Adblue Pollution Control and length of Road Trips

S

skot

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Tadpole
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Hi all...first time on the forum.....be gentle

My wife has a 2014 308 Tourer that we purchased brand new. After a couple of years we started to get a warning engine signal when starting motor. Took it to the dealer and after several visits of them resetting the computer and same thing happening...the dealer "worked out" that it was the Adblue pump/tank. Under warranty they replaced the part and all seemed OK.

Several months later Wife took it to a local European Service centre as we were going on a long road trip and he bragged about all the extra fluids he replaced that he didn't have to do.

After about 8 hours of driving the UREA light came on...alarms flashing. So when we got to Dubbo for a couple of nights I popped into Auto Store and bought 10 litres Adblue. The car swallowed the whole 10 litres. looks like not only did the dealer NOT top up the Adblue BUT neither did the mob that did the service.

BUT from that point on, all the warning lights stopped flashing and the UREA light did not reappear....we were happy and for approx 1 month later, all was good. Once we were back home , my wife only did small trips to the shops etc. and after that month the warning light started coming on again.

So we took the car for a bit of a good run down the coast and was able to sustain good speeds for about 2 hours....low & behold...warning light stopped appearing when starting the car for about a fortnight then returned after doing only short runs again.

It appears that the car needs long sustained driving bursts to "burn off" or "clean out" some part of the system.

Has anyone else come across this and are there any simple solutions beside wasting fuel and doing an hour drive every week?

Cheers
Scott
 
It might not be long before nobody will want a diesel as a town based car because short trips are it’s Achilles heel.
Diesel sales in Europe are crashing and they probably won’t be around for much longer.


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Yes I am starting to believe that.....On long hauls, the diesel is fantastic. Wife & I are driving from Brissy to Melbourne in May and am looking forward to it. The tourer on longer stretches is a dream to drive. I have a Partner Van and only do small trips but the mileage is good and it doesn't have the same pollution gear that the wife's car has and therefore less problems. My brother has his own mechanical business that specialises in European cars especially diesel....he did his trade as a diesel mechanic on Leyland buses.

I take mine to him for servicing but wife doesn't want to do the 1 1/2 hour travel time to drop her car in to him so relies on the locals.
When I mentioned the pollution gear problem, he said that he believes that if the pollution problems were eliminated by getting rid of the internal combustion motor ........80% of mechanics business would dry up.
 
^^^^^ exactly!
I’m tossing up as to whether to go the EV route next or indulge ourselves with probably our last ICE vehicle.
Seeing we pay bu**er all for our (all electric solar) power consumption, it seems silly NOT to go with the coming Kona/Niro Electric as a replacement for our petrol one.
500 kms is going to tempt an awful lot of people and the flow on job losses over time will be significant.
Eg - SCA/Autobahn/ Repco......servicing/engine overhaul etc.
I can’t see dealerships looking forward to selling EVs that’s for sure.


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Welcome to Aussie Frogs! Unfortunately the newer the car, the less chance that someone else has already had whatever problem you're having :).

Adblue has only been used on the most recent diesels - surprised to hear that 308s had it as long ago as 2014.

To confuse the issue, your car also has the particle filter (DPF) as fitted to all Peugeot/Citroen diesels since about 2005. This particle filter is what needs the long steady run to do a "regeneration" (burns off the accumulated particles) every now and then. Here's a UK description: https://www.peugeot.co.uk/servicing/vehicle-maintenance/diesel-particulate-filter/

To assist in the regen, the particle filter has it's own additive, quite separate to the Adblue. It's called EOLYS, and I believe the initial supply usually lasts at least 120,000km. Hopefully you haven't done that many km yet - just something to be aware of for the future! Here's someone else's story: http://www.aussiefrogs.com/forum/peugeot-forum/112639-additive-bladder-peugeot-308-hdi-sw.html

Also a cautionary tale about the dangers of untrained mechanics confusing Adblue & EOLYS : http://www.aussiefrogs.com/forum/peugeot-forum/131903-adblue-product-its-suitability-peugeots.html

Cheers

Alec
 
2014 surprised me too, until I dug up this PSA European press release:
From spring 2014, new technologies will be offered on the new PEUGEOT 308 including the
unequalled 3-cylinder turbo petrol engine (1.2-litre e-THP), plus BlueHDi versions offering a record in the segment (CO2 at just 82g/km, economy of 3.1 l/km / 91.1mpg) and new generation six-speed automatic gearboxes.

BlueHDi is the name given to the marque’s Euro 6 Diesel engines. Exclusively combining the
Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) function and the Diesel Particulate Filter with additive (DPF) for the Euro 6 Diesel emission control, the BlueHDi technology permits a 90% reduction in NOx,
optimisation of the CO2 emissions with improved fuel economy and almost total elimination (99.9%) of particulates.
Click to expand...
 
I have a 2015 308 wagon Hdi, and similar driving conditions, and haven't had any adBlue issues.
I'm not sure what the warranty situation was like in 2014, but if possible I'd try twisting the screws on you dealer to get this rectified.

Just to be sure, is the warning for adBlue level or DPF?
 
skot said:
Hi all...first time on the forum.....be gentle

My wife has a 2014 308 Tourer that we purchased brand new. After a couple of years we started to get a warning engine signal when starting motor. Took it to the dealer and after several visits of them resetting the computer and same thing happening...the dealer "worked out" that it was the Adblue pump/tank. Under warranty they replaced the part and all seemed OK.

Several months later Wife took it to a local European Service centre as we were going on a long road trip and he bragged about all the extra fluids he replaced that he didn't have to do.

After about 8 hours of driving the UREA light came on...alarms flashing. So when we got to Dubbo for a couple of nights I popped into Auto Store and bought 10 litres Adblue. The car swallowed the whole 10 litres. looks like not only did the dealer NOT top up the Adblue BUT neither did the mob that did the service.

BUT from that point on, all the warning lights stopped flashing and the UREA light did not reappear....we were happy and for approx 1 month later, all was good. Once we were back home , my wife only did small trips to the shops etc. and after that month the warning light started coming on again.

So we took the car for a bit of a good run down the coast and was able to sustain good speeds for about 2 hours....low & behold...warning light stopped appearing when starting the car for about a fortnight then returned after doing only short runs again.

It appears that the car needs long sustained driving bursts to "burn off" or "clean out" some part of the system.

Has anyone else come across this and are there any simple solutions beside wasting fuel and doing an hour drive every week?

Cheers
Scott
Click to expand...

So lss you got a service from a non network guy he didn’t refill your adblue you don’t mention any mileage between these problems the 17 odd litre adblue tank can be used in as little as 15 000ks so your problem should be with the dodgy mechanic not the dealer.
Your dealer should have explained this to you at point of sale but hey they are trying to sell cars .


Garage C5 X7 3008 XTE
Gone but not forgotten 206 GTI 180 306 XR SED 405 MI16 x2 xzara VTS 406 SV 206 XT Berlingo 2011 (best car ever) 306 HDI 307 XSE HDI touring
Fix it right the first time
 
What he said. Nobody remembered to top up the urea reservoir, which you really want to do habitually every 10K because it holds about 17 litres and can be used at approaching 1lt/1K. You might make a 15K service interval without a low urea level warning, but 20K could be a stretch depending on how the car is driven.

For Citroen, the BlueHDi engines arrived with a few of the last C5s and then for the current Picasso sold from Feb 2014. It's an additional technology and the cars retain the particle filter system. Irrespective of whether or not a car has the add-on urea system, many very short trips can still potentially cause the particle filter to block if you never give it a modest run to allow the regeneration cycle. That's not a fault of the urea system and you'd expect to see a pollution warning if either the particle filter can't clean itself or the urea reservoir runs low.

While the Eolys additive fill might last 120-180K, sometimes longer, the urea need regular top ups. In the Picasso HDi (aka Spacetourer) and I think 308 is the same, the urea reservoir is meant to hold up to 17 litres, which will leave some air space at the top of the tank. The cost varies a lot depending on where you buy it, but it should be made to a common standard if it's called AdBlue.
 
Continual short trips in diesels is like doing continual short trips in petrol engined vehicles. In a diesel the DPF will clog up as it doesn't get burn off time, in petrol the exhaust system will corrode faster as the condensation inside the mufflers doesn't evaporate sufficiently.

Both our diesels do mostly journeys over 15 km and some at highway speeds. Never had a DPF warning except when we were living in inner west Sydney.
 
My wife’s c5 never leaves Newcastle never gets driven for more than 30 mins her 3008 and 307 the same never had the pef light on


Garage C5 X7 3008 XTE
Gone but not forgotten 206 GTI 180 306 XR SED 405 MI16 x2 xzara VTS 406 SV 206 XT Berlingo 2011 (best car ever) 306 HDI 307 XSE HDI touring
Fix it right the first time
 
My C5 does mostly motorways and uninterrupted roads, but the only times I've had a warning were near the end of a run on the M2. Citroen perfidy I suppose.
 
I wasn't suggesting there is a need to take the car for an hour along the expressway every fortnight or similar. That's clearly not the case. The problems can arise with cars only being driven at very low speed and maybe only a few km each way without any longer runs. The classic station car for example. A mix of that and some normal driving on the typical urban 70K roads seems to be enough.
 
We did a run down the coast on Thursday and sitting on 100 - 110 kph for about 45 mins at approx 1700 RPMs....alarms have stopped and haven't come back....YET. The lack of some good runs is definitely the problem. I explained to the wife that she has to take it for a decent run at least once a week so that the exhaust system can do a proper burn.
 
As a Diesel Renault owner I can recommend a long (160+km) round trip on a highway at least once a month or three will prevent the DPF filter light ever coming on, and if it does, a long highway (100km/h) trip will generally fix it. You should never need a franchised service organisation to do a DPF regen for you unless you totally hate driving.......
 
207cc Sport said:
Prolly the diesel's farticulate filter. Always clogs on short trips.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily


Garage C5 X7 3008 XTE
Gone but not forgotten 206 GTI 180 306 XR SED 405 MI16 x2 xzara VTS 406 SV 206 XT Berlingo 2011 (best car ever) 306 HDI 307 XSE HDI touring
Fix it right the first time
 
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