Adblue warning.

[Andy Short]

I was driving along calmly today when: Beep. An orange spanner and 'pouring bottle' appear. A message: In 650 miles, your engine will not restart and mass extinctions will follow*.

I know I had about 2500 miles range when I recently looked.
Could it be a leak, faulty sensor or a prank?
I had driven on some bumpy and wet roads, but nothing out of the ordinary.
The message kept flashing up.
I noticed, a few miles later after turning on to the M5, it had stopped the warning sign.
I indexed round to the Adblue screen: Back to 2500 mile range.
Could it be a dirty plug contact that needs a bit of WD40 or sticky level indicator?

* not a precise quotation.....

 

[Higgidav]

It’s a fairly common occurrence and does not necessarily mean you have an issue. Lots of us have had the same warning and then it reverts back to normal. Just keep an eye on it and make sure not to fill more than the recommended amount on the MFD. If the problem persists you might need a software update but VW will only do the update if it’s a persistent issue.

 

[Andy Short]

Ok. Thanks for the help. I was wondering what to do if it happened again.

 

[jimc91]

As @Higgidav says this has happened to a few of us, it’s important not to refill your adblue if you know you have enough in the tank as overfilling it will cause more problems. It seems to be an issue with the sensor reading the level. Mine reset and I’ve done 1200 miles or so without it reoccurring. I spoke to VW Croydon about it but they had never come across it so no obvious fix there. Eventually someone on here will work it out, they normally do

 

[Vanderlust]

Hi posted re this on an earlier thread. On my t6 problem seems to occur on motorway driving when the low engine revs keeps the exhaust temp cool and allows deposit on sensor in the exhaust. I have found that if the dpf does a regen it cleans the sensor the fault messages clear and the correct adblue level returns. With the frequency of regens don’t think you would get to the no engine start. On long motorway runs every 300 miles or so I put the dsg in manual drop a gear or 2 till the rpm is above 2000 for 3/4 miles and the 650 miles no engine start has never recurred. I didn’t get the software update as some have said it increases the adblue consumption.

 

[jimc91]

Hi posted re this on an earlier thread. On my t6 problem seems to occur on motorway driving when the low engine revs keeps the exhaust temp cool and allows deposit on sensor in the exhaust. I have found that if the dpf does a regen it cleans the sensor the fault messages clear and the correct adblue level returns. With the frequency of regens don’t think you would get to the no engine start. On long motorway runs every 300 miles or so I put the dsg in manual drop a gear or 2 till the rpm is above 2000 for 3/4 miles and the 650 miles no engine start has never recurred. I didn’t get the software update as some have said it increases the adblue consumption.

Interesting, how does the sensor in the exhaust affect the van deciding the adblue level or is it a case of one “fault” triggers another

 

[roadtripper]

Interesting, how does the sensor in the exhaust affect the van deciding the adblue level or is it a case of one “fault” triggers another

I wonder if it causes the van to vastly over estimate the consumption rate of Adblue (because it doesn't seem to be working) and therefore shorten the predicted range?

As I tend to drift along with heavies on long roadtrips that's one to keep an eye on. Funny how many vehicles the occasional spot of... spirited... driving is good for them - with the XC70 you need to do it to stop corrosion of the rear discs.

 

[Vanderlust]

Hi jimc91. That’s a good question.I had this error message 3 times the 3rd heading for Hull for the ferry. Once the countdown got to about 400 miles the message cleared. It was a service manager of a VW dealer in Holland who gave me this explanation and “remedy” and it tied in with all 3 occasions on my van. The 2nd time I was heading home. En route to the dealer to investigate I was low on fuel, filled up and a few miles later the message cleared. Likely by a regen as my van won’t regen with less than 1/4 tank. The fault was listed on the diagnostics check but the dealer said they couldn’t investigate further as VWs instruction linked to the fault code stated “ Reset - take no further action”.
This suggests to me that the message is not a result of an actual fault with the adblue system. Surely there would be some instruction eg check level sensor a ,connection xy, fuse z etc. More likely a defect inherent in the design and operation of the adblue/emission control system in certain circumstances. It seems likely that VWs fix a software update which increases the adblue consumption/ regen frequency is just an easy fix workaround rather than resolving the actual cause of the problem.
What hacks me off is that all these “no engine start” messages were built in by VW to prevent the wiley motorist trying to cheat the adblue system when in fact it was VW who were doing the cheating on an industrial scale.

 

[Simondo]

I had this . Took to VW dealer. Fox damage to Adblue injector sensor and nox wires . £821 later sorted . Got home looked in road and found the rest . Little shits . I filled with adblue a couple days before and spilled little . Must of attracted em under the van . common problem apparently ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Simondo]

Air rifle incoming