Engine Management Light then sudden drop in Adblue?

[scimmiamagia!]

Adblue level reporting 2500 miles left.

Engine management light comes on.

Suddenly 650 miles of adblue left?!

No performance issues.

Restarted the van and light remains on but is back up to 2500.

Any thoughts?

 

[Kayleigh]

Rodent damage to the cable going to the sensor maybe? Might be worth a look if you can get the van on some ramps.

 

[scimmiamagia!]

How do you find out if you have any adblue if the sensor is faulty? Not sure whether I need to fill it up or not. I have a 2500 mile round trip coming up so will take some with me just for emergencies but am aware of the dangers of over-filling as well as running out.

 

[Kayleigh]

I’m not saying that is the problem. It was picked up on mine at the last service that the cable had been chewed. Although at the time it was still working ok I had it replaced. If you have a big trip coming up maybe you should get a garage to run some diagnostics and have a good look underneath for any cable damage, if only to rule that out.

 

[secret lemonade drinker]

Just top up the adblue, I wouldn't want to run out

 

[Not-tonyadventures]

Did you get it fixed? We have had the same experience with the drop and the alert. We filled the tank with 10l and the alert Is remaining after 32 miles. Not sure if it needs to go in to a dealer to check. We are sadly out of warranty.

 

[Perfectos]

Try adding "ad blue crystal clean and protect" may help.

The MFD will tell you how much add blue you can add to the tank to "full" don't overfill it, but do fill it to the amount specified on the MFD.

 

[Perfectos]

Did you get it fixed? We have had the same experience with the drop and the alert. We filled the tank with 10l and the alert Is remaining after 32 miles. Not sure if it needs to go in to a dealer to check. We are sadly out of warranty.

Did the MFD advise to fill 10 litres ?

Did you turn off ignition whilst filling , parked flat and level, after filling the required amount advised by the MFD, turn on ignition to first position, wait 30 seconds for the add blue to recalibrate?

Assuming you've not overfilled the Ad blue tank ?
try adding the anti Cystallisant
If overfilled reduce the level

What does the MFD show regarding range left after filling ?
What did it show before filling?
Any change ?

I'm pretty sure the Add blue system will periodically recalibrate whilst driving , which may sort it out.

Can you force a Regen ? (OBD tool) which would obviously force usage of Add blue.

 

[Perfectos]

Related thread

Forced DPF regen £200!

I'm rather unimpressed that my 2017 T6 Beach recently went into limp mode, with dpf light on and glow-plug warning lamp flashing. I took it into the dealership and their investigation has revealed 'fault P2463' which apparently means 'dpf restriciton'. The vehicle is showing 42.9g of soot in the...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[Perfectos]

Previous discussion and confirmation from VW master tech regarding add blue topping up not registering: full thread and screen shot : & how to recalibrate the system by driving;

Please report back to help others

Ad Blue - topping up ...

I've managed to fill up from two garages that sell from pumps and 10l containers. HGV drivers that use the plastic containers tend to leave them lying around with the funnel unused. I picked one of these up so I could potentially store 10l using the now empty container. .me.

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[Not-tonyadventures]

Probably being daft. To lower the level, is it a matter of siphoning it off?

I didn’t check how much was needed, just thought that it was better in the tank than in the bottle and if it was too much, it would over flow.

 

[Perfectos]

Probably being daft. To lower the level, is it a matter of siphoning it off?

I didn’t check how much was needed, just thought that it was better in the tank than in the bottle and if it was too much, it would over flow.

Siphon it off

Edit see post #42 of the thread in my next post (below this one)

Edit edit: see post 51 & 52 regarding siphon

Note the absolute max on a t6 is 13 litres - t6.1 is significantly more (not sure the exact volume) - overfilling on both can / will knacker the level sensor resulting in a costly repair.

Hope you have avoided permanent damage

Pls report back to help others

 

[Perfectos]

Adblue - refilling issues?

Yes you can with a small enough diameter pipe Update: I inserted a narrow (about 1cm dia) plastic pipe into the adblue filler; it went in about 50cm, until it met a stop. It was very hard to siphon, as soon as the liquid flowed, it would draw up air and stop. I got about half a litre out a...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[Perfectos]

If you don't fancy the traditional siphon method, Suggest a small pump OR large syringe, you can get 500ml syringe with narrow tubing very cheaply from auction site or Chinese sites

I would take out a couple of litres to be sure, turn on ignition for 30 seconds (minimum) to see if the system will recalibrate, if not follow the methodology in the posts I referenced above (the driving solution) , follow it specifically!

When refilling use some anti crystal additives and do not overfill (only put in what the MFD advised)

 

[Not-tonyadventures]

So a quick up date. Having tried the diving pattern to reset the sensor to no effect, I decided to take it to the main dealer in Bristol as I had a couple of other issues. After the initial diagnostics, the conclusion - rodent damage which will include some new wiring ads a new sensor.

Is this a frequent issue? Has anyone got and good way of deterring them in future, other than using cats?

Thanks for all the help though.

 

[Wish]

Did the MFD advise to fill 10 litres ?

Did you turn off ignition whilst filling , parked flat and level, after filling the required amount advised by the MFD, turn on ignition to first position, wait 30 seconds for the add blue to recalibrate?

Assuming you've not overfilled the Ad blue tank ?
try adding the anti Cystallisant
If overfilled reduce the level

What does the MFD show regarding range left after filling ?
What did it show before filling?
Any change ?

I'm pretty sure the Add blue system will periodically recalibrate whilst driving , which may sort it out.

Can you force a Regen ? (OBD tool) which would obviously force usage of Add blue.

Nothing relating to adding AdBlue is obvious… I’ve had the van for 1.5 years and still no sign of needing to add Adblue as of yet… this aspect of the van continues to remain a mystery to me atm…