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AdBlue question...

15K views 11 replies 7 participants last post by  mike2335 
#1 ·
My wife bought a '12 Passat diesel which she mostly drives so I have not very much knowledge of the system. I have enough on my plate keeping up with my RR Evoque and my new Mini. Neither of us were aware of ANY requirement in regards to this "Blue Add" when she bought the vehicle.

A couple of weeks ago, we drove the Passat down to AZ from the Seattle area (1500 miles). Before leaving, she took the Passat in for a full service in which the "Blue Tec) or something like that, was serviced. About a week later, just before leaving Seattle, we noticed what looked like white frozen snow all around the box that contains the Blue Tec service port. My wife cleaned it all up and off we went.

Now down in Phoenix, I noticed almost as much of this "white" junk around the same area. I opened the door to the service port and checked the screwed on top which appeared to be tight so I don't think any leakage is coming up the service line. I'm wondering if this is a problem that should be addressed before starting the 1500 mile drive back to Seattle at the end of February.

I can't believe that this white gunk is normal for the diesel version. As of today, the vehicle has around 2000 miles since the last service. My wife said the VW dealer told her the vehicle wouldn't need to be serviced with this Blue "whatever" for 10,000 miles. Any input would be appreciated.
 
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#2 ·
Unfortunately your problem is common and reflects a lack of care by whomever serviced your car. I understand that anyone can make a mistake. All the same a mistake needs to be rectified. The crystals? Urea. AdBlue is a corrosive liquid. It not only damages metal components, it also will damage your carpets and associated padding. The continuing growth of crystals tends to reflect a rather serious spill.

Now that you've discovered the AdBlue spill I'd ask you to do a bit more exploring. I assume that you had your oil and filter changed when the vehicle went in for service. Pop the engine cover off and have a look at the filter area. Just to the front of the filter is an insulated metal pipe. The insulation is white and it takes a bit of care to make sure it stays that way. I'd bet even money that your insulation is oil stained. If so, then it sort of confirms my suspicion of inferior service. If the insulation isn't protected when the filter is removed you may be almost 100% certain of a spill and the resulting staining. These failures are not acceptable!

While I'm on the subject and if my suspicions are anywhere near correct there are other things that come immediately into question. You realize that your TDI takes a specific oil don't you? If whomever serviced your car didn't care enough to rectify the AdBlue spill, then I'd question whether the proper oil was used. For that matter I'd question whether the oil was even changed.

As to AdBlue use it's hard to give any figures. Our experience with the three Passats in our family is that a full tank of AdBlue will go far past 10k miles. We're a bit anal about service and willingly do it ourselves as we don't trust anyone with our vehicles. AdBlue is cheap and available at your local auto parts stores, or WalMart. Use a carpet cleaner if possible and clean up the crystals and AdBlue residue. Purchase a container of AdBlue and fill your own tank. You'll be much more careful than the guy who did the "free" service.

I might suggest a trip via your browser to Fred's TDI Club and the Passat forum therein. Understand that much of the forum is a litany of complaints or problems with requests for advice or help. These problems are by no means all that common nor universal as a general rule. One common thread, though, is a lack of knowledge or caring by those entrusted with our vehicles. This is not just a VW problem as it exists everywhere. True professionalism at any dealership is rare indeed.

We in the VW (TDI) community are a small group compared to most. We understand that our little diesels are different and we generally are quite particular about our vehicles and who is allowed to touch them. Little things tend to be noticed. Unprofessional behavior on the part of service people (or anyone else for that matter) becomes an immediate problem. This is why many of us either service our own vehicles or refer to a list of trusted TDI techs who take pride in our work and treat others honestly. The nice folks at the TDI Club will be happy to assist in any way possible.

Good Luck.
 
#3 ·
Nord,

Thanks for the reply about AdBlue. The problem happened after a service by a VW dealer in the North Seattle area. The fact that the crystals reappeared after what seemed to be a good cleaning before we drove the car down to Phoenix, only to have them reappear less than 3 weeks later, would seem to indicate we have an AdBlue "farm" growing in the trunk carpet. I think I will find a VW dealer in Phoenix to see what they say about it. We won't be back in Seattle until the first week in March.
 
#4 ·
I just purchased mine almost a week ago its a 2013, but the dealer carries a special refill bottle that locks into the DEF (AdBlue) filler neck and should prevent the spill that occurred in your car. The dealer quoted me about $9 for the refill bottle, so i will be buying 2 one for the garage and one to put in the spare tire well just in case I need some on the road. I am sorry this doesnt fix your current problem but i hope it will help prevent it in the future.
 
#5 ·
I think what happened with AdBlue and our Passat is that the dealer in Seattle spilled some in the trunk when they serviced the vehicle a couple of months ago. After the service, I was loading the trunk for a long trip to Scottsdale when I noticed the white flakes on the trunk floor along side the AdBlue service door. I seem to remember vacuuming most of the white flakes after which my wife wiped up the rest of them with a wet cloth. We thought that was the end of the problem.

However, arriving in Scottsdale, there were just as many white flakes as before. This time I only vacuumed them up without a wiping down with wet cloth. So I'm of the opinion that adding water to one of these "gardens" is like adding gas to a fire. It's been close to 2 months since I cleaned them up the second time and so far, no further occurrence. Keeping our fingers crossed. My advise is to be very careful when adding AdBlue. I saw a picture of the new diesel Jeep outside fuel door and that's where Jeep's AdBlue port is. Seems like a great place to put it to prevent trunk spills.
 
#7 ·
I had the same problem with my dealer. They filled the AdBlue tank at 10k miles and I think the tech must have missed the adblue tank and just poured the liquid near the filler hole. I had adblue coming through into the passenger compartment! I had the white crystals coming up on the back right side of the rear seat and all along the trunk edge including all over the spare tire well, spare tire and tool kit. I was pissed! I took it back and they tried cleaning it up, including pulling up the rear seat and surrounding carpet, but they didn't do a complete job and I was back in a few weeks complaining about the smell and crystals. They had a quick wipe around, sprayed some deodorizer around (yucky perfume smell) and said it was ok. Not the case because they missed a ton all over the trunk area and once again it was coming up through the seat area and now there was an overpowering perfume smell.

I complained about horrible service on Yelp (one star) and that got their attention. They called me this time. They replaced the trunk carpet and cleaned the spare tire and wiped everything down again. It's a lot better and the perfume smell is mostly gone (still comes up on a hot day, which is every day this time of year).

I'm just completely at a loss as to how clueless a dealer tech can be, spilling a liquid like this everywhere (and a lot of it too) and not mentioning anything and the dealer not taking it seriously.

So now my car no longer has "new car smell" but it doesn't stink of perfume or urea anymore either.

This seems to be a wide spread problem with VW dealers since I've read a number of stories from others about the same.

Can we raise a complaint with VW North America about training of the tech so others don't have this frustration and risk of damage?

-Richard
 
#8 ·
No further trouble

It's been 5 months now since I cleaned up the "snow flakes" in Arizona (re my post above) with no further occurrence. So I'm guessing anyone with this problem should definitely NOT wipe it up with a wet rag. To recap, I vacuumed the mess up.

I can understand why this might have happened if some fly-by-night guy serviced the AdBlue, but hard to believe a VW dealer's service department would spill the stuff in the first place.
 
#9 ·
I can understand why this might have happened if some fly-by-night guy serviced the AdBlue, but hard to believe a VW dealer's service department would spill the stuff in the first place.
While I'd like to agree with you, my limited experience gives me some reason to thing otherwise. I don't think that a dealer is any less likely to spill than doing it yourself or at a non-dealer, but that's besides the point. This happened at a dealer that is big in San Jose and deals with lots of cars all the time... and that may be part of the problem. High volume demands fast turn around.
 
#11 · (Edited)
They should have no spill dispensers for it as well. It fits into the filler port and then you push down to dispense.

Also adBlue (def) is nothing new. Touaregs have been using it for years.
 
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