How Much Does DPF Cleaning Cost?
Aftertreatment · Class 8 tractor · Class 6–7 medium duty · Class 3–5 · Diesel pickup
Short answer
$200–$2,250
TODO(verify): Most heavy-duty DPF cleaning quotes fall between $250 and $600 for a bake-and-blow service with a flow test, plus one to three hours of labor to remove and refit the filter. Replacement, when cleaning fails, is an order of magnitude more.
Bake-and-blow cleaning with flow test, filter removed and refitted by the shop
- Parts
- $250–$600
- Labor
- 1–3 hr × $125–$210/hr = $125–$630
Provisional figures — pending verification against our receipt dataset.
Labor rate: provisional national placeholder — TODO(verify), not yet from our collected dataset. How we build these ranges.
TODO(verify): cleaning service price band and R&R hours against submitted invoices.
What you are actually paying for
Cleaning a diesel particulate filter is one of the few heavy-truck jobs where the cheap option is also the right option. A filter that is loaded with ash — not soot — cannot be recovered by any regeneration, and the alternative to cleaning is a new filter that costs several thousand dollars. The question worth asking a shop is not the price of the clean; it is whether they flow test afterwards and what they do if the substrate turns out to be cracked.
What it costs in each situation
Priced at provisional national placeholder — TODO(verify), not yet from our collected dataset. Parts and hours are the figures worth arguing about; the rate is usually not negotiable.
| Scenario | Class | Parts | Hours | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bake-and-blow cleaning with flow test, filter removed and refitted by the shopTODO(verify): cleaning service price band and R&R hours against submitted invoices. | Class 8 tractor | $250–$600 | 1–3 | $375–$1,230provisional |
| Cleaning on a customer-supplied filter dropped at the counterTODO(verify): drop-off pricing. Labor is zero because you did the removal. | Class 8 tractor | $200–$450 | 0–0 | $200–$450provisional |
| Cleaning plus DOC and SCR service on the same visitTODO(verify): combined aftertreatment service pricing. | Class 8 tractor | $500–$1,200 | 2–5 | $750–$2,250provisional |
| Medium-duty filter cleaningTODO(verify): medium-duty cleaning pricing. | Class 6–7 medium duty | $200–$450 | 1–2.5 | $325–$975provisional |
| Diesel pickup filter cleaningTODO(verify): light-duty cleaning pricing. Many dealers replace rather than clean on pickups — ask. | Diesel pickup | $175–$400 | 1–2.5 | $300–$925provisional |
What moves the price
- Cleaning method
- Thermal bake plus pneumatic blow-out is the common heavy-duty process. Aqueous and ultrasonic cleaning cost more and are used where ash is deeply packed. TODO(verify): comparative pricing and effectiveness data by method.
- Whether a flow test is included
- A cleaning without a before-and-after flow test tells you nothing about whether the filter is actually recovered. Shops that include the test charge more and are worth it.
- Removal difficulty
- Seized clamps, corroded V-bands, and broken studs turn a one-hour removal into a three-hour one. This is where the labor variance lives.
- Turnaround
- Same-day service costs more than a next-day drop. A shop with an on-site oven charges differently from one that ships filters out.
- Whether the substrate survives
- A cracked or melted substrate cannot be cleaned. If the flow test fails, the cleaning fee is sunk and you are buying a filter.
Symptoms that lead here
- Regeneration frequency climbing week over week
- Active DPF differential pressure or soot load fault codes
- Torque derate or reduced power under load
- Failed or aborted parked regenerations
- Fuel economy falling with no other explanation
- Elevated exhaust temperature readings
How to pay less without buying trouble
- 1
Ask whether a flow test is included before you agree to the price. Without one you are paying for hope.
- 2
Fix what loaded the filter first. Cleaning without addressing an injector, EGR, or turbo fault means paying twice.
- 3
Clean on the OEM interval rather than waiting for a derate. A planned cleaning during scheduled maintenance costs the same as an emergency one, minus the downtime.
- 4
Ask about a filter exchange program. Some suppliers hold cleaned cores and swap them the same day, cutting downtime substantially.
- 5
Keep the cleaning invoice. It resets your interval clock and it is the document that proves the filter was serviced if the truck changes hands.
- 6
Do not entertain a delete. It is a federal violation, it kills resale value, and it turns a $400 service into a compliance problem. See our page on what emissions deletes actually cost.
Questions people ask before they book this
How often does a DPF need cleaning?
It depends on duty cycle and oil consumption more than on a fixed number. Long-haul trucks commonly go far longer between cleanings than trucks that idle heavily or run short local routes. TODO(verify): OEM published cleaning intervals by engine family. Our DPF cleaning interval calculator gives an estimate based on your duty cycle.
Can a DPF be cleaned more than once?
Yes. Filters are designed to be serviced repeatedly over their life. What ends a filter is a cracked or melted substrate, usually from an uncontrolled regeneration, not the number of cleanings.
Is cleaning cheaper than replacing?
By a wide margin. TODO(verify): our current figures put cleaning in the low hundreds and replacement in the low thousands. The exception is a filter that fails its flow test, where the cleaning fee is spent and you still buy the filter.
Will cleaning the filter clear my fault code?
Only if the filter was the problem. If a pressure sensor, a sensor tube, or an upstream engine fault set the code, the code returns. Diagnose before you clean.
Shops that quote this job
We call every shop before it appears here, and publish the date.
Sample records only — seeded to demonstrate the directory. None of these numbers has been called.
Memphis, TN · 24/7 · mobile service
Indianapolis, IN · Mon-Fri 6am-6pm · mobile service
Laredo, TX · Mon-Sat 6am-9pm · mobile service
Phoenix, AZ · 24/7 · mobile service
Fault codes that lead to this repair
Had this repaired? Tell us what you paid.
Every figure on this page is a range we intend to replace with measured data. If you have paid for dpf cleaning cost in the last two years, your invoice is the thing that turns this from an estimate into a dataset.
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