Ad blue warning - can anyone give any pointers on the analysed data?

[Lucasimo]

Hi everyone,

Whilst driving to Devon at the weekend the ad blue warning light in the speedo came on and a beep sound appeared. It said I needed to top up adblue in 600 miles. I bought some adblue and put in about 5L and did the ignition off procedure. The bloody light and beep still kept coming all the way back to Bristol. On Sunday I dismantled the tank and cleaned the adblue dispenser which goes into the catalyst and it didn't appear to be blocked up with crystallized deposits. Now I have 450 miles to a potential no-start condition and the earliest I can get the dealer or my usual Vee Dub services garage to look at it is in early September. So I'm going to attempt to fix this myself or take the diagnostic cable and my VCDS cable to Shambala festival on 21st August and hope that it doesn't leave me in the shit. I am presuming I can remove the SCR lock when it gets to zero using VCDS as I have seen this in the options.

I have also done some analysis on the SCR system and I would be grateful if someone on here can take a look at these results and see if anything looks weird. I know from reading posts on here that sometimes the adblue level sensor has a glitch and resets itself randomly. I don't really want to chance this though and would much prefer to get this bloody thing fixed as soon as possible.

I also sometimes get an EGR fault saying "insufficient flow". Though this happens about 1 time per 2 weeks and it wasn't active when this adblue warning appeared. I am due to get the EGR replaced soon. Perhaps the Adblue the system is saying its overfilled? - though looking at the tank it is definitely able to hold 15L at least. Perhaps its the actual sensor which is knackered - though I'm not sure about this since it can detect the amount in the tank so I'm not sure why it is giving me a warning? Pump seems to be working OK as well.

I'd rather not buy a whole new tank and pump and sensor if the cause is something very straightforward.

Any help will be massively appreciated since I know how bloody annoying this adblue thing is!

Thanks,

Luke

 

[Salty Spuds]

When you put “about 5L in” how much was it actually asking for?

 

[mmi]

It said I needed to top up adblue in 600 miles.

Were the fill amounts shown, or just the range? Any pictures of the dash display?

Please post

1) Full VCDS Auto-Scan​

2) Engine (address 01) blockmap data file (ignition on, engine off)​

3) Instruments (address 17) bloxkmap data file (ignition on, engine off)​

4) Engine blockmap data file (engine idling)​

5) Instruments (address 17) bloxkmap data file (engine idling)​

If you are still taking the van for a drive yet another set of files (disable stop/start for the journey) after (at least) 20 minute drive

6) Engne blockmap data file (engine idling)​

7) Instruments (address 17) bloxkmap data file (engine idling)​

​

​

VCDS > Applications > Controller Channel Map >


Tick/fill boxes as above and click Go
The result files blockmap... etc. will be in folder C:\Ross-Tech\VCDS\Logs\....

 

[Lucasimo]

When you put “about 5L in” how much was it actually asking for?

Hi, so it didn't see in the warning message how much to put in. Just came up with a message saying "no engine start in 650 miles". It says there is 17l in the tank at present with a 100mm fill level.

 

[Lucasimo]

Were the fill amounts shown, or just the range? Any pictures of the dash display?

Please post

1) Full VCDS Auto-Scan​

2) Engne (address 01) blockmap data file (ignition on, engine off)​

3) Instruments (address 17) bloxkmap data file (ignition on, engine off)​

4) Engne blockmap data file (engine idling)​

5) Instruments (address 17) bloxkmap data file (engine idling)​

If you are still taking the van for a drive yet another set of files (disable stop/start for the journey) after (at least) 20 minute drive

6) Engne blockmap data file (engine idling)​

7) Instruments (address 17) bloxkmap data file (engine idling)​

​

​

VCDS > Applications > Controller Channel Map >

View attachment 297493
Tick/fill boxes as above and click Go
The result files blockmap... etc. will be in folder C:\Ross-Tech\VCDS\Logs\....

That's really helpful - many thanks for this. On a lunch break soon so I'll do the first scans and save the log files and take photos of the dash display etc. I reckon I can fit in a drive as well for 20 mins and post results etc.

 

[Lucasimo]

So here's all the files. I have done a full auto scan, plus done 01 and 17 both without engine running and with the engine running. I then disabled stop start using long coding in address 61. Ill go for a 20 min drive later on and then run 01 and 17 again and post results. I have both CSV and TXT files of the 01 and 17 logs.

 

[Lucasimo]

Just got back from a 40 min drive. Here's the latest analysis.

I reckon this will be a good learning experience if I can fix this annoying Adblue problem with help from the great people on this forum

Given that I wasn't massively low in Adblue when the fault appeared I wonder if its something up with the level sensor itself or maybe the Adblue pump. Either way if the system needs replacing, then this is something I can certainly do since I can put the vehicle on axle stands on one side to get under the van with more room. I managed to safely remove the tank and take a good look at the Adblue injector on Sunday and it was a tight squeeze under there.

With the EGR valve soon needing to be replaced as well plus me spotting what looks very much like a weeping crankshaft oil seal today, I am thinking the next van will be an electric VW van since these modern diesel engines are such an annoying money pit. Even the EGR valve is quite a challenge to replace and I know plenty of people have issues with this as well.

The van drives very well otherwise. Just bad luck that it's at that mileage when some things are starting to wear out. It's done 169314 miles and I'm the 3rd owner. It's got full service history as well from a VW garage.

 

[Lucasimo]

Forgot to mention that Adblue range indicator is showing 450 miles to no engine start situation. It started beeping at 600 miles to go when I was in Devon at the weekend and then it went to 450 miles yesterday.

 

[mmi]

Whilst driving to Devon at the weekend the ad blue warning light in the speedo came on and a beep sound appeared.

Any fault codes at that time?

I know from reading posts on here that sometimes the adblue level sensor has a glitch and resets itself randomly.

Well, I'm afraid it has been just speculation - no actual sensor readings were never provided.

Anyways, on your van the sensor itself reports perfectly fine as does the ECU calculate the remaining range correctly. However, on dash the numbers get distorted.

01-ENGINE
IDE03142	Remaining vehicle distance until reducing agent deficiency	10058.5	km
IDE10249	Reducing agent fill level sensor: act. value	101	mm
17-INSTRUMENTS
IDE00778	Urea operating range	450	km
IDE00849-MAS03236	Urea status 1-Urea warning level 2	active

Forgot to mention that Adblue range indicator is showing 450 miles to no engine start situation.

Interesting that the dash reports in miles...

 

[Lucasimo]

Weird isn't it. I removed the adblue tank yesterday and didn't see any new fault codes appear when I scanned the van on Sunday morning before I removed the adblue tank to get a good look at the pump etc. I wonder what's up with the instrument panel...Is there any way to reset this back to something sensible using VCDS?

 

[Lucasimo]

Or maybe I just leave it and see what happens. That's a big risk though and I would really not want to be stranded in Kelmarsh without being able to start the bloody van!

 

[Gordon Bennett]

This has been on here a few times. I myself had the No Start in 600 Miles warning. After I'd topped up the ad blue it didn't reset and continued the countdown. I read on here to fill up with diesel over 2/3rds full, then give it a quick run. I did this and it reset itself within about 8 miles. Worth a try?

 

[Gordon Bennett]

The thread about it is on here somewhere but I don't know how to get the link to it up. You could search trough my previous postings?

 

[Lucasimo]

This has been on here a few times. I myself had the No Start in 600 Miles warning. After I'd topped up the ad blue it didn't reset and continued the countdown. I read on here to fill up with diesel over 2/3rds full, then give it a quick run. I did this and it reset itself within about 8 miles. Worth a try?

Certainly worth a try I guess. I could take it up the motorway for a 15 -20 minute drive

 

[Gordon Bennett]

Don’t forget to fill up with fuel!!

 

[Lucasimo]

Don’t forget to fill up with fuel!!

Yes! For sure. I'll try that tomorrow after it gets it's MoT.

 

[Howzat]

The thread about it is on here somewhere but I don't know how to get the link to it up. You could search trough my previous postings?

G

Post in thread 'Ad blue reset ?'

20 May 2025

I had this issue after I topped my ad blue up last week. It was the old 650 miles to non start message. It didn't reset so after reading a few threads I added diesel up to more than 2/3rds full, took it for a 8 mile run and it reset.

• Gordon Bennett

• 

 

[manfrotto]

or this one...

 

[mmi]

I wonder what's up with the instrument panel...

I think the culprit still resides in the ECU. There are a few lines in the blockmap which indicate that ECU is aware of NOx reduction deficiency.

Normally only the line "marginally increased" reports NOx emissions (a snippet from the last log - of the longer drive).

IDE09648	EGR travel diagnosis: slightly increased NOx emission	37.4	kg/h
IDE09649	EGR travel diagnosis: strongly increased NOx emission	0	kg/h
IDE09650	AGR travel diag.: increased NOx emission effect. throttle valve	37.3	kg/h
IDE09651	EGR travel diagnosis: marginally increased NOx emission	-0.2	kg/h

The blockmap line below seems to deviate from normally running engines - normal status is "not_active" in my logs of numerous T6. Certainly it's a bit strange that the dash AdBlue error is not reported as a fault code.

ENG110382-ENG151588

SCR inducem system status-inducement system active

active

The engine seems to have the updated software "Part No SW: 04L 906 056 KA version 6163" so that should rule out a false alarm.

My guess the cure would be to replace the AdBlue unit. Possibly the AdBlue pump is simply worn out - it's been pumping pressure of 6 bars for years by now. Unfortunately there is no actual pressure sensor - just a calculated value which seems to be fine, of course, as well as suggested value for AdBlue flow.

IDE10241	Reducing agent pump module relative press.: calculated	5811	mbar
IDE11219	Reducing agent inj. quantity: spec. value	5	mg/s

I guess you have checked for leaks in the system ==> VW Transporter T6 AdBlue leakage SCR system | HELLA

 

[Lucasimo]

Many thanks for this. I'm thinking the replacement would be to buy a whole new tank and pump system and install it? Looks to be quite straightforward since I have already removed the tank before to take a closer look at things. Am I correct in assuming that the pump is bonded to the tank itself and comes as one complete unit ? My thought is to buy a pump and tank rather than needing to buy an adblue injector but maybe best to buy a new injector as well? Just need to completely clarify exactly what parts you mean when you say "replace the Adblue unit" before I spend money on parts. In fact, when I tested the pump with engine running and the pipe connector that feeds the injector removed, it was a little dribble coming out of it like a drip each second - rather than a jet of Adblue coming out. Maybe this observation didn't mean anything but I would have expected more of a jet rather than a drip. Injector end was really clean with no deposits of urea on it. Been under the van checking for urea leaks on pipelines and where the pipe connects to the injector and didn't see any evidence of anything leaking.