I have the ultimate solution. Bought a pre-2009 diesel car with low mileage in great condition, will keep it that way, practically no depreciation, lots of power, no AdBlue nozzle, no other BS, not even a start/stop button! That should keep me going until I'm too old to have a license - love it. :-)
The exhaust sensor will pick up a difference in what it expects to see out the end. Then trip out when its wrong. Great advice on it resetting after 250miles very interesting.
The sensor down stream of the SCR can tell the difference. After the process of the add blue being added and the catalytic reaction the sensor expects to “sniff” a specific content of gases if these gases fall outside of the correct window of operation the system tends to log an efficiency fault code something like P20EE.
It’s far more likely there’s an emissions sensor. You should use demineralised water as limescale will build up on the jet. As it is the adblue crystallises on the jet
I changed car, Skoda Karoq diesel for Karoq petrol. Dealer left five litres of adBlue with me. Urea is the grass lawn green up solution, so that’s where it went. Four hours later scorched Earth. Maybe it should have been diluted. Reseeded and it was up in a fortnight.
The match of 250 miles to detect and clear the fault indicate it's probably a sensor further down the injection system rather than in the tank itself. The fluid in the pipe between the tank and injectors needs to be used before the content in the tank reaches that sensor.
i think it registeres that the sensor on the end of the exhaust realised that there wasnt any nitrous oxide being broken down and there was an increase so that emc flagged this up as no add blue,
I've put 2 litres of water to 8 litres of adblue in my 2020 van has no issues even put a little of my own fluid in there before now and not made a difference I put 4 litres of water in before it worked but didn't like it and I had to top it up with adblue But seems 1litre water to 5litres adblue works a treat
@@rattlecanmaster The system has nitrous oxide (nox) sensors before and after the treatment unit in the exhaust. As long as the readings are being reduced enough by the trap for the sensors show sufficient reduction in nox the system is happy. When the reduction is insufficient, the system injects more ad blue into the ceramic matrix in the exhaust, and expects to see a increase in nox reduction. If it sees no change the money light comes on because it knows something is wrong. If you dilute your ad blue with water the active chemicals will be used up quicker and it will inject more often, and will in fact only go as far as the amount of ad blue in the solution allows. Hence you will get no more miles by diluting it! people mistakenly think this stuff is continually injected, not the case. the 250 miles probably equates to how far you have to travel before the solution in the pipe between the tank and the injector in the exhaust is purged. At the dealers their software has a purge function, to run the pump and injector without the car moving to clear bad solution from the line. You also need to be aware that ad blue goes off after time in storage. If you open a pack and it smells strongly of ammonia don`t use it it will not work properly and can bring the money light on. Ad blue should be stored out of direct sunlight and below 25 degrees centigrade. so if your garage has a stack of it on the forecourt in the heat and sunlight, the chances are it will be bad. even if it is only half bad it will be used up twice as quickly by your car as the reduction in active chemical will be just the same as watering it down.
I was thinking exactly this but then I thought that it is "not in the public interest" to speculate publicly about the subject. Then I read the wonderfully informative and amusing post below by @alandawson3345.
When Add Blue is added, the temperature in the exhaust system is raised. It is at process that depends of a number of factors, like the outdoor temperature, driving speed etc. The system that monitors the exhaust, measures the temperature, and will calculate this rise in temperature over a period. If the temperature is not matching the expected rise, something is wrong with the Add Blue. With information from other sensors in the system, the monitoring system can determine what is wrong, and this will give you a dashboard indication. The reason it takes 250 miles for the system to figure out what is wrong, is that other factors that affect the exhaust temperature, must be ruled out first, and that takes time.
I can't say whether this bullshit or not, but I do know that in our American heavy trucks, you call them Lorrys, there is a sensor inside the DEF tank that reads the tank pH. Urea is acidic, uric acid. The sensor takes multiple readings using electric pulses. The computer knows that water containing 13% uric acid and a certain other percentage of ammonia will come back with a specific voltage and anything outside of the parameters will trigger it as low quality exhaust fluid. As for the 250 mi thing, I don't know what the hell this guy's talking about, maybe it's different for cars but in our trucks the computer monitors and checks itself every 15 minutes and after three failed checks it will trigger a problem and will not reset itself back to normal until it gets three clean 15-minute checks.
@@lksf9820 I don't know anything about adblue. We don't have that substance in the United States and Canada. I like to not recite other people's bulshit, it appears I have failed. Uric acid is not in exhaust fluid, only urea, ammonia. As soon as you said your product is a base I had to immediately a few things because I do know that ammonia is a base and urea is a base. Turns out it's a fuk up on the chemical company that delivers our def. They made a handmade sign that said warning contains uric acid on our def tank and I never questioned it. I can even remember a time where somebody said they smelled ammonia and I replied with, that's the uric acid you're smelling... No dick head that's urea we were smelling. Chalk it up to one of those reasonable bulshit things that your brain doesn't dispute because it's so close to the truth.
I worked in a main dealership and filling up with everything but Adblue was a common theme! I’ve drained water, diesel , oil , washer fluid, and antifreeze out of Adblue tanks over the years. If I took a sample and the tester showed NOT Adblue , then it was automatic pump ,drain and flush quote. The pump units are very expensive and water corrodes them fast!
A problem we had with adblue systems on buses came from the tanks on the buses being filled from a can, rather than the dispensing tank and pump. This was allowing crystalised adblue from the can to block the teabag filter and the dosing pump, putting the bus into limp mode.
Watch out for those clear plastic cans of add blue on the forecourts. Always take it from a tank. Its UV sensitive and the additive breaks down. I've had problems with an Iveco truck, it was the Iveco dealer engineer who came out on a breakdown who diagnosed the issue.
Ad blue improves diesel engine emissions, in some cities with high levels of particulate and NOx pollution from vehicles, this measure is very important to safeguard the health of children and other people with breathing difficulties.
ADBLUE is part of the Selective Catalytic Reduction system that removes NOx from the exhaust. there are two sensors (post & pre NOx) if you use water instead of ADBLUE then these sensors will register no change in NOx level emission and the engine ECU will know and so register a fault in the SRC system
The Adblue sensor uses light refraction to check to quality, very difficult to fool, I thought the Nox sensor is before the Adblue injector so makes no difference, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
@@aaanton11 There are two NOx sensors (at least on newer cars). One just after the engine, one after the SCR catalyst (which is after the DEF(adblue/urea) injection. The difference between the two NOx sensors is the definition of 'is the anti-pollution system working'
Limewater is the common name for a dilute aqueous solution of calcium hydroxide. Calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2, is sparsely soluble at room temperature in water (1.5 g/L at 25 °C). "Pure" (i.e. less than or fully saturated) limewater is clear and colorless, with a slight earthy smell and an astringent/bitter taste. Lime and water = Ad blue replacement
Interesting. The 250 mile gap looks like an arbitrary lag programmed into the system by the manufacturer. The major none-water component is urea by the way. It is injected into the exhaust to break down the NOX molecules. Since water would not do this, the NOX sensors would pick this up fairly quickly. Urea is a major component in your pee. Maybe you should try an experiment with say a 50:50 water to pee mix instead😂.
You can deactivate the EGR and Add Blue system. If you also unblock the emmision filters cat & dpf, your engine becomes more reliable afterwards and you gain much less fuel consumption.
@@Shane_O.5158 These systems in terms of reliability are just additional failure points, they don't contribute to power or reliability, in fact they decrease both. However, their purpose is to reduce emissions, In most countries disabling and/or removing these system *should* (whether it does or not is another thing) result in the car failing the periodic vehicle inspection, and thus not being allowed to be legally driven on public roads.
It's a bit of a mixed bag with these. The AdBlue system burns some of the NOx that Diesel engines put out, so they have an effect on the emissions. Which would make them useful. The DPF however breaks down larger particles and creates microparticles, which in turn means yes, the emissions *look* cleaner, since there are no "big" soot particles, but those soot particles just fall to the ground while the broken up microparticles are getting everywhere, including your lungs. I have a pre-DPF-car and I'm glad it works that way (although I pay a penalty because politicians fall for that DPF propaganda crap). The catalysator decreases CO emissions while at the same time increasing CO2 emissions, so I'd say it takes one kind of pollution into another. So meh... Btw. since CO is the real killer (not CO2 as the politicians seem to believe), I find it fascinating that all the emission tests tend to focus on CO2. Looks almost like someone in the petrol engine lobby had a finger in those emission laws, since those are the real stinkers (just speaking figuratively, CO is as odorless as CO2, but uinlike CO2 it can poison you) when it comes to CO.
A few key elements: Urea (ammonia diluted in water) is used to reduce NOx emissions, by oxidizing the NOx with NH3 and obtaining N2 and H2O (nitrogen and water). A diesel car with all 3 EGR, DPF and adBlue deactivated smells distinctively. Some cops (here in Europe) know that and the fines are discouraging... Better buy a smaller engine car (below 100 bhp) as they come without an adBlue system.
Interesting as I recently had a problem with the adblue cystalising. I think the adblue injector stuck open and car acted like the turbo had gone. White smoke and ammonia smell. Changed injector easy job cars running fine now.
water won't create the ammonia required in the scr cat to break down the NOx gases so the NOx sensor after the SCR Cat detects higher than specified NOx levels and registers the fault it doesn't create the fault straight away as it gives a period of time to try rectify itself by increasing the dosage though on the plus side you may have reduced some crystal build up on the injector and orifice with the water
Urine from a healthy cat contains only a small amount of ammonia, about 0.05%, but large amounts of urea about 2% and about 95% water. Cats with bladder infections can have a higher ammonia content, good luck getting it up to the required 32% in AdBlue and filtering out the other impurities that will block up the Selective Catalytic Converter
The system takes no notice of what you put in the tank - it works by measuring the exhaust gases, after the adblue injection in the exhaust, and it expects a specific range of emmisions/Nox - if you've got adblue in the Nox results will be in range - anything else, water, tea, coffee and the figures will be wrong and upshoots your fault message
We bought an Audi Q3 in 2014 and it was calling for Adblue top-up every 1500 miles. Was my first experience of it so didn’t question it, but at the time you couldn’t get it from petrol stations, just the dealer’s service department. It was the guy on the counter who ended recognising how much I was buying and said it should be around 3500 miles between top-ups. Queried it with dealer when the car went for a service shortly after and was told they’d look into it. When I picked the car up they said they “couldn’t find any issue”, but low and behold the car didn’t ask for a top up for another 3500 miles and stuck to that periodicity until we sold it…
interesting to have achieved 250 miles, what would happen if you were to dilute the adblue by say 50% water? would you achieve higher mileage before it registered?
I'd be interested to know if a retest was done using some form of purified water (e.g. distilled) because tap water is full of impurities which could have built up over time in the system. also interested to know how far you can water-down AdBlue before it causes a problem
Thanks for sharing your experience. I have wondered about that. I'm sure a lot of people have and are trying to avoid this expensive additive. Following from Sydney Australia Cheers
Limewater is the common name for a dilute aqueous solution of calcium hydroxide. Calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2, is sparsely soluble at room temperature in water (1.5 g/L at 25 °C). "Pure" (i.e. less than or fully saturated) limewater is clear and colorless, with a slight earthy smell and an astringent/bitter taste. Lime and water = Ad blue replacement
@@CrazyWhiteVanDriver This is very compelling...🤔....fascinating, to say the least....I'm curious to know concentrations/ratios and ofcourse results..How do I contact?
Can you test again but remove the rearmost exhaust sensor? Leave it plugged in but outside the exhaust? Sounds like there will be a urea shortage so would be interested to know the ways around this.
Great question, thinking if what they are saying about Australia is true and by Feb we would have completely run out, we are def going to have to be inventive.
No that won't work. The rear most sensor is looking for conversion efficiency. Removing it from the exhaust will confuse the system as well because the contents of the air will be well outside of its range.
I imagine it works on conductivity between two probes. A 66% water/33% urea mix will have a specific conductivity that is different to just water and it just measures this continuously. My guess anyway.
Very interesting indeed and for a old school mechanic semi retired something I don't want to be involved in. Got a 2013 Mercedes Benz E350 Bluetec that the owner ran out of Adblue very little mileage before a non start. 15 liters in the Tank have driven it but the range keeps dropping now 16 miles left. Can't clear the engine management light either. I've got Launch X431 Pros Mini fully updated and I've bought the Adblue software. No faults in the SCR module either. Two in the CDI module one the distance remaining and the other the quality of the Adblue both current and won't clear. Car drives fine on the road by the way the fuel light is on too. If I refuel and go for a long drive will I get stuck ?????
Actually looking at the fault codes would have told you how it detected a problem. Most likely exhaust sensors out of range. Similarly the dealer would look at the codes and diagnose the problem. I’m pretty sure they’d quickly work out you were putting water in it.
The AdBlue feature can be disabled in the ECU. A number of 'remapping' companies offer the service at an absolutely exorbitant price. For some vehicles an AdBlue Off emulator is available. If you are tech savvy and have ECU mapping software you can DIY the process.
I imagine it's because some bus (or van) models that have diesel engines are sold in some countries with AdBlue tanks and in some countries without them.
Greetings from California. Let me tell you, I'm just running into that. I once did it. I added probably 500 ml of distilled water; is the only one that can work, tap water wont make the trick because its minerals and impurities and the sensor will catch it fast; to my wife's X5 35d and it helped to clean some stubborn codes that were making to fail the smog inspections required by law every other year in California in order to register your car. It worked! After doing that, this year I'm having some codes with the Nox sensor in my beloved small beast 2011 335d, so I decided to do the same trick. Well, since last time worked like a charm, this time I probably added way too much water, almost a gallon of distilled water to the brand new DEF liquid from BMW, it went well and it happened the same like happened to you. The Sensor It didn't recognized it at the beginning but after about 100 miles, finally the car told me it had the good DEF. For about 300 miles it ran without any countdown warning, added it when I had only less than 150 miles, since I wanted the water to clear things inside. But I guess it was a bad idea since after those 300 miles of driving without any issue, last week came back the 200-mile warning saying "Bad Nox Exhausted Liquid..." So this time I'm guessing it was too much water in the mix and the sensor caught it, I tried to add more DEF to make the system recognized the real deal is in the tank but it didn't work. So I just finished draining the active and passive tanks, I used a siphon pump, $7 in your local hardware store and it makes the process to be over in less than 10 minutes, and then I added about 1.75 Gallons of BMW DEF, the only issue is that my countdown is just about 24 miles! I drove it for a little bit but still bad Nox fluid code is there!!!. What I will do is to leave the engine on for about an hour or so, right now is winter in CALIFORNIA and is about 43⁰ F, so it's way too cold for this part of the state, not far from Malibu. Then I will drive it for over 150 miles hoping this thing doesn't shutdown in the middle of the freeway when the 24 miles warning runs out. So lesson learn, the sensor will catch the imbalance ratio between Urea and distilled water. You can add a little of distilled water but absolutely it won't replace the urea. Don't try it at home. Now pray for me so this stupid code goes away.
A telehandler, which i operate, has a sensor with reads the concentration of Urea in the AdBlue. It has to be a minimum of 25% according to the mechanic. But original Ad Blue has an concentration of 32.5%. So dont mess with it. It's not that expensive. And if the sensor gets broken it costs hondreds of euro's. So you don't want that either. Nice try but just put Ad Blue in the tank. Great video!
True. If adblue still is able to be obtained. If its not, then knowledge of a workaround might be rather important as this adblue system is a single point failure.
I don't know about cars, but most Euro 6 trucks have an AdBlue quality sensor which measures the urea concentration (should be 32%) of the AdBlue in the tank, one way to measure it is the electrical conductivity. The sensor can see if it's water, AdBlue or even diesel that was filled into the tank. This type of sensor is required for the vehicle to be legislated to Euro 6, not sure of this was present for Euro 5 as well. The 250 miles indicates that the system wants to see Nox conversion to reset the AdBlue warning. Even dealerships can't just reset these as it would be illegal, all of this is described in EU law texts.
At 1'40" in, the presenter states AdBlue contains 32% urethra (Urethra is the tube that lets urine leave your bladder and your body) AdBlue is made of a mixture of urea and deionised water.
It has a sensor that looks for what chemicals are in mix. Thats how it knows when to pump in add blue. If you put tap water in then the system its just going to keep pumping as the sensor is not picking up what the system is looking for so it pumps again.
No chance if they were able to check strength of the liquid that would be amazing! You can get these deleted by ecu programmers it will be due to emissions like the lamda hence it needs running to clear the water in the system
I've added some water to mine say 1-2 litres with no affect in with adblue as well Apparently it works off a boyancy system so I was contemplating trying salt water but it's best off being tried by the video author first haha then let us know adblue is so expensive now to what it was help us out 😋
ad blue has a different density to water, easily checked with a hydrometer, also a different coefficient of expansion, so a full to brim tank of it will leak out if thetank is left out on a v hot day. more of a problem with trucks where the tank can be in the sun. The 250 mile tip is useful thanks
just move the sensor to a sep enclosed bottle outside the system so even though the tank might have water the sensor sees ad blue then on the exhaust sensors you can put cheaters around them to shield from emissions
I’m wondering if it gets too concentrated or crystallizes out causing problems with reductant injectors or fill level sensors. I bet a flush with distilled water would fix lots of issues.
I wonder if you could mix 68% distilled water and 32% urine and fool the sensor. My 2006 F250 does not require this fluid but I am still intrigued by the possible hacks. Perhaps water, urine and amonia might work. Who knows.
DON'T use urine, which is full of metal salts that will eventually screw up a very expensive catalyst as the deposits progressively scale out on it. And urine only contains about 2% urea versus the 32.5 - 33 wt% in Ad Blue. A TEMPORARY fix (to get you to the next garage if the car won't start) could be distilled or deionized water.
You should at least use distilled/deionised/reverse osmosis water, as the minerals in tap water will poison the catalyst. There is also a NoX sensor before after the SCR catalyst and looks for a 60% or better reduction in NoX. During a shortage of adblue or apocalypse it could keep you mobile though.
There’s most likely an emission sensor. It doesn’t know that you’ve put water in but it does know that the exhaust is coming out at a different composition than spec.
i drive a smart car and have the official star (mercedes) diagnose system to read and remove faults , it can allso be used on some other mercedes vehicles and i think you can use it to turn add blue completey off i dont know wat the add blue does it , might help cleaning the sootfilter in the exhaust system , if it does that than not using the stuff might clog up the filter and cause the exhaust pressure to rise wish is wat the system would respond too with the faultcode in the dash
Very interesting. I had this question in light of the looming Adblue shortage in Australia. There must be a chemical sensor downstream, which would explain the lag time on the fault. I get 10 000km out of a 5L amble fill on my Vito, which tells me there is a minute flow rate in the system.
I'd assume mixing your own adblue is possible, if you can find the urea? We used to put small amounts of urea in animal feed when I was a kid. Large amounts will poison the animal, but a small amount was good for some reason. I forgot what the reason was. In any case, if we could buy urea by the bag in the 90s...it surely cannot be unobtainium?
it was an interesting one, why did they think of fitting a urea quality sensor when they don't even fit a diesel quality sensor?? did they anticipate people trying to use water or adblue manufacturers trying to sell a inferior product🤔 Thanks Andrew for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
I had to use the water trick for a bit but it then put the vehicle into limp mode after a while. 30 mph all the way home. No damage done once I got hold of adblue and it got through the system it ran well again. We have it on hgvs for years now. In the beginning it was hard to get hold of..
@@aaanton11 it will be another way to restrict and eventually prevent us from using our vehicles, even if we get the fuel the engine will not start as the adblue is either out or has gone off, and unlike diesel it does not appear as though you could stockpile it, ie getting a 45 gallon drum of the stuff.
I usually top up the adblue on my Ranger as soon as I get the first warning. It typically takes it about 20 miles before it registers and resets the counter. After reading some of the comments on here, all I can suggest is to do the following: When the car tells you the Adblue is running low, it's trying to help you out. So swing by motor world and buy a bottle of it and save yourself some grief. So much simpler than trying to cheat an expensive system that was designed by someone far smarter than any of us. The alternative is to drive something other than a diesel vehicle.
Except that Adblue is an extra expense, highly taxed, and only exists because VW and the German manufactures were found cheating the stupidly ridiculous EU emissions legislation. Instead of solving the problem they make you buy adblue! (Its not a coincidence that Adblue arrived as VW and others were facing legal action!). So, lets not fix the problem, lets get the customer to pay for it so that we can all pretend to be green! Like most green legislation its nothing more than a profit generation scam.
There are two NOx sensors before and after the scr catalyst. The urea reacts in the catalyst and lowers NOx which is verified by the sensors. Some of the newer tanks do have a sensor that determines urea concentrations as well.
On a Vw certainly mine the sensor is in the tank ,apparently it knows when the concentration is below 44 percent ,Adblue on shelf should be 47 percent concentration, mine was down at 41 percent due to Adblue that had been in my shed for an age Uv broken down,checked with a spectrometer by VW tech , it was a drain and refill ,on the VW it goes into a no start after 1000 miles mode and there is no way round it unfortunately 😕
You would have had a Nox sensor fault ( nox sensors before and after the SCR cat). Nox can't be reduced without AdBlue. Nox sensors new that the Nox emissions were to high with the water.
As stated in comments a nox sensor after the injector tests for a reduction. The tank has a level sensor to report the estimated milage and or you have run out of adblue. What surprised me was you had 55miles before the car would be imobilised. I thought it was much more. As the adblue injection only takes affect when the detected level of nox is high. When levels are reduced which will happen depending on engine load. The injection will be reduced or stopped. My car just reports I need to refill every time I start the engine. When it will give up warning I'm not sure offhand.
Hi, I have that issue at the moment, Adblue engine will not start in 190 miles, I will try to add more adblue in and see what happened…😁 been to so many garage and they charge me for diagnose but never repaired it 😣
It's the NOx sensor that puts the MIL light on due to sensing nitrogen oxide, the vehicles I worked on, if they ran out of adblue they would go into reduced power and the fault would be registered in the ecm for six months.
All you need to do is take the whole and blue system out of your vehicle it's not necessary it does nothing for emissions and last of all it's a con to screw money out the motorists. It's not a requirement for you to have an adblue system on your vehicle
I have no idea about Adblue as I ride a motorbike, but I'm wondering if the 250 mile story reveals how much is in that 'Adblue' control unit - meaning that it holds about 250 miles worth before drawing from the main tank? Some good comments on emissions sensors, probably a good call. But I also wondered if the Adblue behaves like an electrolyte, therefore a chamber in resistance might trigger a notification? Interesting video!
Adblue is urea plus water. The crystals are dried urea. So you can clean off the crystals with water. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_exhaust_fluid Do not use limescale remover, it is acid, and it will destroy your car.
I had a euro4 truck '57 plate that never used any addblue in 2 and 1/2 years ! No limp mode, no warning lights, went thro plate no problem. Its replacement drank addblue, blew turbo, always showing lights or going into limp mode or just stopping and mostly needed re programming supposedly. I never knew if i was going to get home or have to stay out another night.
NOx is made by high temperatures in the combustion chamber. Water injection reduces peak temperatures. Why is AdBlu not added directly into the incoming air?
Adblue is to clean the dpf system right? What if you add some cleaning additives to the adblue tank along with normal adblue fluid ? Will work or cause issue do you think?
This question is exactly what I've been asking myself very long time. Mixing some dpf water based cleaner with the addblue as the addblue injector is right before the dpf I feel make sense the dpf to benefit from this mist. th-cam.com/video/mTCqjnmBtE8/w-d-xo.htmlsi=Q-usRAYqnhvnIIb0
People say that the systems fail, which is probably down to the injection nozzle fouling because of the urea choking the injection nozzle, so with what you have done may be a way to "service" the system and stop "failures"? by cleaning/diluting the system so it's clean? Worth a go if you ever have problems with them, plus I would probably add demin water to be sure I don't add any unnecessary contaminants!
Issues with doing that, you'd void any warranty or parts insurance on the vehicle, if it did work you get limescale build up on the feed and everywhere else, this could in turn damage sensors as well.
Actually, it is demineralised water and UREA (not urether). Urea is used in fertiliser, among other things, but the best description I saw was in another video where AdBlue was called glorified P!$$. That's because a large part of dehydrated urine is UREA.
250 miles is quite a large range for it to send out a fault. One of our collegues filled the tank of our Transit with water that was put into an adblue container for filling the windshield fluid tank. Took only 20km for it to shut off. Had to tow it.
Many years ago when I worked for Mercedes and they only just started introducing add blue, a trainer on a course said you could actually urinate in the tank as it's a similar composition. Never tried it but maybe a good one for a next video?
Can I ask I’ve had a few Citroen vans and they all came down with the dreaded ad blue countdown to shut the engine off Is this the pump or this injector ? As a garage assumed the whole pump system needs replacing or maybe it’s just the injector is clogged ?
This somehow seems interesting just because I've been on so many public buses that had small 'Adblue' doors on the sides (left side in the case of right-hand drive) and never thought to look up what that was until TH-cam recommended me this video in my home feed. I thought it was only a thing for paasenger buses. I didn't know there were vans that took them, but it's probably more of a thing with diesel engines in general.
I have the ultimate solution. Bought a pre-2009 diesel car with low mileage in great condition, will keep it that way, practically no depreciation, lots of power, no AdBlue nozzle, no other BS, not even a start/stop button! That should keep me going until I'm too old to have a license - love it. :-)
Good stuff! Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
The exhaust sensor will pick up a difference in what it expects to see out the end. Then trip out when its wrong. Great advice on it resetting after 250miles very interesting.
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
The Gospel is 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
👇
th-cam.com/video/lbb4xwYj19g/w-d-xo.html🕊
Spot on so you need to hack the exhaust emission sensor. Nothing to do with the liquid!
The scamers are sensoring the scamers 😂adblue a joke and a rip off 😢
@@davidmilledge221 Please provide a citation to back up your assertion.
The sensor down stream of the SCR can tell the difference. After the process of the add blue being added and the catalytic reaction the sensor expects to “sniff” a specific content of gases if these gases fall outside of the correct window of operation the system tends to log an efficiency fault code something like P20EE.
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
@@aaanton11the next test needs to be what percentage of water maintains it working? I’m guessing you could go 50% more water?
Yes. And some cars will refuse to start.
Does the ECU have adjustable parameters for the amount of adblue it needs to detect before alarming?
@@bobeyes3284 Of course it does, the ECM can be edited, or a bypass fitted
It’s far more likely there’s an emissions sensor. You should use demineralised water as limescale will build up on the jet. As it is the adblue crystallises on the jet
Can u use Calgon 😂
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
@@andrewsheedy6145 washing machines live longer with Calgon!
I changed car, Skoda Karoq diesel for Karoq petrol. Dealer left five litres of adBlue with me. Urea is the grass lawn green up solution, so that’s where it went. Four hours later scorched Earth. Maybe it should have been diluted. Reseeded and it was up in a fortnight.
and use a little dose of pure ammonia
The match of 250 miles to detect and clear the fault indicate it's probably a sensor further down the injection system rather than in the tank itself. The fluid in the pipe between the tank and injectors needs to be used before the content in the tank reaches that sensor.
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
That was my thought too....
NOx sensor yes.
If you use a dehumidifier the water you collect everyday is clear of tap water additives. Probably better to use that.
i think it registeres that the sensor on the end of the exhaust realised that there wasnt any nitrous oxide being broken down and there was an increase so that emc flagged this up as no add blue,
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
and the particle filter gets too filthy and has too much resistance for waste gas flow after a while
@@anglerjj3089 the Def has nothing to do with the DPF particulate filter
@@jerryeastman170 and the SCR and DPF are seperate top.
I'd be interested to see what percentage of water you could run before it figures it out
Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
My thought exactly
I've put 2 litres of water to 8 litres of adblue in my 2020 van has no issues even put a little of my own fluid in there before now and not made a difference
I put 4 litres of water in before it worked but didn't like it and I had to top it up with adblue
But seems 1litre water to 5litres adblue works a treat
@@rattlecanmaster The system has nitrous oxide (nox) sensors before and after the treatment unit in the exhaust. As long as the readings are being reduced enough by the trap for the sensors show sufficient reduction in nox the system is happy. When the reduction is insufficient, the system injects more ad blue into the ceramic matrix in the exhaust, and expects to see a increase in nox reduction. If it sees no change the money light comes on because it knows something is wrong. If you dilute your ad blue with water the active chemicals will be used up quicker and it will inject more often, and will in fact only go as far as the amount of ad blue in the solution allows. Hence you will get no more miles by diluting it! people mistakenly think this stuff is continually injected, not the case. the 250 miles probably equates to how far you have to travel before the solution in the pipe between the tank and the injector in the exhaust is purged. At the dealers their software has a purge function, to run the pump and injector without the car moving to clear bad solution from the line. You also need to be aware that ad blue goes off after time in storage. If you open a pack and it smells strongly of ammonia don`t use it it will not work properly and can bring the money light on. Ad blue should be stored out of direct sunlight and below 25 degrees centigrade. so if your garage has a stack of it on the forecourt in the heat and sunlight, the chances are it will be bad. even if it is only half bad it will be used up twice as quickly by your car as the reduction in active chemical will be just the same as watering it down.
I was thinking exactly this but then I thought that it is "not in the public interest" to speculate publicly about the subject. Then I read the wonderfully informative and amusing post below by @alandawson3345.
When Add Blue is added, the temperature in the exhaust system is raised. It is at process that depends of a number of factors, like the outdoor temperature, driving speed etc.
The system that monitors the exhaust, measures the temperature, and will calculate this rise in temperature over a period.
If the temperature is not matching the expected rise, something is wrong with the Add Blue.
With information from other sensors in the system, the monitoring system can determine what is wrong, and this will give you a dashboard indication.
The reason it takes 250 miles for the system to figure out what is wrong, is that other factors that affect the exhaust temperature, must be ruled out first, and that takes time.
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
I can't say whether this bullshit or not, but I do know that in our American heavy trucks, you call them Lorrys, there is a sensor inside the DEF tank that reads the tank pH. Urea is acidic, uric acid. The sensor takes multiple readings using electric pulses. The computer knows that water containing 13% uric acid and a certain other percentage of ammonia will come back with a specific voltage and anything outside of the parameters will trigger it as low quality exhaust fluid. As for the 250 mi thing, I don't know what the hell this guy's talking about, maybe it's different for cars but in our trucks the computer monitors and checks itself every 15 minutes and after three failed checks it will trigger a problem and will not reset itself back to normal until it gets three clean 15-minute checks.
Just piss in the tank
@@rivermcratt3683 We call them trucks and lorries. Adblue is Alkaline btw, not acidic.
@@lksf9820 I don't know anything about adblue. We don't have that substance in the United States and Canada.
I like to not recite other people's bulshit, it appears I have failed. Uric acid is not in exhaust fluid, only urea, ammonia. As soon as you said your product is a base I had to immediately a few things because I do know that ammonia is a base and urea is a base.
Turns out it's a fuk up on the chemical company that delivers our def. They made a handmade sign that said warning contains uric acid on our def tank and I never questioned it.
I can even remember a time where somebody said they smelled ammonia and I replied with, that's the uric acid you're smelling... No dick head that's urea we were smelling.
Chalk it up to one of those reasonable bulshit things that your brain doesn't dispute because it's so close to the truth.
I worked in a main dealership and filling up with everything but Adblue was a common theme! I’ve drained water, diesel , oil , washer fluid, and antifreeze out of Adblue tanks over the years. If I took a sample and the tester showed NOT Adblue , then it was automatic pump ,drain and flush quote.
The pump units are very expensive and water corrodes them fast!
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
@@michaellavery4899 hahahaha, glad someone else noticed the urethra!
As adblue is 90% water so that is a mis-truth.
@@inothome I certainly did, perhaps he was trying to make a tw*t of himself, which he succeeded in doing.
Thanks for testing this out I always wondered what would happen 😅
Happy to help!,Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
A problem we had with adblue systems on buses came from the tanks on the buses being filled from a can, rather than the dispensing tank and pump. This was allowing crystalised adblue from the can to block the teabag filter and the dosing pump, putting the bus into limp mode.
I fixed a few where the tanks had ruptured the vans looked like they had been frosted by mr freeze, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Same thing with case/sumitomo excavator
Sounds like a Yutong bus. They need to run out the adblu before shutdown.
It seems if Ad Blu is exposed to sunlight it will crystallise in the container. It needs to be kept away from sunlight
Incorrect storage conditions ruins adblue and causes problem.
Watch out for those clear plastic cans of add blue on the forecourts. Always take it from a tank. Its UV sensitive and the additive breaks down. I've had problems with an Iveco truck, it was the Iveco dealer engineer who came out on a breakdown who diagnosed the issue.
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
This is why I hate modern cars with stupid computers. Nothing beats good ol cars that have no fancy computers, sensors and shit.
You might have a point, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
@@aaanton11 1990 Toyota Commuter has no electronics. And no DPF/AdBlue etc.
Ad blue improves diesel engine emissions, in some cities with high levels of particulate and NOx pollution from vehicles, this measure is very important to safeguard the health of children and other people with breathing difficulties.
Uretha! Haha
Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Not mine I hope
Urea..
Urea does come from the Ureathra! Lmao….
Urea is an electrolyte; when passing an electric circuit through the tank the car’s sensor will be looking for an exact voltage.
ADBLUE is part of the Selective Catalytic Reduction system that removes NOx from the exhaust. there are two sensors (post & pre NOx) if you use water instead of ADBLUE then these sensors will register no change in NOx level emission and the engine ECU will know and so register a fault in the SRC system
The Adblue sensor uses light refraction to check to quality, very difficult to fool, I thought the Nox sensor is before the Adblue injector so makes no difference, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
@@aaanton11 There are two NOx sensors (at least on newer cars). One just after the engine, one after the SCR catalyst (which is after the DEF(adblue/urea) injection. The difference between the two NOx sensors is the definition of 'is the anti-pollution system working'
Limewater is the common name for a dilute aqueous solution of calcium hydroxide. Calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2, is sparsely soluble at room temperature in water (1.5 g/L at 25 °C). "Pure" (i.e. less than or fully saturated) limewater is clear and colorless, with a slight earthy smell and an astringent/bitter taste.
Lime and water
= Ad blue replacement
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Have you tried this? Just wondering if you have experienced using this solution or if you heard about it. Thanks🙏🏼🤙🏼
Interesting. The 250 mile gap looks like an arbitrary lag programmed into the system by the manufacturer. The major none-water component is urea by the way. It is injected into the exhaust to break down the NOX molecules. Since water would not do this, the NOX sensors would pick this up fairly quickly. Urea is a major component in your pee. Maybe you should try an experiment with say a 50:50 water to pee mix instead😂.
Just be sure to have a couple of pints of Guinness before 😂 Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
You can deactivate the EGR and Add Blue system. If you also unblock the emmision filters cat & dpf, your engine becomes more reliable afterwards and you gain much less fuel consumption.
Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
how?
@@Shane_O.5158 These systems in terms of reliability are just additional failure points, they don't contribute to power or reliability, in fact they decrease both. However, their purpose is to reduce emissions, In most countries disabling and/or removing these system *should* (whether it does or not is another thing) result in the car failing the periodic vehicle inspection, and thus not being allowed to be legally driven on public roads.
It's a bit of a mixed bag with these. The AdBlue system burns some of the NOx that Diesel engines put out, so they have an effect on the emissions. Which would make them useful. The DPF however breaks down larger particles and creates microparticles, which in turn means yes, the emissions *look* cleaner, since there are no "big" soot particles, but those soot particles just fall to the ground while the broken up microparticles are getting everywhere, including your lungs. I have a pre-DPF-car and I'm glad it works that way (although I pay a penalty because politicians fall for that DPF propaganda crap). The catalysator decreases CO emissions while at the same time increasing CO2 emissions, so I'd say it takes one kind of pollution into another. So meh...
Btw. since CO is the real killer (not CO2 as the politicians seem to believe), I find it fascinating that all the emission tests tend to focus on CO2. Looks almost like someone in the petrol engine lobby had a finger in those emission laws, since those are the real stinkers (just speaking figuratively, CO is as odorless as CO2, but uinlike CO2 it can poison you) when it comes to CO.
A few key elements:
Urea (ammonia diluted in water) is used to reduce NOx emissions, by oxidizing the NOx with NH3 and obtaining N2 and H2O (nitrogen and water).
A diesel car with all 3 EGR, DPF and adBlue deactivated smells distinctively. Some cops (here in Europe) know that and the fines are discouraging... Better buy a smaller engine car (below 100 bhp) as they come without an adBlue system.
Interesting as I recently had a problem with the adblue cystalising. I think the adblue injector stuck open and car acted like the turbo had gone. White smoke and ammonia smell. Changed injector easy job cars running fine now.
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
@@TH-camsucksballsany idea what that chemical is?
water won't create the ammonia required in the scr cat to break down the NOx gases so the NOx sensor after the SCR Cat detects higher than specified NOx levels and registers the fault it doesn't create the fault straight away as it gives a period of time to try rectify itself by increasing the dosage though on the plus side you may have reduced some crystal build up on the injector and orifice with the water
Thanks Bernie for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
So... if you replace the NOx sensor with an emulator that always gives a response in the correct range...
Right, but cat urine sure does.
Rinse a few clumps of used cat litter (just the urine chunks) with tap water, then siphon off the top 2/3.
Urine from a healthy cat contains only a small amount of ammonia, about 0.05%, but large amounts of urea about 2% and about 95% water. Cats with bladder infections can have a higher ammonia content, good luck getting it up to the required 32% in AdBlue and filtering out the other impurities that will block up the Selective Catalytic Converter
The system takes no notice of what you put in the tank - it works by measuring the exhaust gases, after the adblue injection in the exhaust, and it expects a specific range of emmisions/Nox - if you've got adblue in the Nox results will be in range - anything else, water, tea, coffee and the figures will be wrong and upshoots your fault message
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Could you just reprogramme or disable the computer to bypass the AdBlu sensors?
yes you can, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
A lot of ADBLUE problems are now popping up with people using AdBlue not stored correctly like at filling stations in direct sunlight or high temp.
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
We bought an Audi Q3 in 2014 and it was calling for Adblue top-up every 1500 miles. Was my first experience of it so didn’t question it, but at the time you couldn’t get it from petrol stations, just the dealer’s service department. It was the guy on the counter who ended recognising how much I was buying and said it should be around 3500 miles between top-ups. Queried it with dealer when the car went for a service shortly after and was told they’d look into it. When I picked the car up they said they “couldn’t find any issue”, but low and behold the car didn’t ask for a top up for another 3500 miles and stuck to that periodicity until we sold it…
Horrible system, Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
@@aaanton11indeed. I wouldn’t mess with the adblue on your Audi though…
That gonna be a bad day at the dealer
Have you tried urinating in the adblue tank?
Be sure to have a couple of beers first😂 Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
interesting to have achieved 250 miles, what would happen if you were to dilute the adblue by say 50% water? would you achieve higher mileage before it registered?
I don't think so, the system is just slow to pick it up, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
You should have used distilled water and only in the summer.
Adblue freezes at -11 degrees centigrade.
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Brilliant information
I got same problem after your video I’m very relax .
Thanks
Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
I'd be interested to know if a retest was done using some form of purified water (e.g. distilled) because tap water is full of impurities which could have built up over time in the system. also interested to know how far you can water-down AdBlue before it causes a problem
The system is very accurate but there must be a slight tolerance Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
You can water it down with distilled/denatured water but you must keep the ph and ec the same as adblue.
The car knows that the emissions haven't been reduced so it sends an error code
Thanks for sharing your experience. I have wondered about that. I'm sure a lot of people have and are trying to avoid this expensive additive. Following from Sydney Australia Cheers
Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Limewater is the common name for a dilute aqueous solution of calcium hydroxide. Calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2, is sparsely soluble at room temperature in water (1.5 g/L at 25 °C). "Pure" (i.e. less than or fully saturated) limewater is clear and colorless, with a slight earthy smell and an astringent/bitter taste.
Lime and water
= Ad blue replacement
I'm from near Tamworth..
@@CrazyWhiteVanDriver This is very compelling...🤔....fascinating, to say the least....I'm curious to know concentrations/ratios and ofcourse results..How do I contact?
Can you test again but remove the rearmost exhaust sensor? Leave it plugged in but outside the exhaust? Sounds like there will be a urea shortage so would be interested to know the ways around this.
maybe another video in the future, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Solution needs to be found on how to by it worth a try
Great question, thinking if what they are saying about Australia is true and by Feb we would have completely run out, we are def going to have to be inventive.
No that won't work. The rear most sensor is looking for conversion efficiency. Removing it from the exhaust will confuse the system as well because the contents of the air will be well outside of its range.
Try using a stand off. Its not legal but it works on O2 sensors @@martinkeene
I imagine it works on conductivity between two probes. A 66% water/33% urea mix will have a specific conductivity that is different to just water and it just measures this continuously. My guess anyway.
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
@@aaanton11 Thats probably why it's DEIONISED water
Looks like he needs to add another product to change the conductivity to the same specs to AdBlue
@@drivewasher Nope. If you do not use demin water th system would be looking like your old washing machine (calcified) and the whole system ruined
@@jorgenchristensen5990 As I said thats probably WHY IT IS DEIONISED
Very interesting indeed and for a old school mechanic semi retired something I don't want to be involved in.
Got a 2013 Mercedes Benz E350 Bluetec that the owner ran out of Adblue very little mileage before a non start.
15 liters in the Tank have driven it but the range keeps dropping now 16 miles left.
Can't clear the engine management light either. I've got Launch X431 Pros Mini fully updated and I've bought the Adblue software.
No faults in the SCR module either.
Two in the CDI module one the distance remaining and the other the quality of the Adblue both current and won't clear.
Car drives fine on the road by the way the fuel light is on too.
If I refuel and go for a long drive will I get stuck ?????
Fill the tank sometimes it works, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Go to 1:36 with auto-generated subtitles. "adblue is demineralised water and 32 urethra". Sounds painful.
Ouch, watch out for the contractions😂 Thanks Jonathan for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
I’ve just put my urethra in my Range Rover Velar. I’m now on a sex offenders register and channel 4 want to do a documentary about “my kind”
😂😂Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
😂
Nice one mate, would have never have thought of just water, could be useful to get out of a pickle if need be 👍
its a pain to drain it out, not a easy job, Thanks Michael for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
So just put 100 ml or so to get a spot to by some
Actually looking at the fault codes would have told you how it detected a problem. Most likely exhaust sensors out of range. Similarly the dealer would look at the codes and diagnose the problem. I’m pretty sure they’d quickly work out you were putting water in it.
Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
The AdBlue feature can be disabled in the ECU. A number of 'remapping' companies offer the service at an absolutely exorbitant price. For some vehicles an AdBlue Off emulator is available. If you are tech savvy and have ECU mapping software you can DIY the process.
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
I imagine it's because some bus (or van) models that have diesel engines are sold in some countries with AdBlue tanks and in some countries without them.
Greetings from California.
Let me tell you, I'm just running into that. I once did it. I added probably 500 ml of distilled water; is the only one that can work, tap water wont make the trick because its minerals and impurities and the sensor will catch it fast; to my wife's X5 35d and it helped to clean some stubborn codes that were making to fail the smog inspections required by law every other year in California in order to register your car. It worked!
After doing that, this year I'm having some codes with the Nox sensor in my beloved small beast 2011 335d, so I decided to do the same trick.
Well, since last time worked like a charm, this time I probably added way too much water, almost a gallon of distilled water to the brand new DEF liquid from BMW, it went well and it happened the same like happened to you.
The Sensor It didn't recognized it at the beginning but after about 100 miles, finally the car told me it had the good DEF.
For about 300 miles it ran without any countdown warning, added it when I had only less than 150 miles, since I wanted the water to clear things inside.
But I guess it was a bad idea since after those 300 miles of driving without any issue, last week came back the 200-mile warning saying "Bad Nox Exhausted Liquid..."
So this time I'm guessing it was too much water in the mix and the sensor caught it, I tried to add more DEF to make the system recognized the real deal is in the tank but it didn't work.
So I just finished draining the active and passive tanks, I used a siphon pump, $7 in your local hardware store and it makes the process to be over in less than 10 minutes, and then I added about 1.75 Gallons of BMW DEF, the only issue is that my countdown is just about 24 miles!
I drove it for a little bit but still bad Nox fluid code is there!!!.
What I will do is to leave the engine on for about an hour or so, right now is winter in CALIFORNIA and is about 43⁰ F, so it's way too cold for this part of the state, not far from Malibu.
Then I will drive it for over 150 miles hoping this thing doesn't shutdown in the middle of the freeway when the 24 miles warning runs out.
So lesson learn, the sensor will catch the imbalance ratio between Urea and distilled water.
You can add a little of distilled water but absolutely it won't replace the urea. Don't try it at home.
Now pray for me so this stupid code goes away.
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
A telehandler, which i operate, has a sensor with reads the concentration of Urea in the AdBlue. It has to be a minimum of 25% according to the mechanic. But original Ad Blue has an concentration of 32.5%. So dont mess with it. It's not that expensive. And if the sensor gets broken it costs hondreds of euro's. So you don't want that either.
Nice try but just put Ad Blue in the tank. Great video!
It was just an experiment that didn't work 😂 Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
True. If adblue still is able to be obtained. If its not, then knowledge of a workaround might be rather important as this adblue system is a single point failure.
Would you recommend putting an additive into the adblue to stop it crystallising, they sell it on ebay and some other sites ??
I don't know about cars, but most Euro 6 trucks have an AdBlue quality sensor which measures the urea concentration (should be 32%) of the AdBlue in the tank, one way to measure it is the electrical conductivity. The sensor can see if it's water, AdBlue or even diesel that was filled into the tank. This type of sensor is required for the vehicle to be legislated to Euro 6, not sure of this was present for Euro 5 as well. The 250 miles indicates that the system wants to see Nox conversion to reset the AdBlue warning. Even dealerships can't just reset these as it would be illegal, all of this is described in EU law texts.
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
What if you alter the % of demineralised water from 66% to 70/80/90%?
Not Sure, but the sensor is very accurate, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Another Leicester lad here mi duck, subbed and following 👍
Thanks for the sub, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
At 1'40" in, the presenter states AdBlue contains 32% urethra (Urethra is the tube that lets urine leave your bladder and your body) AdBlue is made of a mixture of urea and deionised water.
you and many others have highlighted my dyslexia, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Try mixing some orange squash in there next time... 😅 To make it a little cloudy
Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Given that adblu is expensive. Can you dilute the stuff. So you can make 1 can last 4 cans?
It has a sensor that looks for what chemicals are in mix. Thats how it knows when to pump in add blue. If you put tap water in then the system its just going to keep pumping as the sensor is not picking up what the system is looking for so it pumps again.
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
I have noticed that my Vito uses a lot more Adblue now than it did when new. I'm close to 200 000km. Any idea why ?
No chance if they were able to check strength of the liquid that would be amazing! You can get these deleted by ecu programmers it will be due to emissions like the lamda hence it needs running to clear the water in the system
I've added some water to mine say 1-2 litres with no affect in with adblue as well
Apparently it works off a boyancy system so I was contemplating trying salt water but it's best off being tried by the video author first haha then let us know adblue is so expensive now to what it was help us out 😋
😂 Won't work, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
ad blue has a different density to water, easily checked with a hydrometer, also a different coefficient of expansion, so a full to brim tank of it will leak out if thetank is left out on a v hot day. more of a problem with trucks where the tank can be in the sun. The 250 mile tip is useful thanks
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Well done mate very good info. Cheers for that
No problem 👍 Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
just move the sensor to a sep enclosed bottle outside the system so even though the tank might have water the sensor sees ad blue then on the exhaust sensors you can put cheaters around them to shield from emissions
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
🔥🔥🔥
I’m wondering if it gets too concentrated or crystallizes out causing problems with reductant injectors or fill level sensors. I bet a flush with distilled water would fix lots of issues.
Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
How about hot or at least warm distilled water ?
Might even melt the crystals down again......
I wonder if you could mix 68% distilled water and 32% urine and fool the sensor. My 2006 F250 does not require this fluid but I am still intrigued by the possible hacks. Perhaps water, urine and amonia might work. Who knows.
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
DON'T use urine, which is full of metal salts that will eventually screw up a very expensive catalyst as the deposits progressively scale out on it.
And urine only contains about 2% urea versus the 32.5 - 33 wt% in Ad Blue.
A TEMPORARY fix (to get you to the next garage if the car won't start) could be distilled or deionized water.
Isn't any water whatsoever, extremely fatal to injectors?
You should at least use distilled/deionised/reverse osmosis water, as the minerals in tap water will poison the catalyst. There is also a NoX sensor before after the SCR catalyst and looks for a 60% or better reduction in NoX. During a shortage of adblue or apocalypse it could keep you mobile though.
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Or just piss in the tank?
And piss in it ?
@@Deontjie lol
@@Deontjie yeah .. take a good pub run, as aaanton11 said plenty of Guinness, then it's better than Urea
There’s most likely an emission sensor. It doesn’t know that you’ve put water in but it does know that the exhaust is coming out at a different composition than spec.
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
i drive a smart car and have the official star (mercedes) diagnose system to read and remove faults , it can allso be used on some other mercedes vehicles and i think you can use it to turn add blue completey off
i dont know wat the add blue does it , might help cleaning the sootfilter in the exhaust system , if it does that than not using the stuff might clog up the filter and cause the exhaust pressure to rise wish is wat the system would respond too with the faultcode in the dash
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Very interesting. I had this question in light of the looming Adblue shortage in Australia. There must be a chemical sensor downstream, which would explain the lag time on the fault. I get 10 000km out of a 5L amble fill on my Vito, which tells me there is a minute flow rate in the system.
Yes the flow is tiny, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
The Gospel is 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
👇
th-cam.com/video/lbb4xwYj19g/w-d-xo.html🕊
The flow rate is determined by how often you start the engine. Turn auto stop start off and you will use hardly any adblue!
I'd assume mixing your own adblue is possible, if you can find the urea? We used to put small amounts of urea in animal feed when I was a kid. Large amounts will poison the animal, but a small amount was good for some reason. I forgot what the reason was. In any case, if we could buy urea by the bag in the 90s...it surely cannot be unobtainium?
It is pretty easy to get. Most chemical cold packs are urea nowdays@@plonkster
It'll be the urea quality sensor doing its thing.
it was an interesting one, why did they think of fitting a urea quality sensor when they don't even fit a diesel quality sensor?? did they anticipate people trying to use water or adblue manufacturers trying to sell a inferior product🤔 Thanks Andrew for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Adblue is urea...what happens if you use urine?
I think the outcome would be the same, 😂😂
Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Your car will smell like an old folks home 😁
I imagine your urine has much less urea than the DEF out of the jug
@@jerryeastman170 ..but free
Good video, is there a difference between cheap AdBlue vs main dealer stuff which is 3x more expensive?
None, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Thanks for information, what to do if you accidentally put screen wash concentrate in adblue tank?
Depends how much. a tiny amount might dilute, more than a splash You will need to drain it out or syphon it out, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
@@aaanton11 thank you. Its drained out 👍
Try just using deionised water in its own
Wont work, the refraction sensor will know its not adblue, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
I had to use the water trick for a bit but it then put the vehicle into limp mode after a while. 30 mph all the way home. No damage done once I got hold of adblue and it got through the system it ran well again.
We have it on hgvs for years now. In the beginning it was hard to get hold of..
all these emission controls are creating issues, the long term reliability is just starting to show, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Did you try human uria along with distilled water?
@@aaanton11 it will be another way to restrict and eventually prevent us from using our vehicles, even if we get the fuel the engine will not start as the adblue is either out or has gone off, and unlike diesel it does not appear as though you could stockpile it, ie getting a 45 gallon drum of the stuff.
I usually top up the adblue on my Ranger as soon as I get the first warning. It typically takes it about 20 miles before it registers and resets the counter. After reading some of the comments on here, all I can suggest is to do the following: When the car tells you the Adblue is running low, it's trying to help you out. So swing by motor world and buy a bottle of it and save yourself some grief. So much simpler than trying to cheat an expensive system that was designed by someone far smarter than any of us. The alternative is to drive something other than a diesel vehicle.
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Except that Adblue is an extra expense, highly taxed, and only exists because VW and the German manufactures were found cheating the stupidly ridiculous EU emissions legislation. Instead of solving the problem they make you buy adblue! (Its not a coincidence that Adblue arrived as VW and others were facing legal action!). So, lets not fix the problem, lets get the customer to pay for it so that we can all pretend to be green! Like most green legislation its nothing more than a profit generation scam.
TDS meter? Electrical conductivity? Emissions testing?
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
There are two NOx sensors before and after the scr catalyst. The urea reacts in the catalyst and lowers NOx which is verified by the sensors. Some of the newer tanks do have a sensor that determines urea concentrations as well.
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
On a Vw certainly mine the sensor is in the tank ,apparently it knows when the concentration is below 44 percent ,Adblue on shelf should be 47 percent concentration, mine was down at 41 percent due to Adblue that had been in my shed for an age Uv broken down,checked with a spectrometer by VW tech , it was a drain and refill ,on the VW it goes into a no start after 1000 miles mode and there is no way round it unfortunately 😕
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
That is worrying. Where do they get the urethras from?
Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
You would have had a Nox sensor fault ( nox sensors before and after the SCR cat).
Nox can't be reduced without AdBlue.
Nox sensors new that the Nox emissions were to high with the water.
Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
i always wondered if you could put petrol in the tank and it would make pops when it's injected into the exhaust
😂 sounds great give it a go!! Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
It would be interesting to know what would happen if you had used distilled water. I wonder if emissions are produced making add blue?
Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
As stated in comments a nox sensor after the injector tests for a reduction. The tank has a level sensor to report the estimated milage and or you have run out of adblue. What surprised me was you had 55miles before the car would be imobilised. I thought it was much more. As the adblue injection only takes affect when the detected level of nox is high. When levels are reduced which will happen depending on engine load. The injection will be reduced or stopped. My car just reports I need to refill every time I start the engine. When it will give up warning I'm not sure offhand.
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Hi, I have that issue at the moment, Adblue engine will not start in 190 miles, I will try to add more adblue in and see what happened…😁 been to so many garage and they charge me for diagnose but never repaired it 😣
Same issue 😭
@@Fairydust.86😢
I would be tempted to get it mapped out of the system, you wont have another issue, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
@@aaanton11yeah… I think this is the route I’m going down! Thank you :)
How do you drain the tank down? Got similar issue on vw caddy 2018
Just pop off the pipe om the bottom of the tank, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
It's the NOx sensor that puts the MIL light on due to sensing nitrogen oxide, the vehicles I worked on, if they ran out of adblue they would go into reduced power and the fault would be registered in the ecm for six months.
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Hi what about a 50 / 50 mix or urine and water . ?? One bottle of truckers tizer to two bottles of water . Urea 30 percent .
😂 Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Not enough,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_exhaust_fluid
All you need to do is take the whole and blue system out of your vehicle it's not necessary it does nothing for emissions and last of all it's a con to screw money out the motorists.
It's not a requirement for you to have an adblue system on your vehicle
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
I have no idea about Adblue as I ride a motorbike, but I'm wondering if the 250 mile story reveals how much is in that 'Adblue' control unit - meaning that it holds about 250 miles worth before drawing from the main tank? Some good comments on emissions sensors, probably a good call. But I also wondered if the Adblue behaves like an electrolyte, therefore a chamber in resistance might trigger a notification? Interesting video!
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Can you put limescale liquid as additive on the tank to dissolve crystal of Adblue. Just like Kettle 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
give it a go and tell us how you get on, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Adblue is urea plus water. The crystals are dried urea. So you can clean off the crystals with water.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_exhaust_fluid
Do not use limescale remover, it is acid, and it will destroy your car.
Have you tried using deionised water? Maybe there is a conductivity sensor in the adblue injector?
Didn't work, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Yet another thing to check when buying a second hand motor. Do you think they will allow me to take a 250mile test drive?
😂 Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Did you ever do it again with a 50 50 mix surly it must be s viscosity type that the sensor is measuring?
The sensors are too accurate Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
The AdBlue system could be connected with the NOC sensor in the computer / ECU maybe, as in: If the NOC emissions are too high, it’ can’t be AdBlue?
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
I had a euro4 truck '57 plate that never used any addblue in 2 and 1/2 years !
No limp mode, no warning lights, went thro plate no problem.
Its replacement drank addblue, blew turbo, always showing lights or going into limp mode or just stopping and mostly needed re programming supposedly.
I never knew if i was going to get home or have to stay out another night.
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Have you tried adding deionized water istead of tap water?
The system is too accurate, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
NOx is made by high temperatures in the combustion chamber. Water injection reduces peak temperatures. Why is AdBlu not added directly into the incoming air?
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Hi, I added tap water in error to my amble tank.
Can I top it up with adblue or must I drain my tank first. I drove 60 miles ???
you will need to drain the tank, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
So what was the difference in the emissions, water vs AD Blue?
Didn't get that far, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Adblue is to clean the dpf system right? What if you add some cleaning additives to the adblue tank along with normal adblue fluid ? Will work or cause issue do you think?
The ad blue is added after the dpf so it will make no difference, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
No, it converts to ammonia in the hot exhaust system which acts as a nitrogen donor to convert ?NOX to nitrogen and water.
This question is exactly what I've been asking myself very long time. Mixing some dpf water based cleaner with the addblue as the addblue injector is right before the dpf I feel make sense the dpf to benefit from this mist. th-cam.com/video/mTCqjnmBtE8/w-d-xo.htmlsi=Q-usRAYqnhvnIIb0
Could urine be used. It contains uric acid and I have a good supply.
Have a couple of beers first, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
People say that the systems fail, which is probably down to the injection nozzle fouling because of the urea choking the injection nozzle, so with what you have done may be a way to "service" the system and stop "failures"? by cleaning/diluting the system so it's clean? Worth a go if you ever have problems with them, plus I would probably add demin water to be sure I don't add any unnecessary contaminants!
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Issues with doing that, you'd void any warranty or parts insurance on the vehicle, if it did work you get limescale build up on the feed and everywhere else, this could in turn damage sensors as well.
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Would it have been the same outcome with demineralised water only? My guess is yes
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Actually, it is demineralised water and UREA (not urether). Urea is used in fertiliser, among other things, but the best description I saw was in another video where AdBlue was called glorified P!$$. That's because a large part of dehydrated urine is UREA.
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
I wonder if they pass a voltage through the fluid, ad blue vs fresh will have a different resistance I think?
Its a light refractor sensor, Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
@@aaanton11 There must be a way to spoof that.......
I wonder if the o2 sensor is involved, perhaps it doesn't see the emission changes its expecting out of the dpf.
Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Is there much difference between urea and urethra?
😂 Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
250 miles is quite a large range for it to send out a fault. One of our collegues filled the tank of our Transit with water that was put into an adblue container for filling the windshield fluid tank. Took only 20km for it to shut off. Had to tow it.
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Many years ago when I worked for Mercedes and they only just started introducing add blue, a trainer on a course said you could actually urinate in the tank as it's a similar composition. Never tried it but maybe a good one for a next video?
Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
Can I ask I’ve had a few Citroen vans and they all came down with the dreaded ad blue countdown to shut the engine off
Is this the pump or this injector ? As a garage assumed the whole pump system needs replacing or maybe it’s just the injector is clogged ?
Do you have any fault codes from the faulty system? Thanks for the great comments👍🏻👍🏻🛠
This somehow seems interesting just because I've been on so many public buses that had small 'Adblue' doors on the sides (left side in the case of right-hand drive) and never thought to look up what that was until TH-cam recommended me this video in my home feed. I thought it was only a thing for paasenger buses. I didn't know there were vans that took them, but it's probably more of a thing with diesel engines in general.
Thanks for the great information👍🏻👍🏻🛠