AdBlue consumption

blue_hen_tdi said:

the only time i want to hear the benny hill theme music is when i'm watching benny hill.

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lol.

Did they skip it on my 10k service?

I just hit 20k on my 2012 passat. I am getting an adblue warning that car won't start after another 300 miles. Based on some post here i am suspicious that the dealer never filled it during the 10k service. Thoughts?

I guess I have to either get in for my 20k service soon or grab a bottle at pep boys.

lojeff10 said:

I just hit 20k on my 2012 passat. I am getting an adblue warning that car won't start after another 300 miles. Based on some post here i am suspicious that the dealer never filled it during the 10k service. Thoughts?
I guess I have to either get in for my 20k service soon or grab a bottle at pep boys.

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It does sound like they skipped it on your 10K service. Which based on my experience, and many others, that may not have been a bad thing since dealers tend to fill from the bulk fill and spill it in your trunk. You can either take it in for your 20K or buy the 1/2 gallon bottle from the dealer, it has a special nozzle to prevent spills. Then refill that bottle from Pep Boys or wherever you can get the AdBlue solution. This is my planned procedure from now on... dealer won't be filling my AdBlue again.

The owners manual clearly states that Adblue is included with the 3yr/36k mile scheduled maintenance. If you plan to have the 20k service done in the next 300 mile, have them add it. If you cannot make it for the 20k service in 300 miles, then stop by to have them add it or ask for a small bottle to make it until your appointment. Either way, remind them of what is included in the maintenance. Or, find another dealer.

They either skipped it or there is an error with the level sensors.

When did it start giving you a low fluid warning? It should start counting down at 1500 miles if I remember correctly.

I it just started warning you with 300 miles to go, something is wrong and needs to be fixed.

I first saw it at 600 but wife had car for a long weekend beforehand. I think it is working ok but I really don't think the touched it at 10k.

lojeff10 said:

I just hit 20k on my 2012 passat. I am getting an adblue warning that car won't start after another 300 miles. Based on some post here i am suspicious that the dealer never filled it during the 10k service. Thoughts?
I guess I have to either get in for my 20k service soon or grab a bottle at pep boys.

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This happened to a coworkers Passat. He took it back to the dealer and they filled the tank but spilled urea in the trunk. He had to make another trip for them to clean up the mess.

On my 10K service I checked the service ticket and it stated 2 bottles GUS-052-910-A3 Urea.

It starts doing a count-down at 1500 miles and is pretty obvious. Either your wife was completely oblivious for 1000 miles or there is a problem with the level sensors.

I haven't taken a good look at the urea tank area in a Passat, but is there any sort of containment and drain around the tank filler that will allow spilled AdBlue to drain out under the car? I know the bulk system and the bottles are supposed to be spill proof, but clearly it isn't fool proof.

andy7079 said:

I haven't taken a good look at the urea tank area in a Passat, but is there any sort of containment and drain around the tank filler that will allow spilled AdBlue to drain out under the car? I know the bulk system and the bottles are supposed to be spill proof, but clearly it isn't fool proof.

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...no...

tdiatlast said:

...no...

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unless you count the spare tire well......

lojeff10 said:

I first saw it at 600 but wife had car for a long weekend beforehand. I think it is working ok but I really don't think the touched it at 10k.

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So I go into my dealer for my 20k service and the diesel only sticker recall. As soon as he starts writing me up I say I think they missed the adblue at 10k. He gets all high and mighty saying that's impossible and if I idle a lot the full tank can be used in 10k. He is clearly insulted that I think they didn't do it.
I get the car back and adblue warnings are gone so I guess they did that. Open the fuel door and no stickers even though it appears on work order. I really don't care about the stupid stickers but I had to call him back just to point out that just because it makes it on the work order doesn't mean it was done.
He said I could come back for stickers whenever I am back in area and it takes 2 mins to install. Who knows what else they skipped.

lojeff10 said:

So I go into my dealer for my 20k service and the diesel only sticker recall. As soon as he starts writing me up I say I think they missed the adblue at 10k. He gets all high and mighty saying that's impossible and if I idle a lot the full tank can be used in 10k. He is clearly insulted that I think they didn't do it.
I get the car back and adblue warnings are gone so I guess they did that. Open the fuel door and no stickers even though it appears on work order. I really don't care about the stupid stickers but I had to call him back just to point out that just because it makes it on the work order doesn't mean it was done.
He said I could come back for stickers whenever I am back in area and it takes 2 mins to install. Who knows what else they skipped.

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Time for a new dealer.

FWIW, I did a stickerectomy the second day I owned the car. I removed the yellow donut you see as my avatar, all the yellow stickers around the brim, and the sticker on the dash. That dash sticker was a PITA, but it looks so much nicer now.

I understand warning people, but the car already has "Diesel Only" printed on the fuel cap. Do I really need to see it four or more other places?

Time for a new dealer and a call to VW. Corporate is pretty serious about those stickers and I'm sure they would be interested in hearing about the AdBlue, as well.

Blue_Hen_TDI said:

I understand warning people, but the car already has "Diesel Only" printed on the fuel cap. Do I really need to see it four or more other places?

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The multiple clocks on the mfd, dash and radio must be driving you crazy!

With my watch and cell phone I have five I think. It's impossible to not know what time it is.

A little tip prior to servicing. After my 10k service, I noticed some spilled ad blue in the spare tire area, very little. I now have a small towel wrapped around the ad blue filler neck. Worked like a charm on my 20k service!

JARED_LA said:

A little tip prior to servicing. After my 10k service, I noticed some spilled ad blue in the spare tire area, very little. I now have a small towel wrapped around the ad blue filler neck. Worked like a charm on my 20k service!

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All VW needs is a spill try around the filler nozzle. Use a tube to drain any spills under the car.

When I was in college I was on the SAE Baja team. We designed and built a baja buggy and competed against other colleges. One of the rules required a spill containment tray around the fuel tank filler. We added a fabricated plastic tray around the top of the fuel tank with a tube that drains out the bottom. Any spills while frantically fuelling the car during an endurance race spilled right out the bottom of the car and not onto the hot exhaust.

Lightflyer1 said:

The multiple clocks on the mfd, dash and radio must be driving you crazy!

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You're GD right they are!

Actually, the fact that they stay in perfect sync makes it OK with me. My '12 Jeep lost about a minute a week on the clock. It was infuriating.

Blue_Hen_TDI said:

You're GD right they are!

Actually, the fact that they stay in perfect sync makes it OK with me. My '12 Jeep lost about a minute a week on the clock. It was infuriating.

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I ended up turning the one on the radio off. If you do this you get more info on the display. For the radio I can now see all the info the station is transmitting and when I'm playing MP3's from my SD card I can get artist, title and album on the display instead of having the title dropped.

I got the 1500 miles remaining adblue warning at 17500 miles. I am 99% sure the dealer did not add any DEF at the 10k service. I am now at 177xx miles and 1300 miles remaining on DEF. My nearest dealer is not nearby, as in 90 miles from home and 20 miles from work (does anybody else have this problem?). My time to travel to the dealer is worth more than the the cost to buy the DEF and put it in myself, so I am not planning to have the dealer top it off before the 20k mile service. I need some DEF for my diesel truck anyway, so I will probably buy the 5 gallon container and just keep any leftovers. I'll run it down to <500 miles remaining before adding more.

The warning, so far, is actually not that obvious. It dings once and displays the warning on the MFI for a few seconds when started, but that's it. I expect the warning to get more aggressive as the countdown continues. I am using the German regional setting but not sure that changes the DEF warning.

The warning will indeed get more aggressive as the countdown continues.

OK...my turn. Im on a mad dash to Hays Kansas to watch my daughter play college softball and my DEF warning comes on. Says 1500 miles left. No big deal until 90 miles later it says, "900 miles left" . At this point Im 200 miles from the closest VW Dealer and not trusting my guage. I call my dealer and tell him im not sure they topped it off at the 10k and can I use walmart DEF. He says no, but he will let me talk to parts. The parts guy says " he cant tell me I can use Walmart DEF...but it is all the same stuff" I used a short transmission funnel with with a ridge down the outside for air so the tank can breath while you fill it. I did not know how big the tank was so I would add about 1/2 gallon at a time and check the fill neck to see if I could see fluid. Took all 2 1/2 gallons and could see fluid in the tank. Did not spill a drop, no drama, The filler tube that comes with the Walmart fluid makes it pretty easy. Could be done without the funnel if you had to.

Lessons Learned:
1. No special filler tubes are necessary, a funnel makes easier.
2. Wal mart DEF is fine
3. FOWLER VOLKSWAGEN IN NORMAN OKLAHOMA LET ME DOWN AGAIN....

If you are reading this, dont panic. Good luck!!
Jay

If you're getting a low DEF warning in less than 10,000 miles since service, then I can pretty much guarantee your dealer didn't top it off. I've gone just over 14,000 miles since I last topped mine off and haven't gotten a warning yet. I'm trying to see if I can manage to stretch it to 20,000 miles between refills. I'll report back when I get the warning light.

And yeah, never trust a VW dealer to do anything correctly.

Stohlman hasn't let me down. I still haven't even seen the 1500mile warning.

Blue_Hen_TDI said:

If you're getting a low DEF warning in less than 10,000 miles since service, then I can pretty much guarantee your dealer didn't top it off. I've gone just over 14,000 miles since I last topped mine off and haven't gotten a warning yet. I'm trying to see if I can manage to stretch it to 20,000 miles between refills. I'll report back when I get the warning light.

And yeah, never trust a VW dealer to do anything correctly.

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I appreciate you experimenting for us! Start a new thread when you get your results!

psd1 said:

I appreciate you experimenting for us! Start a new thread when you get your results!

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No problem. Bear in mind that I have a 2:1 ratio of highway to city driving, so my AdBlue may last a little longer than the average person's. I would assume that more accelerations means more AdBlue usage.

Blue_Hen_TDI said:

No problem. Bear in mind that I have a 2:1 ratio of highway to city driving, so my AdBlue may last a little longer than the average person's. I would assume that more accelerations means more AdBlue usage.

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I drive highway 80%, so if your theory is correct my use should be low as well!

andy7079 said:

All VW needs is a spill try around the filler nozzle. Use a tube to drain any spills under the car.
When I was in college I was on the SAE Baja team. We designed and built a baja buggy and competed against other colleges. One of the rules required a spill containment tray around the fuel tank filler. We added a fabricated plastic tray around the top of the fuel tank with a tube that drains out the bottom. Any spills while frantically fuelling the car during an endurance race spilled right out the bottom of the car and not onto the hot exhaust.

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VW should've routed the adblue fill port to the fuel fill recess, and left it there instead of putting it in the trunk, under a false cover. If it were in the fuel filler recess, there is a handy drain already there for any overfills, spillage and general o-merdes.

vw_norm said:

VW should've routed the adblue fill port to the fuel fill recess, and left it there instead of putting it in the trunk, under a false cover. If it were in the fuel filler recess, there is a handy drain already there for any overfills, spillage and general o-merdes.

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Q7 style:

Also baffles in the tank to stop the sloshing of the liquid.