Recording a DPF Service: What Belongs in the Record

A DPF service record needs the diagnostic tool's own readings, not just a description of the symptom, because that's what shows the filter actually needed the work and that the work fixed it. Use the complaint, cause, correction structure for the write-up itself; this page is what to put in each line for a DPF service specifically.

What makes a DPF complaint different from a typical one

Most DPF work doesn't start with an operator description the way a noise or a leak does. It starts with a dash lamp, a message center alert, a derate, or a scheduled interval with nothing reported at all. Record which one it was and, where the equipment logs it, when it first appeared. A complaint of "DPF lamp flashing for three days before the visit" points somewhere different than "lamp came on that morning."

What the diagnostic tool's readings tell you

A visual check can't tell you whether a filter is loaded with soot or ash, so the cause of a DPF complaint comes from the manufacturer's service tool, not an inspection. Record the readings that led to the decision, not just that a decision was made:

• Differential pressure across the filter. This is the tool's measure of how restricted the filter is. A before-and-after pair of readings — high going in, back to a normal range after regeneration or cleaning — is what demonstrates the filter was actually the problem and that the service resolved it.
• Soot load and ash load estimates, where the tool reports them separately. A high soot load with a low ash estimate points toward regeneration; a persistently high ash estimate, or a service lamp specifically naming ash, points toward cleaning.
• Regeneration history: how many regenerations the tool shows, and how long or how far since the last one completed. Frequent incomplete regenerations are themselves a finding worth recording, not just background.
• Active and stored fault codes, and any related component the tool flags — a differential pressure sensor, a DEF dosing fault, an EGR fault — since a problem elsewhere in the aftertreatment system can present as a DPF complaint. See DPF cleaning and regeneration for how the systems connect.

Record the tool's own values, not a paraphrase of them — "pressure reading in the tool's high range" is weaker than the actual number the tool displayed.

When a filter goes out for cleaning

If the filter is removed rather than regenerated, the record needs to survive the filter leaving your possession and coming back:

• Identify the specific filter by its part or serial number before it goes out, so the unit that comes back can be confirmed as the same one — or, if it was exchanged for a cleaned or new unit, record that it was an exchange rather than a return of the original.
• Name who performed the cleaning. If it went to a separate cleaning facility, that's a sublet, and it's recorded as one, the same as any other repair done by someone other than you.
• Record anything the cleaning facility reports back — an ash weight, a differential pressure reading, or a pass/fail on the filter's remaining service life — if they provide it.
• Note the date out and the date back in service.

Verifying the fix

A completed regeneration or a reinstalled filter isn't verified until you've confirmed it. Record the post-service differential pressure reading, that fault codes cleared and didn't return, and a test run under load where one is appropriate. See complaint, cause, correction for why verification is what separates "the part was replaced" from "the problem is fixed."

What the customer's copy should show

The customer doesn't need the raw tool readout. They need what was found, what was done, and what it means going forward — the same four questions any PM report answers. See what belongs in a PM report for the customer for that structure, and how to start a service event for where the work is recorded in Blue Collar Parts.

Record it in Blue Collar Parts

Add the DPF service to the service event the same way as any other work performed, then send the completed record to your customer. Start a service event for the work, then send the record to your customer.

This page describes a general documentation practice. It is not a repair procedure and not a regulatory inspection. Use the equipment manufacturer's current service documentation for diagnosis, procedures, and specifications.