Filling adBlue tank.

mfceiling

Wife's A6 has notified that the ad blue needs refilling in 2400kms.

What's the best place to buy it, how much needs to go in and how do you know you've put enough in the car?

Thanks.

colm_mcm

You'll need to get an ad blue bottle, you can also buy ad blue by the litre in Topaz.
Adblue tank on an a6 is beside the diesel cap, and you need the wheel brace to get the cap off.

You can buy a large container of adblue. I have seen advice to buy a smaller bottle with the nozzle on it, then cut the bottom off and use as a funnel for the bigger container.

James Bond Junior

I just googled it there, as I had a hunch, Audi require you to bring it to them to refill if it gets below a certain level as the gauge can only be reset by them.

colm_mcm

I tho as long as you don't let it go down, and you fully refill it you can DIY it. Might be wrong there of course.

markad1

A6 takes 17 liters. Audi will charge you €50 for a refill

colm_mcm

That's €2.93 a litre.
Just keep in mind adblue is €0.79 a litre in topaz.

Toyotafanboi

You only have to go to Audi if you let the gauge go to zero to have it reset. If there's range still showing it will reset itself when you top it up, it's designed to be self maintained after all. Audi charge €50 if they fill it because they fill it as a workshop job and charge 10 minutes labour, you can buy a 20 litre drum across the Audi parts counter for €18.

colm_mcm

Can you just use a funnel to fill it TFB or do you need a special nozzle?

Toyotafanboi

You can fill it with a regular cheapo funnel, you just won't know when it's full and about to overflow.

The reason people buy 1 litre adblue bottles and cut the bottom out of them instead of a funnel is because those bottles have an auto cut off valve in them like a petrol pump so when the tank is full it won't spill everywhere.

Mooooo

With a lot of agri gear using it now itat be cheaper to get 20L drums from oil merchants no?

antodeco

There's an unmanned 24hour garage near me (JFK Industrial Estate) that has adblue pumps

Atlantic Dawn

Halfords and Maxol garages sell it.

Ryath

colm_mcm wrote: »

That's €2.93 a litre.
Just keep in mind adblue is €0.79 a litre in topaz.

Where did you see that price? Anything I see is giving a price of €12.99 for a 1.89ltr bottle :eek:
https://www.topaz.ie/about-us/news-and-media/2016/TOPAZ-LAUNCHES-NEW-ADBLUE-PRODUCT.aspx

Need to pick up some soon my self, new car is just past the 10,000km mark but warning hasn't come on yet. Car came with a funnel in the glovebox to fill it. €18 for 20ltr in audi seems very good even online it's dearer. I'll check my other local VW group dealers. I'll price Opel but expect it to be comical I nearly laughed in the service guys face when I priced a spare headlight bulb! 7.5 ltr tank in the car so 5 should fill it, so a 20ltr bottle should last me 2 years

colm_mcm

Topaz sell it at the pump, so you could refill a 20l drum.

It's on the big display sign that tells you how much petrol/diesel is.

I'd get the drum in Audi and refill it with Topaz from the pump.

Toyotafanboi

Ryath wrote: »

Where did you see that price? Anything I see is giving a price of €12.99 for a 1.89ltr bottle :eek:
https://www.topaz.ie/about-us/news-and-media/2016/TOPAZ-LAUNCHES-NEW-ADBLUE-PRODUCT.aspx

Need to pick up some soon my self, new car is just past the 10,000km mark but warning hasn't come on yet. Car came with a funnel in the glovebox to fill it. €18 for 20ltr in audi seems very good even online it's dearer. I'll check my other local VW group dealers. I'll price Opel but expect it to be comical I nearly laughed in the service guys face when I priced a spare headlight bulb! 7.5 ltr tank in the car so 5 should fill it, so a 20ltr bottle should last me 2 years

The 1.9 litre bottles are so expensive because they come with the valve in the cap so it's retail friendly, anti spill and priced to reflect that :pac:.

Any VAG parts dept should do the 20 for 18.

blackwhite

antodeco wrote: »

There's an unmanned 24hour garage near me (JFK Industrial Estate) that has adblue pumps

Great Gas station?

That's a higher speed truck pump. Be careful going near the car with that!

If you get a 10l container then fill that using the truck pump, and then manually fill the car.

My dealer has kindly been doing it for free.

Ridiculous situation. Car is on a long life service interval of 30,000k but has to be taken in for an oil service at 15,000k and needs adblu every 8-9,000k !!!
So my car has 45,000k on the clock and should in theory only have been in once but has been in 8 times in 18 months as per schedule. Oh and this car has to be adblu'd by the dealer because the filler is inaccessible to mere mortals. Thank god the servicing is free.

colm_mcm

Deleted User wrote: »

My dealer has kindly been doing it for free.

Ridiculous situation. Car is on a long life service interval of 30,000k but has to be taken in for an oil service at 15,000k and needs adblu every 8-9,000k !!!
So my car has 45,000k on the clock and should in theory only have been in once but has been in 8 times in 18 months as per schedule. Oh and this car has to be adblu'd by the dealer because the filler is inaccessible to mere mortals. Thank god the servicing is free.

What car is that?

Toyotafanboi

Deleted User wrote: »

My dealer has kindly been doing it for free.

Ridiculous situation. Car is on a long life service interval of 30,000k but has to be taken in for an oil service at 15,000k and needs adblu every 8-9,000k !!!
So my car has 45,000k on the clock and should in theory only have been in once but has been in 8 times in 18 months as per schedule. Oh and this car has to be adblu'd by the dealer because the filler is inaccessible to mere mortals. Thank god the servicing is free.

That doesn't sound like it's on long life servicing. The idea of long life servicing is that it only needs an oil service every 30k.

Maintainable contracts (which it sounds like you are on) are only available for short term service intervals which ties in with you getting an oil service every 15k.

Adblue fillers can sometimes be a bit hidden but are always accessible by a layman with no tools. A lot of cars have them under the boot carpet in the spare wheel well.

antodeco

blackwhite wrote: »

Great Gas station?

That's a higher speed truck pump. Be careful going near the car with that!

If you get a 10l container then fill that using the truck pump, and then manually fill the car.

They have specific car ones there now aswell, so no concerns about too high a flow rate!

R.O.R

Most Advance Pitstop/Fast Fit locations will refill AdBlue for a lot cheaper than a manufacturer or buying the 1-2 litre bottles.

If attempting it yourself, please remember this stuff is Highly Corrosive, so if any gets split on the paint etc, wash off immediately.

grogi

mfceiling wrote: »

Wife's A6 has notified that the ad blue needs refilling in 2400kms.

What's the best place to buy it, how much needs to go in and how do you know you've put enough in the car?

Thanks.

Find a truck service depot in your area...

SBPhoto

I bought the 10L Drum of Adblue in Halfords, it has the special nozzle for filling attached to the drum. Its a very simple DIY job to do, i have an Audi A6 and it just resets itself after the fill. You don't have to fill it completely but a minimum of 7L is recommended. Most garages do the 20L drum for €18

mfceiling

Cheers lads.

R.O.R

Audi decided that rather than a nice handy cap that can be unscrewed by hand like every other manufacturer, they'd use a special cap that has to be unscrewed by the end of the wheel brace.

Keep in mind that adblue has a fairly short shelf life so buying in bulk and leaving it sitting in a container might not be a great idea.

mfceiling

Got 4 litres today in halfords for €10.80 (€12 minus the axa 10%). Took about 3 litres and no more. Handy kit came with the special nozzle and a sealable bag to put it in for use again. They were selling 10 litres for €14 (?)...no nozzle with it though.

SBPhoto

There is something not right if it only took 3lites to fill, The adblue tank on the A6 holds 17litres and if it tells you to refill within 2400k you should at the least get in 10litres, i did with the same 2500k to go.. I bought the 10l for €14 in Halfords and it does have the special nozzle taped to the side.

mfceiling

SBPhoto wrote: »

There is something not right if it only took 3lites to fill, The adblue tank on the A6 holds 17litres and if it tells you to refill within 2400k you should at the least get in 10litres, i did with the same 2500k to go.. I bought the 10l for €14 in Halfords and it does have the special nozzle taped to the side.

Cheers...I'll try and get another litre in tonight.

Notch000

WTF is adblue ##???

Ryath

Notch000 wrote: »

WTF is adblue ##???

P!ss

It's an additive mostly made of urea that lowers emissions in newer diesels
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_exhaust_fluid

punisher5112

Notch000 wrote: »

WTF is adblue ##???

It is sprayed into exhaust/fuel system to burn off as mainly water..
Cuts down on harmful emissions.

Ryath

Jeffrey Uneven Sagebrush wrote: »

Keep in mind that adblue has a fairly short shelf life so buying in bulk and leaving it sitting in a container might not be a great idea.

18months if kept below 25degrees C so should be just about ok buying the 20ltrs, maybe better sticking with the 10 though

Ryath

Ryath wrote: »

18months if kept below 25degrees C so should be just about ok buying the 20ltrs, maybe better sticking with the 10 though

Can't find the details but I was reading in the farmers journal that it's far far less than that.

blackwhite

Guidelines we've been given by Yara (who supply it) is 12 months if it's below 30 degrees.

6 months if between 30-35

grogi

Jeffrey Uneven Sagebrush wrote: »

Can't find the details but I was reading in the farmers journal that it's far far less than that.

It depends on the temp. If stored around 10*C, the lifespan is 36 months.

Special Circumstances

grogi wrote: »

It depends on the temp. If stored around 10*C, the lifespan is 36 months.

How the hell does the car track the "use by" of a tank of adblue? (I know... it doesn't)


From the talk of the usual suspects you'd think adblue was the panacea for derv ( because the emissions systems are always always doing their utmost to keep the nasties in check, and not turned off outside of thresholds similar to lab testing.... wink wink).

But you can't even use it in a hot country without dumping the concentrated boiled up piss down the drain every few months or fitting a cooling unit?

Adblue has the bitter tang of desperation to it imho.

R.O.R

mfceiling wrote: »

Got 4 litres today in halfords for €10.80 (€12 minus the axa 10%). Took about 3 litres and no more. Handy kit came with the special nozzle and a sealable bag to put it in for use again. They were selling 10 litres for €14 (?)...no nozzle with it though.

A customer of mine did a lot of testing on our behalf when he got his new A6 a couple of years ago - mainly because he sells the stuff in the (expensive) 1.5 Litre bottles you find in Tesco etc.

He ran the tank totally empty (secure in the knowledge he had loads in the boot) and was only able to squeeze 2 bottles in to it. As the full 17L tank only lasted 9,000km the 3 litres he got in lasted no time at all, and he had to to head to Audi to get the system reset and filled. There's possibly a flow rate meter on the tank and putting it in from bottles isn't quick enough so it limits the amount that can be filled in that way.

He's now using Advance Pitstop to fill up as he got fed up doing it himself, despite the fact he has ample free bottles with the specific nozzle.

Special Circumstances

I'd love to have his job.

So Tom, what do you do?

Well... I bottle up concentrated piss and sell it at huge markup to people who think diesels are low emissions!

jca

Special Circumstances wrote: »

I'd love to have his job.

So Tom, what do you do?

Well... I bottle up concentrated piss and sell it at huge markup to people who think diesels are low emissions!

But the tax is chape...

zapata

A similar product here with similar results:

Very powerful and easy to use toilet fluid for the waste holding tank which offers the best performance for your Cassette- and portable toilet. Thetford Aqua Kem® Blue is the #1 toilet additive for mobile toilets worldwide!

Disclaimer: Using Aqua Kem Blue on your Euro 6 emission standards engine could cause it to run like sh1te..


:rolleyes:

zapata

For a bit of balance.

VUDuo2

Recently bought a 2015 Audi A6 and little did I know that Adblue has to be topped up, until I saw the warning message !!

So, googled the stuff on boards, bought a 1ltr bottle, poured it in and 2 weeks later the warning message appeared again.
Well now I know the Audi has a 17L tank.

I bought a 10Ltr bottle and now I have the palava of putting it in.

Searched YouTube and found this

I have the 1st empty 1ltr bottle & I'm wondering is there any easier way of putting this shiite in ??

Now that I think of it, can I pour the Adblue from the 10ltr bottle into the 1ltr bottle with a funnel - refilling using the 10ltr bottle looks way to much effort for this noob !!

VUDuo2

OSI wrote: »

Find a filling station that has it on pump.

So is Adblue all the same for all diesel cars??

grogi

VUDuo2 wrote: »

So is Adblue all the same for all diesel cars??

Yes. Same for trucks as well. They have it at a pump at truck service stations around too.

VUDuo2

Thanks for the advice

R.O.R

If your first 1 Litre bottle has the special nozzle on the top, cut that bottle around 1/3 way down, fit that to the car then pour the 10L bottle in to that. The first bottle acts as the funnel.

When you've used the 10 Litres you bought, find your local filling station with an AdBlue pump for cars and use that going forwards.

OSI

OSI wrote: »

Find a filling station that has it on pump.

Are the adblue pumps usually separate from the petrol/diesel pumps? Are they located beside the water or something? Must admit I've never noticed one.

blackwhite

Deleted User wrote: »

Are the adblue pumps usually separate from the petrol/diesel pumps? Are they located beside the water or something? Must admit I've never noticed one.

Most truck stops have them (i.e. petrol stations with truck-specific high speed pumps). Often away from the car pumps.

Circle K at City North is the first car-specific pump I've seen - but I'm sure there's more around the country

Azatadine

Yeah, my A6 has the 17 litre tank too and I do about 20,000 miles per year. I get about 6000 miles before the stinking warning comes up again. I'm so familiar with the filling process now that it only takes a few minutes to top up. Halfords have 10 litres for around 11 euro.