Hey again!
So, I went through the service history, no replacement done. Parts ordered from KMB, took it to ABTech (they seemed reasonable, and were good with keeping me updated). Old one has come out, new one went in. Looking at the old one, it had probably double the play than on the non worn section of the hex key, not taking into account the potential of the inside of the balance shaft having wear too. Id say it'd have done another 30k miles before potentially causing a problem. But, that's not a game I'd have been willing to play! I'm happy and content knowing it'll last now.
So... one issue down, another one becomes more apparent.
I had an issue with fuel also randomly cutting off for a split second at around 1700 revs, in addition to strong exhaust fumes out the rear not smelling like a typical diesel.
I asked them to have a look into it. They found the electrical plug for the DPF pressure switch had been disconnected and actually cut off the loom, and taped up, which SHOULD have left an 'open circuit' error for the ECU error coding, but doesn't.
They then disconnected the MAF sensor plug which should have thrown a code, but didnt. So it appears that a DPF delete has been done? Or it was causing problems or something?
They said there is no square patch of weld on the DPF itself which typically occurs from a cowboy job of removing the innards of the DPF... but it is still possible the parts may have been removed. Especially as I know the turbo at some point has been messed with as it had an incorrect oil feed union with an incorrect thickness copper washer on it (it had been leaking from it when I first got it).
Question is, is it likely the reason the electrical plug on the DPF pressure switch has been cut off is for the DPF delete? Is it possible the DPF innards may well still be in there? If they are, then what would have been the point of cutting the plug off?
Could this then potentially cause the exhaust to smell stronger than ussual, and also cause a slight running issue with the fuel cut off for a split second at 1700 revs?
Finally, with the ECU not throwing codes, how could they have done that? The garage said its possible they remapped it so it wouldn't be able to detect error codes or something. But I don't like the idea of it not warning me of issues which could threaten the reliability if there is something wrong that I am unaware of...
I'm so new to all this DPF stuff so excuse me if all the above seems a bit confusing, I'm still getting my head around it myself!