EEC one of the first to Join Campaign to Create 2012 Jobs for Young People in 2012

As posted on various newspaper websites in the Hampshire area:

A specialist exhaust business in Portsmouth has stood up and been counted as one of the first in the UK to join forces with a national training organisation which has committed to creating 2012 new jobs for young people in 2012.

European Exhaust & Catalyst Limited (EEC), based in Portsmouth, has signed up to Aspire Achieve Advance Group Limited's (3AAA) 2012|2012 challenge. 3AAA runs the National IT Partnership (NITP) academy at Highbury College in Portsmouth. Eighteen year old Tim Green from Portsmouth has been employed by EEC as an NITP apprentice, working at the company whilst studying at Highbury College.

Paul Clark, Managing Director, European Exhaust & Catalyst Limited, says: "We are committed to developing the skills of our staff and are delighted to have the opportunity to take on a new employee through the apprenticeship scheme. Young people need all the help they can get in these challenging times and organisations such as 3AAA are taking the lead. It is up to companies like ours to provide the opportunities for young people to gain real skills and make a valuable contribution to the wide economy."

Di McEvoy-Robinson, Director, 3AAA, said: "With the government's announcement that the unemployment rate in the 16-24 year-old age group is running at a record high of 22.3%, it's essential that organisations such as ours step up and take responsibility for creating new jobs for young people.

"We are combining our experience and expertise in delivering high quality Apprenticeships, with our skills in sourcing capable young people to meet the recruitment requirements of our employer partners. We are creating completely new jobs that give young people a real future and employers a competent new member of their workforce equipped with up-to-date skills for the job.

"This is also our call to employers across the UK to help us realise our commitment of creating 2012 jobs in 2012 to make a real difference to the lives of young people all over the country."

NITP academies provide apprentices with industry recognised IT qualifications, underpinned with the practical and valuable experience secured via employment as an apprentice.

3AAA's 2012|2012 pledge kicks off with a series of employer events in Portsmouth designed to get local businesses to commit to creating new jobs for local school leavers. 3AAA's campaign will run throughout 2012. Each region will be in competition to create the highest number of new jobs, with the top achieving region to be recognised at an awards celebration at the end of the year.

3AAA works in partnership with local colleges across the UK to deliver local solutions for young people, employers and adults learning in the workplace. NITP academies are located in Walsall, Tamworth, Bedford, Letchworth, St Albans, Enfield, Portsmouth, Liverpool, Milton Keynes, Oxford and Birmingham.

Why do you need our EEC DPF Reset Tool?

As published in February 2012 PMM Magazine.


How and why Diesel Particulate Filters fail and the procedures involved with diagnosis and rectifying faults has led to many garage technicians suffering ‘head-scratching’ moments.

Fear not though, as European Exhaust & Catalyst (EEC) has just brought a fantastic new solution to market. Stuart Still, Technical Trainer, tells us more….

Last year, on my visits to various customers, I made enquiries about the general demand for Diesel Particulate Filters. I was staggered at the lack of DPF knowledge, especially the procedure regarding installation, encountering answers such as: “We regard it as a main dealer product” or: “We need specialist diagnostic tools”.

EEC subsequently decided to eliminate one of these major objections. We contacted a diagnostic tool company and discussed the opportunity of becoming our partners in a venture to create a specialised hand-held DPF diagnostic tool.

After many months of hard work collating all of the data required to deliver an easy-to-use, hand-held solution, the EEC DPF Reset Tool was born.

Why would you need one?

The DPF is a filter that removes particulates and soot/carbon from the exhaust gases and is a serviceable item that needs to be replaced at the end if its life.

This varies with each vehicle manufacture (for example Ford requires replacement at 75K and BMW at 150K) and main dealers account for the majority of DPFs fitted within our market.

The OE manufacturer warranty does not cover ‘over-filling’, as this is regarded in the same way as oil, fuel or air filters – the warranty only covers mechanical failure.

As such, the aftermarket is missing out on an opportunity to increase their sales and profit margin because DPFs are a high ticket product.

There does however seem to be some confusion as to why a DPF could over-fill and how to diagnose faults. It is extremely unusual that a DPF will fail on its own (the problems are usually upstream or to do with the actual system) so this is where the EEC DPF tool becomes a necessity.

Diagnosis sequence

The majority of vehicle manufacturers have the same warning light sequence but you should always check the vehicle handbook to be safe.

The sequence generally consists of the following steps:

a) If the DPF light comes on this means ‘regeneration’ is needed.

b) Once again, read the handbook for instructions. For example ‘Drive for 20 minutes at a constant speed of 65mph’.

c) If the DPF is not regenerated at this stage and fills to over 90% or 45g, the DPF will need replacing. This is not covered under warranty.

d) If the coil and engine management light is on with loss of power, ‘limp home mode’ will engage with a maximum of 3000 RPM. The fault code will read: ‘DPF soot loading too high’. ‘Forced regeneration’ is now required.

Performing a ‘forced regeneration’

Step-by-step instructions are included with the EEC DPF diagnostic tool, but in basic terms, to carry out a forced DPF regeneration you need to:

a) Ensure the vehicle is parked outside in park/neutral, the hand brake is on, engine warm, with at least a quarter tank of fuel, and check there are no fault codes stored.

b) If the engine management light comes on first, followed by the DPF light, it indicates an issue within the DPF system, for example
temperature, pressure, sensors etc. Use the EEC DPF tool to identify this.

Useful checks and advice

1. Check pressure sensors as there could be a
build up of water;

2. Examine pressure pipes for damage. They
must be clean or they could freeze in extreme
temperatures due to water build up;

3. Check that the EGR system is working
correctly;

4. Check that the vehicle has the correct
specification engine oil;

5. Check the Eolys/Cerine additive (active
system);

6. When the DPF filter load reaches a predetermined level, the ECU activates a regeneration process to increase the DPF temperature to over 550˚C.

The engine is set to run in a certain specific way and can inject up to eight times more fuel per stroke to produce a high amount of NO2, which will help oxidize the particulates, increasing the temperature as the exhaust gases pass through the catalytic converter;

7. It is advisable to check the oil for diesel contamination as a result of constant DPF regeneration. If this occurs you must carry out a full oil change and replace the oil filter;

8. The ECU must be readapted when replacing the DPF and when topping up the
Eolys fuel additive.

The DPF will not regenerate if:
■ The engine management light is on for any
fault;

■ There is a faulty EGR valve;

■ There is less than 20 litres of fuel in the fuel tank, if the fuel light is on or the engine management light is illuminated.

Please note: Data and procedures may vary between manufactures.

EEC new parts for 2012

EEC continues to show its dedication to helping customers grow their business, with an array of exciting news for the start of 2012.

We have just renewed our contract with one of the leading UK buying groups for the next three years. Our range of brake pads is also now available through another national buying group, after being recognised as an approved supplier.

New Products

By the end of April, the increasingly popular brake pad range will have increased to 400 different references for our customers, providing over 1,250 applications.

There have been significant increases in our DPF range too, as a result of investment in a new manufacturing cell. Updates to our recently launched DPF Reset Tool also continue, with the addition of extra applications covered.

New Productivity

We are also committed to ensuring the business is the most productive possible, in order to pass on cost and time savings to our customers. For this enhanced productivity, we have purchased additional specialist tube forming machines for our manufacturing plants in Derby and Portsmouth.

As part of our commitment to continually evolving our product range, we are also looking to see where cost reductions can be found within our manufacturing process to ensure we're offering the most competitive products in the marketplace.

New Data

Our catalogue data is also now even more accessible than ever, with the move to MAM Software's Automate suite, which will manage and publish our UK catalogue data, standardising data across the UK range, identifying gaps and contribute accurate data to Autocat+ parts catalogue.

Paul Clark, Managing Director, comments: "We already cover over 14,000 vehicle applications, and it's vital that our customers continue to have up-to-date data on our ever-evolving product range. We're immensely excited to see how we can use our investment this year to help our customers to be successful during 2012."

All customers benefit from personalised technical and sales support, and we continue to offer on and off site customer training through our dedicated Technical Trainer. Extra advice is also available through our technical blog, which can be read and subscribed to at http://eec-technical.blogspot.com.

To keep up to date with the new additions to the EEC range and to receive our latest news, please ensure you are signed up to our regular customer e-bulletin at www.eurocats.co.uk or speak to our Sales team by emailing sales@eurocats.co.uk.

Faulty coil packs could damage your catalytic converter

Tips on Performing a DPF Regeneration

Before performing a Diesel Particulate Filter regeneration, you should always:

* Check pressure sensors as there could be a build up of water.

* Examine pressure pipes for damage. They must be clean or they could freeze in extreme temperatures due to water build up.

* Check that the EGR system is working correctly.

* Check that the vehicle has the correct specification engine oil.

* Check the Eolys/Cerine additive (active system).

* When the DPF filter load reaches a pre-determined level, the ECU activates a regeneration process to increase the DPF temperature to over 550degC. The engine is set to run in a certain specific way and can inject up to eight times more fuel per stroke to produce a high amount of NO2, which will help oxidize the particulates, increasing the temperature as the exhaust gases pass through the catalytic converter.

* It is advisable to check the oil for diesel contamination as a result of constant DPF regeneration. If this occurs you must carry out a full oil change and replace the oil filter.

* The ECU must be readapted when replacing the DPF and when topping up the Eolys fuel additive.

Regenerating the aftermarket industry for DPFs

A specialised hand-held Diesel Particulate Filter diagnostics tool has been launched by EEC to meet the growing demand for DPF services in the aftermarket industry.

The unique and new-to-market EEC DPF Reset Tool allows garages to regenerate Diesel Particulate Filters, reset the EOLYS additive light, identify DPF fault codes and perform a filter replacement function and static regeneration - without needing assistance from a main dealer.

Simple to operate, the bespoke tool uses a push-button operation and supports vehicles from 2000 onwards. 

The EEC DPF Reset Tool initially covers a substantial range of application numbers in the EEC range, and this will be quickly and greatly increased through updates that customers will be able to download from the EEC website.

Paul Clark, Managing Director, comments: "When talking to many different stakeholders in the aftermarket industry, we were staggered by the lack of DPF knowledge. We found that many garages regarded Diesel Particulate Filters as a main-dealer only product, that they are particularly complicated to install and that specialist diagnostic tools are always required." 

"The main dealers account for the majority of the DPF's fitted and replaced within our market place. Garages do not usually understand that the DPF is a serviceable item, and there is often confusion surrounding diagnosing faults."

"After months spent collating all the data required to deliver such a useful tool, we are immensely excited to see garages taking the opportunity to increase their service offering to customers, build their knowledge about DPF's and help to increase profitability."

The EEC DPF Reset Tool has been competitively priced to ensure that it is available for small factors and garages for a small initial outlay, and comes complete with a protective plastic case.

As the UK's largest supplier of aftermarket catalytic converters, including an extensive and ever-growing range of Diesel Particulate Filters, EEC is committed to providing training and education within the aftermarket industry, helping technicians understand, evaluate and diagnose emission problems.

For more information about the EEC Diesel Particulate Filter Reset Tool and to watch a brief introductory video, please visit www.eurocats.co.uk/dpftool or call us on +44(0)23 9224 5300.

Using a 4-gas analyser to diagnose vehicle emission problems

Watch our latest technical video showing how to read and use a 4-gas analyser test to diagnose problems within a vehicles emission system.

For more information on diagnosing specific faults, please contact our technical team on +44(0)23 9224 5300.