Car was reading 1,400 miles range on the old AdBlue, I can add 5.something litres to 8.5 litres, 10 litre container at the ready.  Planned to fill it up until there was only 1/4 of the container left.  Well that was the plan.

 

Then it all went pear shaped.  She probably only took 5 litres of the stuff when it started overflowing and dumping the excess down the fuel filler overflow drain.  Tried it again, no joy, it wasn’t taking any more.  Half of the AdBlue is still in the container and a good dollop all over my drive.  Reset the AdBlue “clock” by leaving the ignition on for over 30 seconds and it was only showing 3,500 miles “range” so only added 2,100 miles.  
 

What have I done wrong?  

bought a diesel! 

A minor inconvenience cf almost 60mpg from a 4x4.  

You don’t have to fill it. Wait until it says nearly empty, about 150 miles left and put in half of a 10 litre container. Will go a long way until the other 5lt is needed.

3 hours ago, DSL said:

What have I done wrong?

Not had the adblue system mapped out.

1 hour ago, DSL said:

A minor inconvenience cf almost 60mpg from a 4x4.  

 

I have no idea how you get that sort of mpg.  If I thrash our 190 TDI, it gets about 32 mpg.  

 

As for AdBlue, I just nip down to the BP station where there's a pump that cuts off when the tanks full.  

14 minutes ago, kenfowler3966 said:

You don’t have to fill it. Wait until it says nearly empty, about 150 miles left and put in half of a 10 litre container. Will go a long way until the other 5lt is needed.

I'm just starting a ~1,300 mile jolly, didn’t want a 10l container rattling around in the boot so I thought, from the indicated amount it would take, I’d get the lion’s share of the container in there.  I was originally going to wait until the indicated max fill amount was over 10l but since it was saying up to 8.5l I thought I’d easily get 3/4 of the container in there.  It’s now saying up to 4.5l, as it was a couple of hundred miles ago this morning, but there is no way any more was going in.  I might try the reset routine tomorrow to see if the range and fill amount changes.

1 minute ago, Schtum said:

 

I have no idea how you get that sort of mpg.  If I thrash our 190 TDI, it gets about 32 mpg.  

 

As for AdBlue, I just nip down to the BP station where there's a pump that cuts off when the tanks full.  

Average after 7k miles actual average is 51.something mpg, but on a long (550 miles) and slow (60 - 65mph on cc) drive my best is 59.1mpg, a few fills at 58mpg.  Down a bit today (47.something mpg) but most of that fill was driving up at 70 - 75, plus SWMBO was driving much of it.

 

Re forecourt fills, none of my local places have AB pumps that I know of, though might try that when passing a big truck and car ESSO station on the A9 at Perth.  Once I’ve used up the rest of that container in the garage.  

Should tax diesels double. Dirty smelly things

Ignoring anti diesel rants, feel free to do that elsewhere, anyone any idea why I could only get half in what the car was thinking it should take?

Maybe it's a calculated quantity rather than a measured one?

If so, I wouldn't worry about it.

9 hours ago, Tim1631 said:

Should tax diesels double. Dirty smelly things

My euro 6 diesel is to  same emission standard as a current petrol but does more mpg so cleaner overall!!

10 hours ago, Tim1631 said:

Should tax diesels double.

Actually, they should just tax Scalextric cars for their mass, and also for their electricity at the same equivalent rate per kWh as HC cars get stuck with.

Did you let ignition on for 30s before starting the engine after filling it, as I remember it's written in the manual?

Yes, held it on pos 2 (one before cranking) and counted to 45, give it a chance to do it’s thing.  I’ll try it again when next out tomorrow.  

I found out the hard way that you shouldn't let the stuff spill or splash on clothes or shoes.  I also suspect any paintwork spills shoul be cleaned immediately.  (Not my car, a minibus I drive for a local charity.)

Were you parked on the flat when you filled it?

 

I filled mine up yesterday as we were heading south. It was saying range: 1400 miles and it did take about 3/4 of a 10l drum.

 

It isn't great stuff to spill but it does clean away with fresh water. 

Deffo flat as a flat thing. 

 

None got spilt on the paintwork, just flowed down the overflow.  
 

 

Reset the range on the system, now down to 3,000 miles and add 4.something to 5l to fill, which I know it won’t take.  Means my AB range is now 3,500 miles, not the 8,000 miles when the car was new.  

 

 

Hi HMR - is that for me?  It was just an awkward nozzle on the container and the filler on the minibus.  The nozzle wouldn't go down enough to open the little flap down the tube.

 

The charity people had been ignoring the Adblue low warning for several hundred miles, they'd never done it before... so I said I'd do it when I filled it up with diesel.

I find it surprising that they use such a clunky system to reduce pollution.  Reminds me of the days when I had to put two-stroke oil in the petrol tank of my BSA Bantam.  But that was causing pollution.

Edited 16 July, 20214 yr by FlyingGecko

On 16/07/2021 at 08:17, Wino said:

Maybe it's a calculated quantity rather than a measured one?

If so, I wouldn't worry about it.

Lots of AdBlue questions on the Ross-Tech forum suggest that there is no level gauge in the AdBlue tanks, just a software guesstimate.

39 minutes ago, PetrolDave said:

Lots of AdBlue questions on the Ross-Tech forum suggest that there is no level gauge in the AdBlue tanks, just a software guesstimate.

How can this be correct? If I added some Adblu to my Yeti but never to full, as I put 5lt in each time as half a 10lt container for convenience, the range would increase.

I had a part container left over so put some in my Karoq and the range increased.

In both cases the car sensed the increased amount in the tank itself and adjusted the range.

1 hour ago, kenfowler3966 said:

How can this be correct?

I'm just passing on what has been advised, which seems to be confirmed by there not actually being any measuring block that shows AdBlue level - which you would expect if there was a level sensor?

 

Not having a diesel I can't confirm or deny the correctness.

On my 2016 2.0 TDI SCR DSG which was delivered with a full AdBlue tank the range dropped 500 miles at a time and the first 3 times the tank was topped up the range was greater each time when filled until the 4th tank full and then it became the last of the great Defeat Device TDI's and it sipped Adblue and gave great MPG for the diesel, 

just as long as it got long runs, otherwise it was getting a Blocked DPF regularly.

Some poor sod got that car eventually after Motability punted it via BCA and Arnold Clark bought it. 

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/446153-questions-about-adblue

 

Edited 17 July, 20214 yr by e-Roottoot

Firstly - really important this; when you spill Ad-Blue, You must wash it off ASAP otherwise it will eat your bodywork alive!!!!.  This includes the fuel overflow area (otherwise it will eat the suspension).  Urea / Ammonia  - nasty stuff.

 

Secondly, a number of local garages including my own in the Scottish Borders have now started providing Ad-Blue filling pumps for cars - 0.87p per litre - which is cheaper than the bottled stuff and I didn't spill a drop.  £5.64 filled my car from 1500 miles ad-blue range - at about 7litres worth (for a 10l tank).  Handy, cheap and I don't need to do it for another 6k miles.  Happy days.

14 hours ago, HeavyMetalRich said:

Were you parked on the flat when you filled it?

 

I filled mine up yesterday as we were heading south. It was saying range: 1400 miles and it did take about 3/4 of a 10l drum.

 

It isn't great stuff to spill but it does clean away with fresh water. 

Not surprising, it’s synthetic urea (pee).

If pee wasn’t washable with water, would need different system for flushing your toilet.