A6 BiTdi (C7) DPF issue

[Ohthepinzer]

Hi all,

I have a 2013 BiTdi, and have run into a problem.

I had a DPF error message and the car lost most of its power. That error message has gone but the engine management light is on, as is the glow plug warning (flashing). The car is driveable but is dangerously slow to accelerate from standstill and surges/splutters slightly when trying to hold a constant speed (e.g. 70) – I added some Wynns DPF cleaner to the fuel and went for a blast on the motorway but it made no difference.

My local Indy said he is unable to do a force regen and that I had to take it to an Audi dealer. This I did and they said that the DPF is not actually blocked (and only has 30g of soot in it, which is apparently within limits) but that they could not do a regen because the temperature was showing as 190 degrees rather than the 500+ it should be. They concluded that one of the three temperature sensors is faulty but they cannot tell which one without removing them, and that the most likely culprit is the one that they can only access by removing the DPF first.

Has anyone else experienced this issue?