AdBlu

[gasgas]

I have seen a lot of posts saying you can't tell how much AdBlu you have got left, you just have to wait for the dashboard symbol to come on. Then some people say you can only add a maximum of five litres, then others say you have to wait three minutes after filling before driving off.
I have just purchased a Chausson with AdBlu on a Transit base. Scrolling through the computerised dashboard options I found that yes you can see how much AdBlu you have left, in a bar graph from empty to full. Mine was about 2/3 full when I collected it. Another scroll tells you how many miles you have to go before needing to refill and mine says about 3,200 miles. So that would give approximately a range of 4,000 or more miles between AdBlu fill ups. The owners handbook says you must add a minimum of 5 litres, but there is no maximum in one go other than of course don't overflow it. The handbook says nothing about waiting three minutes before driving off. I asked the dealer when I bought it if all this information was available and he said no, just wait till the light comes on. And they were a main agent for Chausson.
The Transit automatic is brilliant by the way . . .

 

[Scotia]

When the light comes. On on my Ford (pickup) it says how many miles are left I top up when I remember.

 

[Tim120]

On my Ducato can't tell how much in tank, when light comes on I think it's either 1200 or 1500 miles left.
Can't understand why they say minimum of 5L, I usually just fill it up.

 

[Moped]

On my Ducato can't tell how much in tank, when light comes on I think it's either 1200 or 1500 miles left.
Can't understand why they say minimum of 5L, I usually just fill it up.

The handbook Ducato Adblu capacity is 15 litre.

On ours the warning light comes on at around the 1000 mile mark at which point I normally fill up within 50 miles using pumped Adblu (I find container filling with the supplied hose hopeless and it spills everywhere and pumped Adblue is cheaper anyway) taking around 9.5 litres.

So the reserve post warning light suggests around 5 litres and 500 miles available before engine stalls.

Maybe it’s how I drive and the running of a 9 speed automatic but I would be very wary of assuming the reserve will give you 1200 miles before it runs out completely.

The normal quoted Ducato ratio is 1 litre for every 20 litres of diesel. I seem to use 1 litre for every 110 miles with a high proportion of 65 mph cruising but my fuel consumption suggests 1 litre for every 19 litres. So am I a heavy Adblu user or is this normal consumption for a high proportion of higher speed motoring?

 

[Tim120]

I would be very wary of assuming the reserve will give you 1200 miles before it runs out completely

Like you I pretty much fill ASAP.

Also a 9 speed auto 2.3 160 pulling about 3860 recently used just shy of 5L in 1829 miles.

 

[marchie]

On my Ducato can't tell how much in tank, when light comes on I think it's either 1200 or 1500 miles left.
Can't understand why they say minimum of 5L, I usually just fill it up.

The 'minimum 5 litres' refill advice is also given for our VW Tiguan [12 litre tank and Warning Light appears at 1600 miles reserve!]. IIRC, the sensors in the Adblue tank are quite sensitive and the Owner's Manual stipulates filling on level ground to get an accurate reading. Having said that, I had about 4.5 Litres left from an earlier refill, so I sloshed that in, with the car on the road camber, waited a couple of minutes for the refill to 'register' with the Sensors, VW HQ and the Almighty [in that order], and the car was quite happy. I suspect that the 5 Litre stipulation is to do with the sensors' electronics, but I don't want to gamble and find out the hard way how wrong I can be ... The 4.5 Litres was close enough for the register to update, bearing in mind I wasn't running on fumes

I read on a Toolstation Review for Adblue of a Ford driver just sloshing the refill in, and driving straight off; said that he had a Warning Light within a few miles, but stopped on pretty level ground, turned off the engine and waited a few minutes; turned engine back on and the system recognised the Adblue refill and was quite happy ... Brave man!

Steve

 

[Moped]

Like you I pretty much fill ASAP.

Also a 9 speed auto 2.3 160 pulling about 3860 recently used just shy of 5L in 1829 miles.

Wish I had that type of Adblu consumption. That’s about a 1 litre every 59 litres of diesel assuming 28 mpg. I’ve got the 140 so maybe it has to work harder however still average 27 mpg when cruising along. My 1:19 ratio does seem much lower though even so.

 

[colinm]

When it comes to AdBlue usage on Ducato, it seems to vary a lot with year of manufacture, you must remember Fiat fiddled the emission data for some time, then they greatly increased AdBlue to try and meet Euro6 before designing a new engine.

 

[jann]

I think the 5 litre minimum applies if you ket it go too low.
I would never wait for a warning light to come on.Our motorhome has two trip readings. I use one for fuel,the other for ad blue,fill it up every two thousand miles.

 

[wildebus]

how much does the adblue affect the overall "cost per mile" and effective MPG number compared to an engine without Adblue? Equivalent of 2MPG? 5MPG?

 

[Geek]

Each Euro step seems to have a fuel consumption penalty.

Whether it is down to engine efficiency or vehicle weight, I don't know, but otherwise identical vehicles seem to get worse and worse MPG figures as they go from Euro 2 to Euro 3 to Euro 4 to Euro 5 to Euro 6.

Disclaimer: I've not seen any vehicles that have stepped through the Euro categories like that. Each of the comparisons I've done has been across just one Euro step.

 

[mark61]

Euro 6 are meant to use more fuel to clean the DPF. I don't think it's because of the AdBlue, they just use more fuel to get higher temp in DPF when cleaning.
I think Hella have a reasonable bit of info somewhere on their site.

Edit to add link.
https://www.hella.com/techworld/uk/...-gas-aftertreatment-design-diagnostics-74805/

 

[Rob H]

I have seen a lot of posts saying you can't tell how much AdBlu you have got left, you just have to wait for the dashboard symbol to come on. Then some people say you can only add a maximum of five litres, then others say you have to wait three minutes after filling before driving off.
I have just purchased a Chausson with AdBlu on a Transit base. Scrolling through the computerised dashboard options I found that yes you can see how much AdBlu you have left, in a bar graph from empty to full. Mine was about 2/3 full when I collected it. Another scroll tells you how many miles you have to go before needing to refill and mine says about 3,200 miles. So that would give approximately a range of 4,000 or more miles between AdBlu fill ups. The owners handbook says you must add a minimum of 5 litres, but there is no maximum in one go other than of course don't overflow it. The handbook says nothing about waiting three minutes before driving off. I asked the dealer when I bought it if all this information was available and he said no, just wait till the light comes on. And they were a main agent for Chausson.
The Transit automatic is brilliant by the way . . .

How much in the tank, so long as there is some. Accept the add blue system and sensors are .... 'sensitive'.... so follow manufacturers instructions to the letter. Then when the system 'bing bongs', you know you've done all you could ... Top tip, make sure ... every now and again, the add blue injector, that lives in front of the exhaust cat, is removed inspected and cleaned of its congealed add blue 'crud'. Enjoy your van.

 

[Chrisinchip]

And … yonks ago Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) was introduced to reduce NOx emissions by lowering the combustion temperature which in turn reduced the efficiency of the fuel burn. Another (acceptable) price of reducing pollution along with DPFs and probably a whole load else. Must give engine designers a nightmare as we strive for better and better fuel economy or performance or both.

 

[Eric The Viking]

A minimum top up amount is specified as that's what is needed from low to reset the system. Best to fill completely once the light comes on, most are 10 litres or so, some more, certainly on 3.5T vans used commercially.
If the system runs too low it goes into limp mode and a garage rest woukd probably be required.
There are exeptions but they all work along the same lines.
Ad blue will crystallise and if constantly run low can cause issues with the level sensors.