DPF light on: drive, do not park

What the warning actually means

The symbol usually shows a box with dots inside it. It warns that the diesel particulate filter is clogging up with soot.

How the filter cleans itself

The filter only burns clean at speed, which is why the warning asks you to drive rather than park. A trip that ends before the burn is finished leaves the soot where it was, and a parked car makes it worse.

Common causes

• Many short trips where the engine never gets hot enough
• A lot of idling and city driving
• An interrupted regeneration, because the trip was too short

What to do now

1. Take an uninterrupted drive at a steady speed on an open road.
2. Try not to switch the engine off in the middle of a regeneration.
3. If the light goes out, the filter is clean again.

What people often get wrong

That the car should be parked when the warning appears. The opposite is right: the filter only burns clean at speed, and a parked car makes it worse.

When the car must go to a workshop

If it does not go out after a longer drive, or several warnings appear together, the car should be seen before the filter has to be replaced.

Read next

• Glow plug light on a diesel: wait until it goes out
• AdBlue warning light: fill up before it reaches zero
• Your check engine light isn't random

This page is general information and does not replace a professional assessment. Symbols, codes and behaviour vary between makes. Always check the handbook for your own car.