Question about adblue

[Itsrelfy]

Morning all

 

can anyone answer a question relating to the adblue screen on the dashboard display of my 2016 se l exec. 

 

Basically, I’ve had the car 1 week 1 now it’s got 25000 on the clock. When I picked it up it said the range for the adblue was 2500 miles. I’ve done about 300 miles and it still says 2500 miles. 

 

Is this this Normal? I’ve looked in the manual but it don’t really say how or when the display changes. 

 

I have no worning lights or anything and the car the car appears to be working fine. 

 

Thanks

adrian. 

[Penpusher]

I think it only displays the range in 500 mile increments until it gets nearer the point where it needs filling.  Therefore, if there was an actual range of 2,700 miles when you bought the car, it would show it as 2,500 to the nearest 500 miles and it would now have an actual range of 2,400 miles after you've driven 300 miles that would still be rounded to 2,500 miles on the display.

 

The consumption of Adblue can also vary in the same way as fuel according to the type and length of journey you make.  The range of Adblue display will be like the range of fuel in your tank in that's its based on recent consumption.   I've often started a longer journey  after a couple of weeks of short journeys around town and noticed that the range of fuel after 100 miles is greater than when I first started!

[BriskodaJeff]

Can't comment on the increments, but the range staying the same for a while is completely normal. Mine has said 6,000 for at least the last 3 weeks (c1,500 miles driven during that time). 

 

Edited 5 March, 2018 by BriskodaJeff

[Ootohere]

I collected in November 2016 a new Alhambra 2.0l TDI 150ps SCR DSG with 10 miles on it and a 7,000 mile range.

(17 litre tank.)

At the first fill up it showed a 7,000 mile range, and then 7,500 at the next Ad-blue top up i did.

At the last one filled at the Dealership it showed a 7,500 mile range, and 1,200 miles later is showing a 7,000 mile range.

 

The VW Group Cheat is still there i suspect....

Edited 26 June, 2018 by Offski

[BriskodaJeff]

How accurate was the 7,000 forecast @AwaoffSki? 

[Ootohere]

Nothing like, i filled up when it had done over 7,000 miles and it was showing 1,200 miles range.

 

Makes a big difference doing long runs. As it does with the diesel. 

10 miles to the litre diesel minimum on long runs not hanging about, 630 miles for 63 litres,

to 730 miles for 63 litres with lots of Coasting Function used.

 

Around town for a week doing 3 miles only cold start will use up a 4.546 litres for the 21 miles or so.

& the car stinks like it is running kerosene or aero fuel.

Not a run about, hence it sits parked and not used as a daily going shopping.   It would be drinking Ad-blue as well.

Edited 5 March, 2018 by AwaoffSki

[The Wanderer]

When I first picked up my car the stated range was 9000kms. After a few days driving it stayed for a long time at around a range of 10000 - adding the distance driven with that left. By the time I filled it up the adblue at a station (after about 8000kms) the total range had gone up to 12000kms.

[xman]

Interestingly, a little quoted fact is that ADBLUE has a maximum lifespan of 1-2 years from date of production. That is in sealed containers stored on optimal conditions. Once exposed to air, it starts to deteriorate. Poor quality ADBLUE effects SCR system life.

 

http://www.bluebasic.rs/eng/index.html

 

So another reason for low mileage drivers to avoid the modern diesel.

Don't buy adblue and store it in your garage for months, use it straight away.

[BriskodaJeff]

Thanks for the info @The Wanderer - tallies with what my car is saying and others including the OP have found. Don't suppose you remember what range it said you had left just before you topped it up?

[Ootohere]

No need to be 'ripped off' buying containers to store, go to filling station pumps, and if told by the assistant for goods vehicles only that your vehicle is used commercially and the pump does not fill to quickly, and get them to call the owner of the filling station if they totally refuse you using the Ad-blue pump.

 

As to buying containers, just buy what you are putting in and if you buy extra do not open it until you are going to put it in.

None of it is rocket science.

[The Wanderer]

1 hour ago, BriskodaJeff said:

Thanks for the info @The Wanderer - tallies with what my car is saying and others including the OP have found. Don't suppose you remember what range it said you had left just before you topped it up?

I think it was 4,000 or 4,500 - and I'd probably done between 8-8,500kms by then.

 

Filling it up from the pump was a doddle - definitely my preferred option from now on, even though the nearest pump is a bit out of the way.

[BriskodaJeff]

1 hour ago, The Wanderer said:

Filling it up from the pump was a doddle - definitely my preferred option from now on, even though the nearest pump is a bit out of the way.

How much did you put in, and how did you calculate it was the right amount? I've read some horror stories of people over-filling and having to have the system drained etc.

[The Wanderer]

2 hours ago, BriskodaJeff said:

How much did you put in, and how did you calculate it was the right amount? I've read some horror stories of people over-filling and having to have the system drained etc.

I just filled it till the pump sensor kicked in as with a petrol pump. Why did people have to have the system drained? I would have thought if they overfilled it would just overflow (with potential damage to paintwork). Am I missing something?!

[Gizmo]

@BriskodaJeffI tend to get about 9K miles out of a tank, which takes about 15 litres to fill if you run it down to 500 miles remaining.

[PeteB99]

Well that was easy

Got the 1500 miles AdBlue warning,

popped into a garage with an AdBlue pump and put in 10 litres, took less than 30.seconds.  Now showing 8000 miles, cost a grand total of £7.49

Although when I went to pay the cashier was keen for me to move out of the hgv spot because they only had 2 fuel pumps for hgvs operational and I was blocking one of them

(I didn't wait for the AdBlue pump sensor to kick in, but the AdBlue dashboard warning said  2 and 1/4 gallons which I ready reckoned was 10 and a bit litres)

[Baggins]

I use it in my hgv, the amount a car will use will be miniscule in comparison. My 190tdi has used about a litre in a couple of months. Not something to worry about until you get down to a few hundred miles range.

[Mickey43]

Just filled my adblue up the other day.  Halfords doing 10 litres for £11 at the moment.  Used to be £14 as I recall.

[Ootohere]

We will see in 2019 & on what the vehicles being built with  VW TDI engines use in the way of Ad-blue when they are meeting the WLTP figures and the ad-blue / SCR and engine management 

is doing the job and not so much kidology is happening with the system.  Implausible / irregular usage as many have now.

 

I can see VW Group and others needing to fit bigger ad-blue tanks to vehicles to actually have the low emissions they require.

Edited 15 May, 2018 by Offski

[BriskodaJeff]

Is there still a requirement to turn on ignition but not start the car for 30 seconds after the refill (or some such jiggery-pokery) to get the range to reset? It was mentioned as required in early versions of the new Superb. Mine is MY17 and I've still got 3k miles range so not doing it yet, but it remains on my "things to worry about" list until I've done it for the first time.

[PeteB99]

20 minutes ago, BriskodaJeff said:

Is there still a requirement to turn on ignition but not start the car for 30 seconds after the refill (or some such jiggery-pokery) to get the range to reset? It was mentioned as required in early versions of the new Superb. Mine is MY17 and I've still got 3k miles range so not doing it yet, but it remains on my "things to worry about" list until I've done it for the first time.

I didn't, my car is registered May 17

[hwr1983]

Received my 18-plate Superb a couple of weeks ago (has 900 miles on it now) and when we picked it up, AdBlue said 6500 miles.  It hasn't changed yet, and I'm guessing that the mainly long motorway runs the car gets, means its sipping the AdBlue nicely

[MaddicIrl]

I wait until the refill indicates over 10 litres, buy a 10 litre canister and add it. Not the cheapest method but no storage or overfill issues.

[rutterfordharvey]

The AdBlue usage / warning indicator is not very sensitive or accurate, in my experience it gives an indication of how much has been used and nothing more than that. The secret of a happy driving life is not to let your car get down to nearly empty  or if you do like dicing with running out, have a spare bottle of Adblue in the boot. I fill up at one of the motorway service areas near where I live and pay around 90p per litre of Adblue and get around 700 miles per litre.

[BriskodaJeff]

Thought I'd resurrect this one rather than start a new thread to describe my experience for those who haven't done a refill yet. In short, it was a complete non-event. It's a relief, because this was the last big worry about buying the car as I've never had one that needs adblue before and I'd read horror stories on here of overfilling leading to tanks having to be drained etc.

 

Yesterday I got the 1,500 mile range warning, with a minimum refill of 1 gallon and maximum 2.5 gallons. A bit of schoolboy arithmetic told me that would let me get 10 litres in there. I declined Shell's kind offer of 1.5 litres for £9.99 (who on earth buys at those prices?) and nipped into Halfords for 10 litres at £11. Filled up while standing outside the shop.

 

The container has a filler nozzle that fits into the car's adblue tank neck rather than screwing onto the filler cap but it worked just fine anyway. Be warned, it's a bit heavy to hold while filling, but not disastrously so. Five minutes later I was done. Started the car and the range warning came on then disappeared almost immediately. Checked the adblue range and it now says 8,000 miles. I suspect this will go up to 9,500 when I hit the motorway on Monday morning.

 

Happy bunny this evening, and hope this gives some comfort to anyone else concerned about it.

[The Wanderer]

If you can find a garage with adblue pumps near you, it's even simpler (and cheap too - I've paid about 5 euros each time I've done it to fill a half empty tank). This site locates the nearest source: https://www.findadblue.com/