You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Had a diesel car for just under a year and just had the ad blue refill message come on yesterday
Ive read that ad blue is cheaper at a service station but then also read that the pumps are designed for lorries not cars as they are designed to take the liquid under pressure
Can you use a pump or do you just have to buy a plastic bottle for a car?
+ is £20 for 10l the going rate (bottles) I can’t find pump prices.
Thanks
Had to get some yesterday. Cheapest I could find that was instantly available was at Toolstation. £22.99. Screwfix were out of stock locally for me but its the same price there too.
https://www.toolstation.com/redex-adblue/p54632
Thanks yeah had seen it at screwfix etc.
Do you have to buy a funnel too? Ie how do you stop it going all over your car?
Yeah, got a shock last time I filled with ad blue. I use a bit less than 10l a year it seems. This time was over £20 for 10 l. Last time it was £10.
Normally find the funnel under the sticky label on the bottle.
Normally find the funnel under the sticky label on the bottle.
This. ^ the Redex stuff from Screwfix etc has the funnel. Easiest job in the world, just twice the price since I last had to do it. My adblue tank is 13 litres, so when the car tells me it needs some (usually says I have 1500 miles left), I know a full 10 litre is required.
Thanks looks like screwfix for me
https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/greenchem-adblue-10ltr-542770535
There is a bit if a nack to filling without getting airlocks, I think it's easier with the funnel at the top.
£18.99
I've seen car drivers sat at the truck pumps filling up with adblue.. Confused me no end the first time I pulled up to have a car in front of me and nearly jumped out to ask what he was doing before it dawned on me.
Apparently its cheaper from the pump.. Also the nozzles for the trucks are the same size as cars.
map of adblue service stations here
When’s your service due? If it’s a new car with a service plan it may well get topped up then.
Only once in 6 years have I needed a top up between services.
Aldi were selling and blue last weekend for £17 for the 10l
I bought 3x3.5l sachets from Halfords for £20 and so easy to pour compared to the hard plastic bottles. My Transit seems to love the stuff and drinks quite a bit
When it's one top up a year it can't really be worth the hassle of shopping around to get £2 off!
Depending on the engine cleanliness and vehicle size, some use a lot more and that's when pump adblue becomes viable.
All I would suggest is if you get the rigid 20L containers with the plastic screw on spout, they are brilliant for premixing screenwash and leaving by the garage. The spout has an integrated tube that allows air back into the container so it doesn't get airlocked. So much easier than guessing how much screenwash to put in, topping off with water and ended up with a third of the screenwash reservoir filled with foam!
The funnel quite often drips where it screws onto the container so stick a towel underneath to catch any drops.
That locator is really useful 5lab - thanks.
Not exhaustive though as I filled my van with an adblue pump at the petrol station on the Kingsway/Forfar Rd junction in Dundee which doesn’t appear on that locator. Presumably a different brand?
Hope to find some in Glasgow, but not managed so far.
Guide suggests a tank should last 10-14,000 miles, but I’ve had to top mine up (due to warning light) at least 4 times in 27,000/1 year.
Not sure how frost proof the pumps are - all the ones near me are out of order
Not sure how frost proof the pumps are – all the ones near me are out of order
But I bet they had a whole load of overpriced containers ready to to sell though 😜
Cheers @5lab
Perfect timing.... Light came on for the second time yesterday.
Stupidly the adblue tank on a Ducato is 19 litres, so only put in 10l.
10l gets about 5,000km, it seems.
Stupidly the adblue tank on a Ducato is 19 litres, so only put in 10l.
My cars tank is 7l, so you can't get a whole bottle in. Fml
Ordered 20L from Amazon for my van for £38. Seem to be getting thru quite a bit of it TBH; 10l/4000 miles....
According to VW I can expect to get thru 1.5l every 620 miles. I've only used so much recently driving to and from Glasgow.
It feels like I'm always putting ad blue in the work Connect. Pain in the arse and the overpriced containers never fit in the service station bin. A bigger tank would be nice and a warning bong/light with 1000 miles left is unnecessarily annoying.
That and windscreens, Its about to need it's 5th in under 3 years.
I use the pump at my local BP whenever I can, it’s much easier than faffing about with a bottle. My Citroen Relay gets through about 10l every 3.5k miles.
2 years ago it was about 70p/l at the pump, over £2 now I think.
I’ve always shyed away from the pumps because I don’t want to get covered in pig’s piss. I assume they have a cut out when you get near the to full, similar to fuel pumps? I have visions of a huge backwash and jets of it all over me…
I found the pumps to be cleaner to use than the big containers.
Wow, some huge mileage differences up there. Seems like vans use way more than cars. Wondering why? More short journeys in urban areas, with engine not getting up to temp quickly? Older designs of engines in van?
I live in the country so anywhere I go I’m straight onto a fast road for at least 5 miles before I hit any urban area. Engine up to temp quickly before any stop start driving. Would this make a difference?
Wow, some huge mileage differences up there. Seems like vans use way more than cars. Wondering why
often vans a geared differently to cars to overcome wind resistance etc so might be doing 1000rpm more than a car when trundling along the motorway
seems like some vans have comparatively small tanks too - so might be filling up more often but not actually using a lot more- or maybe just asks for it sooner. mine has apparently got a 15ltr tank but when it starts nagging to be be refilled I can only get 8 or 9 litres in
Wow, some huge mileage differences up there. Seems like vans use way more than cars. Wondering why? More short journeys in urban areas, with engine not getting up to temp quickly? Older designs of engines in van?
I live in the country so anywhere I go I’m straight onto a fast road for at least 5 miles before I hit any urban area. Engine up to temp quickly before any stop start driving. Would this make a difference?
NOx emissions are going to be proportional to the combustion temperature, combustion temperature is proportional to the boost pressure from the turbo*. Van engines naturally work much harder than cars even though they're often just the same engine so reasonable to assume the SCR system is having to work more often?
*which is why its a totally selfish idea to get your diesel tuned by some spotty oik with a laptop all he's doing is maxing out every parameter that the OEM had to limit to keep the pollution in check.
Horrible stuff really and generates a load of waste.
All these extra costs associated with running a diesel, combined with the associated complexity of trying to make them 'clean' (DPFs etc.) and the circa 15% price per litre difference.
Does make me wonder how they are still selling them over petrol equivalents!
My 3.0L BMW with 35k on the clock has used a total of 25L so far. Pleased with that. I think its down to how hard the engine works.
My transporter uses about 10l every 4-5k miles. I bought some a year ago for a tenner for 10l. Now it's over £20. I bought a couple of the cheaper ones from Aldi last time I was there
The nozzle on the halfords ones is relatively short, so I've heard. I use the old adblue bottles for water and other stuff. Useful for the Worx pressure washer
The tweaks to Euro 6 after the emissions scandal (6d temp and now 6d) required a number of vehicles to increase their Adblue consumption. So newer vehicles might use more.
often vans a geared differently to cars to overcome wind resistance etc so might be doing 1000rpm more than a car when trundling along the motorway
It'll be flat out all day long. Actually maybe not.
I assume it's proportional to mpg. I average 48-55, depending on load (I carry a lot of kit), headwinds,hills, if I've remembered to adjust the tyre pressures after the garage has let them down again and what tyres were in stock when I get the inevitable punctures.
Moving 3.5 tonnes is going to use more fuel, hence more adblue than your average rep mobile...
Paid £32 for 15.5ltr at the pump. A 10ltr canister was being sold for £39,99 on the forecourt.