ash level way over the limit. This scenario would lead to grey smoke (ash literally spilling out of the exhaust) and almost continual regeneration.

DPF residual ash issues - Audi Q3 2.0 TDI (2013 - 273,854 miles)

Whilst in attendance we gave it an Engine Carbon Clean to get the source of the dirt entering the DPF in future nice and clean and help extend the overall life of the vehicle.

With the service overdue an oil change is now going to be done on Monday and we can then return to clean, flush and recalibrate the DPF with our DPF Clean service.

Reviews For our Engine Carbon Cleaning Services

2 weeks ago

Adrian is a lovely fella, explained the process, carried it out well, clearly done exactly what it needed to do as I blew a load of stuff out the back when I drove it after. Will definitely be coming back in the future.

2 weeks ago

Great job
Car running a lot better

Highly recommend

3 weeks ago

Steve arrived to give my Jaguar xfs an engine carbon clean. Presently on 107,000 miles. Explained the process and was obviously very knowledgeable about the process and expected outcomes. And he was a thoroughly nice chap.
The V6 in the xfs is a quiet, smooth, powerful unit and I was not sure of what improvements I would get. Well, I’m impressed. The power delivery is smoother, the engine even quieter and 6 mpg better to boot.
If you want to do one thing to maintain and improve your motor, then this is what you should do.

Mircea Marius Popa

4 weeks ago

Had the pleasure to meet Adrian this morning who performed a carbon clean on my bmw 525d
Very knowledgeable guy, I was really impressed.
Car drives much better now, highly recommend.

Thanks Adrian

Marius Popa

1 month ago

Adrian went above and beyond at every stage. Couldn’t recommend Adrian as a person and the service highly enough.

william farrell

1 month ago

had my jaguar xf sportsbreak car engine cleaned and omg its like new what a great job the power is back Engine diagnostic was brilliant and the service was so good. I would recommend it to anybody.

Tracey Jane King

1 month ago

Leon came out to my car about a month ago. He was brilliant, he did some diagnostics, asked some questions and then got to work sorting out my problem. He was extremely thorough and I could tell he genuinely cares about providing a first class service. Fantastic!

2 months ago

Iv had the pleasure of having 2 Carbon cleans from both Adrian and Mark. Both lovely gentlemen and you can tell they love what they do. My car failed on emissions and this helped me get the car through the test, and at the time, I REALLY needed a pass because I couldn’t get anywhere. These guys saved me. Not only that, it’s a lot cheaper here compared to other places also. Thank you so much and look forward to seeing you in future endeavours.

2 months ago

Great ppl full of advice and very helpful quick to reply definitely use again thanks guys

2 months ago

First class service, very professional and nice guys.
Very knowledgeable on issues with electrical problems with my car.
Arrived on time and completed the work as you would expect from a good reliable company.

Kimberley Everest

2 months ago

What a great experience with Steve today! From start to finish went through the diagnostics step by step with me, explaining everything in detail! Flushed and cleaned the dpf for me cannot fault him at all, work done at ur front doorstep would definitely recommend Thankyou so much for all your help!

3 months ago

Today Adrian from F5 Carbon7 DPF Clean came to de carbonise my xc60 he arrived bang on time he was very courteous and explained in great detail what the process was .
He set up within 5 minutes and went on to the diagnostics and talked me through what was coming up after a reset all was clear. It took about 1 hour in total great job well happy would definitely recommend Adrian well mannered gentleman.

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