Oil and Antifreeze Contamination Service
Oil Soaked DPF Cleaning and Antifreeze-Soaked Filter Service in the Lansing Area
More Than a Blow and Bake.
We handle oil soaked DPF cleaning and antifreeze soaked DPF cleaning by hand, and tell you honestly if your filter can be saved.
What Makes Oil Contaminated DPF Cleaning Different
An oil soaked filter isn't a soot problem, it's an engine problem that ended up in your exhaust. A failing turbo seal, worn piston rings, or a leaking injector can send oil straight into the DPF, where it bakes into the substrate and blocks it worse than soot ever could. Antifreeze contamination usually points to a cracked head, a bad EGR cooler, or a failing gasket, and it leaves behind a residue that regular cleaning methods simply can't break down.
Most shops run a blow and bake on every filter that comes through the door, oil contamination or not. That approach can actually make things worse on a contaminated filter, baking the oil or coolant deeper into the ceramic instead of removing it. We built our process specifically for oil contaminated DPF cleaning and antifreeze soaked DPF cleaning because these filters need more than heat and air to come clean.
Owner operators, fleet managers, and mechanics across Lansing, Detroit, Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, and Ann Arbor bring us contaminated filters for heavy duty diesel filter cleaning off semis, school buses, tractors, pickups, and heavy equipment because they've already tried the quick fix and watched it fail again in a few thousand miles. Call us before you buy a new filter, since most contaminated units respond well to diesel filter restoration, and we'll tell you straight if yours can't.
Our Contamination Cleaning Process
How We Clean an Oil or Antifreeze-Soaked Filter
We inspect every contaminated filter before we touch it with any cleaning process, because oil and antifreeze contamination behave differently and need different handling. Here's what happens to your filter once it's in our shop.
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Step 1: Contamination Inspection
We check the filter end to end to identify whether you're dealing with oil, antifreeze, or both, and we estimate how deep the contamination has soaked into the substrate before we decide on a plan.
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Step 2: Targeted Conditioning
Oil and antifreeze each respond to different cleaning agents and dwell times. We run the filter through a conditioning process adjusted for the specific contamination, breaking it down instead of pushing it deeper into the cells.
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Step 3: Hydrocleaning and Flushing
Once the contamination is loosened, we flush the filter with our hydrocleaning process, forcing water through every cell to clear out residue that heat alone would leave behind. This is the step most competitors skip entirely.
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Step 4: Three-Stage Testing
Before your filter goes back on your truck, it goes through our three-stage testing protocol to confirm restriction, flow, and condition all meet spec. We won't hand back a filter we haven't verified ourselves.
Spotting a Contaminated Filter
Signs Your Filter Needs Contaminated Diesel Filter Cleaning
A contaminated filter usually gives you warning signs before it fails outright. Catching it early saves you a filter and keeps your truck or equipment out of the shop longer than it needs to be. Whether it's oil, antifreeze, or both, our damaged DPF cleaning process is built to save filters most shops would simply replace.
- White or blue smoke from the exhaust, often a sign of oil or coolant burning off
- A sweet smell near the exhaust, typical of antifreeze contamination
- Repeated derate codes even after a recent regen or standard cleaning
- A filter that failed a blow and bake cleaning or came back clogged within weeks
- Falling fuel economy paired with rising backpressure readings
- Visible oily residue or staining on the filter housing or inlet
If you're seeing any of these on a semi, school bus, tractor, pickup, or piece of construction equipment, get the filter to us before it's forced to a full replacement.
Why Choose Us
Why Fleets and Owner Operators Trust Us With Contaminated Filters
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Real Hydrocleaning, Not Just Blow and Bake
We run every oil or antifreeze contaminated filter through our hydrocleaning and flushing process. Most competitors stop at heat and air, which doesn't remove the kind of contamination you're dealing with.
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Hands-On From Drop-Off to Pickup
Holly and our team personally inspect, condition, and test every filter that comes through the door. There's no automated system deciding whether your filter gets saved, just people who've been doing this since 2008.
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24-Hour Turnaround on Most Jobs
Downtime costs fleets money and owner operators miles. We move most contaminated filters through our full process and back out the door within 24 hours.
Our Services
Other DPF and DOC Services We Provide
Oil and antifreeze contamination is only part of what shows up in our shop. If your truck, tractor, or equipment needs something beyond contamination cleaning, we handle the rest in house.
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DPF Cleaning
Standard soot buildup gets the full inspection, conditioning, and testing treatment, not a quick blow and bake.
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DOC Cleaning
Diesel oxidation catalyst filters get the same hands-on cleaning and three-stage testing as your DPF.
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DPF & DOC Combination Cleaning
Need both filters done at once? We clean them side by side and save you a second trip.
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Domestic Light Truck DPF Cleaning
Pickup trucks and light-duty domestic diesels get a cleaning process sized right for their filters.
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Hydrocleaning
Our hydrocleaning and flushing process is built into every job that needs more than heat and air.
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DPF Bung Repair & Replacement
Cracked or stripped sensor bungs get repaired or replaced so your filter goes back on the truck sealed right.
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Fleet Spare Filter Services
Mechanics and line bosses managing multiple trucks can keep spare filters cleaned, tested, and ready to swap.
Trusted by Repeat Customers
Why Owner Operators Keep Coming Back
DPF Solutions on Google
Questions about your filter? Call the shop, or find us on Facebook.
Common Questions
Oil and Antifreeze-Soaked Filter Cleaning Questions
Can an oil soaked DPF actually be cleaned, or does it need to be replaced?
Most oil soaked filters can be cleaned if the contamination hasn't baked in for too long. We inspect every filter before we quote anything, and we'll tell you honestly if a filter is too far gone to save rather than running it through our process anyway.
What's different about antifreeze soaked DPF cleaning versus regular DPF cleaning?
Antifreeze leaves a residue that standard blow and bake cleaning can't break down, and in some cases heat alone can bake it further into the substrate. Our conditioning and hydrocleaning process is built to target that residue specifically, which is why it takes a different approach than a routine soot cleaning.
Do you offer DOC filter cleaning for oil or coolant contamination too?
Yes. Diesel oxidation catalysts get contaminated the same way DPFs do, and we run DOC filter cleaning through the same inspection, conditioning, and testing process. If your truck or equipment needs both filters addressed, we can do DPF and DOC cleaning together in one visit.
Do you handle contaminated filters from fleets, not just single trucks?
Yes, fleet diesel filter cleaning for contaminated filters is a regular part of our work. We clean filters off semis, school buses, tractors, and heavy equipment for fleet managers and mechanics across Lansing, Detroit, Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, and Ann Arbor, and we can set up spare filter rotation so a contaminated filter never takes a truck out of service.
Get Your Contaminated Filter Cleaned Right
Don't let an oil or antifreeze soaked filter turn into an unnecessary replacement bill. Call Holly and the team at DPF Solutions, and we'll inspect it, clean it the right way, and have it back in your hands within 24 hours.
Or call or text us directly at (517) 515-4431