Welcome to VxON, Mark!
These modern diesels should be driven almost like petrol engines: not under 2000rpm, better between 2500-3000rpm and from time to time over 3000rpm for 20-30 miles in order to get better combustion and less ashes, especially for your catalytic converter and EGR.
IMO you should keep on doing what you're doing lately: use the additive and drive harder. You'll see what happens and act accordingly. Maybe you're lucky and it won't be necessary any other action.
PS
When you scan your car, write down the specific error/fault codes rather than their explanation and post them here in the first place in order to get a proper help.
PPS
This engine's Exhaust Gas Recirculation system is rather complex and it's no easy work to get it clean properly. See for yourself:

 

Hi bibu16v and thank you for the feed back, it's much appreciated.

I will take your advice and just go with adding the additive to the diesel once in a while and keeping the revs up. The engine light has been off for for about a week now, so doing what I'm doing must be helping. I think the problem has come about by following the display on the dash which always wants me to shift into fifth when I'm only traveling at about 35mph and sixth at around 45-50mph. Low revs are good for not burning up the fuel but obviously lead to other problems.

The stuff for the EGR does look complicated so I think I will keep away from that for now.

I will post the codes next time I see them. I think there was about 3 different ones that came up on my work colleague's scanner, but I'm not sure when I will see him again so could you recommend a scanner. I have look for one before but I'm not sure which is the right type and the prices vary wildly, so any help will be much appreciated.

Thanks

Mark.

 

If might not be a bad idea to treat it to a full tank of Shell V-Power Diesel usually about 20p a litre more expensive than standard diesel , but it has a much higher cetane rating and burns most importantly hotter and cleaner than standard diesel along with all the extra additives along side the hotter burn this produces a cleaner more efficient and higher power that helps clean all the built up crappy deposits from out your turbo , Dpf , cat etc .
I would suggest using Shell V-Power Diesel every 4th-5th tank of fuel .
I have an older 2004 Cdti designed to run on much older higher cetane rated fuel with none of this bio fuel added so I basically have to run the expensive fuel all the time otherwise it causes issues on the standard diesel .
I understand price £££ does come into account , but giving it a tankful of the good stuff every now and again can keep expensive repairs/issues down in the long term and you do get a small % back maybe 2p per litre in increased fuel economy.
One helpful piece of advice is if you can keep the revs up at 3k or higher for 20-30 mins acting as a longer run at least once a fortnight ( weekly is better ) it will help keep your system clean so if you do maybe 10 minutes on a motorway/duel carridge way keep it in 4th gear or whatever keeps it at 3k revs or above then when you hit town rather than plodding in 4th gear at low revs keep the revs up in 2nd or 3rd gear until you have done 30mins .
Your only other option is to take it for a blast every week to 2 weeks, but this is just a wasted trip unless you can plan a trip to achieve this .
Modern diesels and short trips just don't mix unfortunately just keep yourself updated on the forums information, and try your best to maximise any long runs you are able to do if you have a long trip planned even if it's not ideal take the Combo get it used for that longer run .

 

Hi zxdragon777, and thank you for the info.

I will give the Shell V-Power a go. I was planing to add the Redx additive to the fuel for ever third or forth tank full and it cost about £6 a time, so I think the cost will work out about the same by using the V-Power instead.
I am driving in third gear much more now when running about town and the van seems happier that I am. There is also a 70mph road not so far away from me and I hit around 3500 rpm in forth when I use it.
It's all about learning the right way to drive a diesel, which I haven't been, so your advice is much appreciated.

 

For scanner, I strongly recommend Op-Com and for this @Koicarpkeeper is your man...

 

Thanks for the link bibu16v. I will check out the Op-Com scanner and get back to the forum on the error codes I find.

 

Also if you were planning on an additive usually works out cheaper than using Shell V-Power Diesel normally about half the price maybe 10p per litre once you get this under control maybe every third tank use additive then third tank use V-Power .
Until you sort this issue it may be best if you can afford it to run permanently on Shell V-Power Diesel for the short duration whilst you get it sorted out rather than risk the expense of a big repair bill and or diagnostics etc .
I am not saying you may still have to pay out for diagnostics and or repairs anyway just that a small outlay on quality fuel could potentially stop much bigger issues occuring .
Also when was your last oil and oil filter change nothing keeps an engine running smoothly and cleanly than a good quality fresh oil it also ensures especially on these modern engines that any degraded burnt oil is not contaminating the exhaust sensors I wouldn't use an oil past 10k absolute max ( none of this 15k+ between services crap )
Goodluck keep us posted on progress it's interesting to get an on going + end of story
Andy

 

Thanks for the advice Andy.

I will get some of the redx this weekend as I filled the tank up the other day with normal diesel and it seems best to get something in there to help with the cleaning. After that I will switch to the V-Power. Oil and filter hasn't been change for quite some time so that's now on the to do list. I want to keep the van running as best as I can, it's been a good motor so it's worth spending some time and money to keep it running sweet.

Cheers
Mark

 

I got my OP-COM unit and set it up and now have the following error codes for my van.

P0490-13 Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) Control Circut - Open
P0487-22 Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) Control Circut - High
P068A-68 Engine Controls Ignition Relay De-Energized Too Early

Not sure what to do about any of these codes so any advice on the correct way to proceed will be very much appreciated.

Let me know if it would be better to start a new thread with these error codes or if it's okay just to carry on here.