After reading all the stories about the DPF additive being an expensive top-up, I was dreading the day when I had to do mine. Well it finally happened! The glowplug light would come on for a while then go out for a while. Turning the ignition off and on again didn't always get it to go out. The light was coming on more frequently and it was only a matter of time before the additive tank became empty. A call to my local Skoda dealer resulted in a quote of £280 to refill it. I looked for a cheaper alternative. AdBlue seemed to be very cheap but was it the right stuff for my engine? And how to get the stuff into the tank with its little special connectors? A lot of trawling on the net came up with the following http://www.volkspage.net/technik/ssp/ssp/SSP_330.pdf A most interesting read. It explains in detail that the DPF in my car is mounted well away from the engine where the exhaust gases are cooler and that the additive was iron-based. AdBlue is a solution of urea and isn't suitable for cooler exhaust gases. A search on eBay came up with a DPF additive called EOLYS which is used in Volvos, Peugots, Citroens and Fords. Try a search for Volvo DPF EOLYS. I checked the spec of EOLYS on Google and it is iron based. I got the kit for £45 including delivery. And it is a doddle to use. Connect the vent tube to the vent connection (the smaller one) and the other end to the empty bottle which is to catch any overflow. The other tube connects to the fill connection and here I had to press the tube over the connection because the connection fitting was the wrong size....Volvos must be different. The other end screws onto the bottle of fluid and has a valve which lets the fluid out and the air in at the same time. Hold it up in the air, open the valve, and it fills in about a minute. Job done. The fluid is brown as I've seen described in other posts so I am sure it is the same stuff. The fluid supplied is only 1.5 litres rather than the 4 litres to completely fill the tank but it will be good for around 30,000 miles by which time I will probably have sold it. Net saving - £235. Bingo!

Great find, there was a discussion on here a while ago; I thought it was an Eolys-type fluid but the consensus was that it was Adblue. I guess this might explain why that guy's DPF light came on again shortly after?

The dates on the doc look right for the period in time of Superb 2.0.

The moral of the story is ...................... don't go to your local stealer, find a decent local independent..

My tank was refilled just after Xmas with a full 4 litres, whilst I waited, and cost me £187.00, split down as 4 separate 1 litre bottles @ £43.20 / litre inc. VAT (I think that works out at £36 / litre plus VAT), and £15.00 to fill it.

Excluding delivery that is about the same price for 1 litre of VAG's as for 1.5 litres of Volvo's.

That's nearly £100 less than your stealer wanted.

The pukka VAG stuff comes in 1 litre bottles with the correct fitting valve - all he did was plug it on and go away and do something else, come back 10 minutes later and swap the bottle over and go off again. Repeat until 4 litres completed.

All done whilst I waited.

Hence he only charged me £15 (their normal hourly rate is £70), cos. as he said it only took about 5 minutes of actual work on the car, "give us £15 and we'll call it quits"

Still, you've saved yourself a good few quid so all's good.

Guys: AdBlue has absolutely no link to DPFs! Do not ever pour AdBlue into you DPF tank- it will cost you a lot! AdBlue is used in cars with SCR systems (selective catalytic reduction). SCR neutralises NOx in the exhaust when injected continuously into the exhaust via a special dosing injector. Newer vw cars, denoted Greenline or Bluemotion (mercs called Blutec too) have these systems. DPF catches soot. The additive is usually Cerium but another variety also exists. The additive reduces the temperature at which soot can burn off the DPF matrix in a process called regeneration by as much as 50 deg C. It is only required on cars where the DPF is too far from the engine or where the diesel injection system is not advanced enough to permit post injection to raise exhaust gas temperatures (PD injection system can't post inject, but more modern common rail can). The problem with the Skoda Superb is therefore two fold: it has an obsolete injection system and the DPF is running too cold so the additive is a must. But please don't confuse AdBlue with Cerium. They serve a completely different purpose.

While I agree that the note posted strongly indicates that Eoly was used on UK Passats, a point to note is that around that time VW used both systems, Eoly and AdBlue, on similar cars. In particular, US VAG diesels were equipped with AdBlue based system. This accounts for why myself and a lot of other people were convinced the fluid used is AdBlue.

In view of my current 2012 Roomster 1.6CR fuel consumption in town, though, I'd have been much happier adding Eoly at a known (though high) cost every few years, than having the stupid post injections waste fuel. (Roomster burns 10%-15% more fuel in town use than the 200kg heavier 1.9 Octy Mk1 ever did in like for like driving). Usign Eoly would still have cost me 3 times less than current system costs in excess fuel burned in the exhaust, even refilling at VAG dealership (!).

Bluemotion is the way forward. Combustion optimised for fuel economy and then dosing urea to neutralise NOx. The cost of urea is equivalent to a fuel consumption increase of approx 0.2 l/100km. Compared to the actual fuel savings, relatively insignificant.

The way forward, Yes.

Unfortunately we are looking at a half-a*sed technology from 10 years ago, used for patching up a half-a*sed attempt to get a poorly designed engine / exhaust system combination through the emission regs.

It adds 0.2p per mile to the running cost of the car, which if you compare it to about 0.6p per mile cost of replacement tyres, 1p. per mile for servicing etc. it's not too bad a cost in the WOL cost of the vehicle.

Depending on how long you plan to keep the car, it should be way more economical if you get the DPF removed. Of course i'm not 100% familiar with UK laws, but as i can read from searching it should still be very easy to pass MOT. In the future though it seems like new rules could prevent people from removing the DPF. In Denmark you just inform the government, that you removed the DPF and then you pay a little extra, no problems.

Depending on how long you plan to keep the car, it should be way more economical if you get the DPF removed. Of course i'm not 100% familiar with UK laws, but as i can read from searching it should still be very easy to pass MOT. In the future though it seems like new rules could prevent people from removing the DPF. In Denmark you just inform the government, that you removed the DPF and then you pay a little extra, no problems.

Refilling is mileage dependant rather than time dependant.

1 tankful lasts between 80,000 - 85,000 miles.

In my case that is about every 3 years, but for the "average" driver (assuming they do an "average" of 12,000 miles per year) is nearer 6 - 7 years.

It costs approx. £500 to have the DPF removed and mapped out on the ECU, so for the "average" driver it is only more economical if it is (was!!!) done as soon as it is needed the first refill, and the vehicle is kept for at least a further 12 years - giving a total of 18 years ownership.

Point taken. I just drive too much.

£500 would get me about 15 litres of fluid which would last about 300,000 miles.