AdBlue Discussion and Issues

[Tourershine]

My local Shell garage has an Adblue pump, I just top mine up every 6 weeks or so.
It's far easier, no mess, and cost only a few pounds each time that way, plus no barrel taking up room in my garage.

 

[simon]

I had a similar issue. The issue resolved itself as soon as I topped up with diesel! No problems since ...touch wood, morning Mr magpie, etc

 

[Simon Kay]

When I bought my van April it said 4,500 miles to top up, 5k later it’s only reading 3,500 miles, can’t seem to get my head round it, maybe worth topping up in case I get stranded somewhere

Mine took ages to come down from 7500km's range, i don't think the range dropped at all for about the first 3000km's or so

 

[superchargedpolo]

Had quite a useful chat with VW roadside assist guy yesterday. He had worked with VW roadside assist for the last 15 years and was a master mechanic with VW before that.

He had never seen the fault codes that my adblue system threw up yesterday but confirmed it was a fault with the adblue system and I had done nothing wrong.

Apparently he gets called out a lot for this sort of issue and said VW are having a nightmare with it. There will probably be a recall for vehicles with this problem soon, but they haven’t figured it out yet.

It’s a software issue with the adblue level sensor. It basically gets confused and starts showing incorrect levels. This can be related to overfilling but can happen at anytime, like mine did.

He managed to fix mine by forcing the system to recalibrate and manually inputting the current level. It works now but for how long I don’t know. This is all the dealers can do at the moment also. Changing hardware shouldn’t make any difference as it’s a software issue.

Anyway, hopefully this will help anyone else with adblue issues.

 

[Loz]

The Master Tech on the Cali forum has shed some light on ADBlue issues yesterday with an interesting statement on warranty as well. I quote:

Hi so two problems there first of all if the fuel level drops below a quarter of a tank the dpf will not regenerate and will put the engine light on. It used to be that you would get a dpf light up on the dash and this would indicate the vehicle needs help to carry out a regen, this was not a fault light it was just a I need help light. The problem now is this light will not illuminate below a quarter of a tank due to a software change and the vehicle will not regen belota quarter of a tank due to the fuel not cooling enough during the process. If it is the case that the regen has not happened due to low fuel then this is not covered by warranty.

Adblue is a different issue on the dash the vehicle will display how much adblue it requires either in liters or gallons depending on your country but this can be changed by the user. The adblue level is worked out by an ultrasonic sensor the problem with this is if you over fill the adblue then the tank thinks it’s empty and the system shuts down. The adblue tank on your vehicle holds 13 liters if it is a case that the tank has been over filled then this is not covered by warranty. The system has to be drained and reset then refilled. I would always advise to that if you are filling using a bottle then look on the dash to see how much it needs and pour in 1/2 a liter less than it asks for. If you fill the tank up and it comes up out of the filler neck then it’s over full and the system will shut down.

We know about the 1/4 tank issue as @PukkaT6 demonstrated earlier this year. But the over filling is potentially a russian roulette issue as most are getting away with using ADBlue pumps until it clicks but I think we need to tame a reading in litres of the adblue screen and fill just short of that to be safe.

he goes on to say:

we as dealers were only told of the quarter of a tank issue about 2 months ago even we had not been given the info from the factory so go easy on your dealer

and

you maybe lucky (brimming the tank) but be careful when filling as I have had to repair a lot of T6 variant vehicles because of an adblue overfill.

 

[Tourershine]

The Master Tech on the Cali forum has shed some light on ADBlue issues yesterday with an interesting statement on warranty as well. I quote:



We know about the 1/4 tank issue as @PukkaT6 demonstrated earlier this year. But the over filling is potentially a russian roulette issue as most are getting away with using ADBlue pumps until it clicks but I think we need to tame a reading in litres of the adblue screen and fill just short of that to be safe.

he goes on to say:
and

Reading that, I wonder if they'd advise against the way I do my Adblue on a fuel pump, meaning it just fills the tank until the pump detects it full and shuts off. I've never had any issues with mine, but if that reads correct, it would suggest you are at risk of the sensor assuming the tank is empty and shutting down the van in these situations.

 

[Loz]

Reading that, I wonder if they'd advise against the way I do my Adblue on a fuel pump, meaning it just fills the tank until the pump detects it full and shuts off. I've never had any issues with mine, but if that reads correct, it would suggest you are at risk of the sensor assuming the tank is empty and shutting down the van in these situations.

yes, that is what he is saying, It would be easy to just read the adblue volume on the mfd and just let go of the pump when close, it lasts ages so better safe than sorry...

 

[Tourershine]

yes, that is what he is saying, It would be easy to just read the adblue volume on the mfd and just let go of the pump when close, it lasts ages so better safe than sorry...

Makes sense, I shall adapt the way I re-fill mine from now on.
I'm a sod for keeping fuel topped right up, and not letting anything drop below a level, and do the same with my Adblue. (watching too many zombie films)

 

[superchargedpolo]

Excuse my French, but what an utter piece of shit.

So you can't let it go less than a 1/4 tank of Adblue, otherwise you get a fault code.
If you fill it too much, you get a fault code.
This is possibly the worst piece of engineering I have ever encountered on any VW in my 25 years of driving.

As a side note. The really helpful Master Tech I met yesterday runs his own personal T6. He made a point of ensuring he got one of the very last euro5 versions. I rest my case.

@Loz Thanks for the notes from the Cali forum.

 

[Loz]

Excuse my French, but what an utter piece of crap.

So you can't let it go less than a 1/4 tank of Adblue, otherwise you get a fault code.
If you fill it too much, you get a fault code.
@Loz Thanks for the notes from the Cali forum.

Not as hard cut as that, I think I read it as if you need to regen and you are below a 1/4 tank of FUEL it won't and if you repeat this the regen never gets done and will lead to the fault.
But in most cases you will get your regens done when you have more fuel or drive hard enough and not to get in that position..

 

[Insert Coin]

I did a 130 odd mile round trip yesterday, roughly 3/4 of a tank of juice when I left and mostly sat at 75mph there and back (had new wheels fitted at Bognor Motors, pics to follow on the appropriate thread later).

Anyway, the van is wanting to do a regen this morning, there's less than 1/4 tank of fuel and the fan is on and the engine is red hot when you switch off and walk away.

You'd think after a long run it would take the opportunity to have a good clear out rather than waiting until today when I'm only doing a short 5 mile trip to work.

 

[Loz]

More info and example from the vw guru today and an explanation about the 1/4 tank limit due to fuel heating up;
@VW Guru said
Ok so the fuel travels from the tank via the lift pump through the filter then through the pressurization pump it then goes to the high pressure fuel pump from there part of the fuel then goes back down the return while the rest goes to the fuel rain part of the fuel then goes back down the return line while part of the fuel is held at 2000bar pressure in the fuel rail it is then injected by the injectors when required.
The unused fuel then goes back via the leak off pipes.
During DPF regen fuel is injected into the engine on the exhaust stroke and combusts in the exhaust heating the dpf up, there is no direct injection into the exhaust it’s all via the injectors.
The dpf can at times reach 800 degrees C, however it normally operates around 650 degrees C the whole engine bay gets very hot during this process and in fact it’s not a worry of the fuel overheating it’s because the fuel is used to keep the vital components cooled. If the fuel gets too hot then this cooling effect is no longer present and can lead to component failure.
You can drive your vehicles down past a quarter of a tank on a journey that’s fine however as soon as possible it needs to be refilled past a quarter.
~Say for instance you drive from Yorkshire to Cornwall and you have a quarter of a tank left then you think oh that’s ok im doing local trips while I’m down here and I will refuel before I go back, unbeknown to you just before you stopped the dpf was about to start a regen phase ( remember a T6 will go into regen every two hours of driving accumulative) you start up drive your van for 5 miles stop do the same again and again the ecu has realized you have less than a quarter of a tank and will not allow regen to start, now you are clogging up your dpf.
If the vehicle starts a regen process it needs to finish, if you are above a quarter of a tank the process starts, you are using more fuel, you stop just below a quarter the ecu will try to finish the process it started even under a quarter to complete the cycle, you drive short trips the engine ecu allows it because the fuel temperature is within spec and the system has to carry out either full or partial regen because the process has started there is no fuel station near, because the fuel burn rate is so high during regen you don’t have enough fuel to make the fuel station and have to call the AA.
I know what options I would prefer for the sake of £20

 

[t6blo]

I think my 2016 140 must be a Euro 5 - no adblue filler inside fuel flap
Is this even possible?

 

[Tourershine]

I think my 2016 140 must be a Euro 5 - no adblue filler inside fuel flap
Is this even possible?

From memory, Euro 6 was introduced late 2016 (66 plate) I think.

 

[Davenjo]

From memory, Euro 6 was introduced late 2016 (66 plate) I think.

There were some Euro 6 engines throughout 2016 but these were the 102 and, I think, 84 - first Euro 6 150 were shipped around September 2016 (I ordered a 140 Euro 5 in March and eventually got my 150 Euro 6 in October).

@t6blo - 140 and no ad blue filler means you definitely have a Euro 5.

 

[t6blo]

Thanks - assume having a euro5 would only be an issue inside London or other big cities ?

Don’t know if I’d have relished the regular adblu top ups anyway

 

[Dieseldonkey]

There were some Euro 6 engines throughout 2016 but these were the 102 and, I think, 84 - first Euro 6 150 were shipped around September 2016 (I ordered a 140 Euro 5 in March and eventually got my 150 Euro 6 in October).

@t6blo - 140 and no ad blue filler means you definitely have a Euro 5.

I think the passenger carriers had the Euro 6 engine earlier than the PV. My 150 Shuttle was registered in Feb 2016 and is a Euro 6.

 

[andys]

It’s easy to tell the difference, all 140 engines are Eu5, all 150 engines are Eu6

 

[Davenjo]

I think the passenger carriers had the Euro 6 engine earlier than the PV. My 150 Shuttle was registered in Feb 2016 and is a Euro 6.

I think you are right - I remember being frustrated that I couldn’t order one in a PV and not getting any info out of VW as to what engine would be delivered until quite late in the day - think it was around July/August before it was confirmed I’d be getting a 150 Euro 6.

 

[Kilby]

The AdBlue warning light came on. I stopped at the garage and refilled it. Followed instructions in manual regarding restart. AdBlue warning light still on and still displaying 650 miles NO START.

WTF? I'm over 650 miles from home with a van full of wife and kids.... HELP!!

I have had the same issue today with my T6 204 kombi. I took it into the dealer they said that I have filled the adblu up too much. They have drained and refilled the adblu error light has now gone.