Is AdBlue readily available at the pump in Spain

royandsharont

royandsharont

Joined
May 14, 2021
Posts
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Location
East Yorkshire, UK
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81,218
MH
ADRIA Twin 640SLB
Exp
Since 2012
Do any of our Spanish resident members know the answer to this & if so are some stations more prevalent than others?

Or perhaps some of you touring there at the moment can help?

I’m just debating whether to follow Fiat advice & refill when the 1500’ warning message comes on or top up here to a 3/4 full tank of AdBlue which will be getting to its 12 month shelf life I suspect. The Fiat option sounds more logical.

Im aware of many of the past threads about problems over the warnings and refilling but couldn’t find an answer to my question.
 
I had no problem buying it at the larger (one motorway) petrol stations. It was expensive though 5litres was €24 :eek: - however we were on empty…..
 
PS the cheapest I've found it in the UK us 10 litres for £20. At our local Wilko supermarket
 
AdBlu is readily available at the pump in Spain at filling stations, particularly larger ones on main routes. Often located close to the HGV refuelling pumps. Paid around €1 a litre when we were there a couple of months ago.

On another thread, someone recently was complaining that they were lugging 20 litres of the stuff around Spain in containers. Can't work out why they feel the need?

PS - Available at the pump in the UK too. Currently at £1.29 per litre at the Texaco filling station near me. Cheaper and more convenient than buying it in containers.

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OldCodger said:
Ok. Unfortunately for me, i cant use the pump - i have a fiddly little filler under the bonnet.
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That's annoying, and a poor design. I'm surprised though. The dispenser nozzle seems much more nimble to use than unwieldy 5 or 10 litre containers.
 
Thank you to Barti Ddu Tanya_and_Mick & Bolti for confirming what I thought may be the case, good to know for sure. Also to the others who replied too.

I was at my dealers today, who have a large fleet of new hire vans too, and asked them what they do refilling. They have a tank and fill the van when the warning light comes on and have had no problems so far.

I understand Fiat give an average consumption of 4L to 600 miles. My new 2.2 engine driven very carefully on the new auto 9 speed has only done 2400 and my AdBlue gauge says I’ve only used a quarter of the 19L tank. It was filled by the dealer upon hand over and I checked it at the pump after about 200 miles and only got about 40p’s worth in if I remember correctly.

So I’m getting approximately what Fiat suggest for one litre not 4. Is that great or do I have a gauge problem? 😜

I’m going to leave it and fill when the warning comes on wherever I happen to be and then I shall know for the future
 
It does seem to depend on how the vehicle is driven. in the UK driving at 70 on the motorway we needed to top up at 2500 miles but meandering down through France last summer I only managed to get 3 litres in when I expected it would be well below half full. Being 2019 build it does not have a gauge so i assumed my UK experience was the norm and had calculated I would need to fill up once we reached the south of France.
By the way if the light does come on and you are doing high speed motorway driving fill up asap because despite what some say you don’t necessarily have several hundred miles before it refuses to start once you stop. There is a routine to follow involving the key in ignition - details on inside of filler flap on mine.
 
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I used 7 litres for a 1000 mile trip, mostly on the motorway at 55 to 60mph. Not too bad for a 5 ton tag axle. I guess the more fuel you use, the more AdBlue you’ll use. Pump price near me is just under £1 per litre.

Good to know it’s widely available Spain as that’s where we’re going in May.
 
royandsharont said:
Do any of our Spanish resident members know the answer to this & if so are some stations more prevalent than others?

Or perhaps some of you touring there at the moment can help?

I’m just debating whether to follow Fiat advice & refill when the 1500’ warning message comes on or top up here to a 3/4 full tank of AdBlue which will be getting to its 12 month shelf life I suspect. The Fiat option sounds more logical.

Im aware of many of the past threads about problems over the warnings and refilling but couldn’t find an answer to my question.
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Apologies for my ignorance as I’m new to motorhoming but what is Adblu ? Is it an engine cleaner ?

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The Adblue4you app might be useful for you though I've seen plenty in Spain
 
TheTimTraveller said:
Apologies for my ignorance as I’m new to motorhoming but what is Adblu ? Is it an engine cleaner ?
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AdBlue is used by recent engines to get Euro6 emissions compliance. There's a separate tank which automatically adds near the cat when its needed to reduce nitrogen oxides in the exhaust. If you run out of AdBlue, the engine goes into limp mode or refuses to start.

mapman said:
It does seem to depend on how the vehicle is driven. in the UK driving at 70 on the motorway we needed to top up at 2500 miles but meandering down through France last summer I only managed to get 3 litres in when I expected it would be well below half full. Being 2019 build it does not have a gauge so i assumed my UK experience was the norm and had calculated I would need to fill up once we reached the south of France.
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I think it's primarily to reduce nitrogen oxides, which are mainly produced at higher engine speeds and higher loads. So it makes sense you'd run through it quicker on the motorway.
 
Adblue is an emissions supplement. Most diesel engines will go into "limp" mod if the tank level gets too low.
 
I'm in Spain at the moment And have seen the Adblue pump at lots of stations.

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I am in Cambrils right now and Esclat sell it at the pumps for 73cents per litre, Diesel is also only 1,56 euros if you have a loyalty card
 
mapman said:
It does seem to depend on how the vehicle is driven. in the UK driving at 70 on the motorway we needed to top up at 2500 miles but meandering down through France last summer I only managed to get 3 litres in when I expected it would be well below half full. Being 2019 build it does not have a gauge so i assumed my UK experience was the norm and had calculated I would need to fill up once we reached the south of France.
By the way if the light does come on and you are doing high speed motorway driving fill up asap because despite what some say you don’t necessarily have several hundred miles before it refuses to start once you stop. There is a routine to follow involving the key in ignition - details on inside of filler flap on mine.
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Thanks for this valuable info mapman. Our 22 van has the symbol to look at the manual in our cap ☹️ and whilst I’ve read and re read it I still find it a little unclear given I’m aware of people having had lots of problems. Perhaps you could help.

My understanding from reading up is when the warning message, or light, comes on I have 1500’ to go.

I fill it up at the pump and stop at the first click.

Then leave it for about 3 minutes but it doesn’t say if I have the ignition barrel on but not start the engine or just stand on the forecourt for said period if time.

After the necessary period it is ok to start the engine and drive off.

It also says then turn on ignition to Mar and await the adBlue warning to go out before starring engine

But this is what Fiat says online after filling up, and the manual is useless!

So I am thinking you sit in the forecourt with the ignition on for the time, or do you sit there for the time then put the ignition on to see if the light goes out?

4. WAIT FOR THE MESSAGE TO DISAPPEAR OR THE ADBLUE® WARNING LIGHT TO SWITCH OFF
After filling up, with the ignition device in the MAR/RUN/ON position, wait for the warnings on the display to go out before starting the engine. If the reservoir was empty before filling up with AdBlue®, you may need to wait for up to 2 minutes.
 
Hi Roy and Sharon, just seen your post. I will need to go out to the vehicle tomorrow to get my notebook. I will try then to explain how we dealt with the several Adblue top ups which were different!
 
We had never had a vehicle with Adblue before this motorhome and I have to admit that in the steep learning curve to getting away I did not give topping up Adblue a second thought nor had I noticed the instructions on back of filler flap.
Light first came on at 1590 miles while returning down A1 and luckily we were near services at Cramlington which had a designated Adblue pump. We topped up with 10 litres and vehicle started first time although possibly the light stayed on for a mile or so.
On return home I did some research and given that manual (p242) gives capacity as 19L I figured it might not have been full from new?. But if so why did it only take 10 L?
Never got an answer but moved on…. Laid up over much of 2021. Purchased 10 L of Adblue from Screwfix for future top ups at home.
Returning from first long trip to Dorset light came on at 3550 miles heading north on M1.Since I had Adblue at home and had been led to believe you had several hundred miles leeway I pushed on home adding a further 80 miles with light on. Parked up and topped up from container ( btw supplied nozzels do not all push open the shut off valve, I needed a funnel with length of plastic waste pipe taped on end)
On trying to start up to position vehicle in secure spot no joy! Light on and message on dash saying fill up with Adblue! This remained the case for 24 hours and despite numerous attempts and calling out recovery it would not start. Green flag did nothing, saying it would need to be recovered to Fiat. Luckily they were booked solid and so I had time to check online and found several references to the strange key procedure. I am still unsure of exactly what I did but I tried every combination of key position, waiting times etc. After several attempts it started! The light was out and the message gone from the dash.
So what to do?
I decided that in future I would try not to let the level get low enough to bring on the light and given experience so far would top up after 1500 miles. So in France this summer I dutifully stopped at that mileage only to find it would take a meagre 3L !!
I think my mistake was to drive on at motorway speeds for 70 odd miles with the light on.If you fill up promptly or better still top up before the warning light comes on you may avoid the “ fails to start” scenario.
The manual (p139) has a description that loosely explains the diagram on fuel flap but it is not clear I agree. Hopefully somebody else can offer a fuller explanation of the procedure.
 
mapman Thank you very much for this invaluable information for me. I think given all I’ve read, and what I’ve just learned from you, I am lucky enough to be able to monitor the gauge so when it drops to around a quarter of the tank I will fill up at the pump and will then know what my average consumption is.

I think the warning comes on around 3L left which is why it should be about 1500 miles left, like you found yourself when you topped up and only got 3L in. I can then gauge when I fill up in the future.

Once again much appreciated and thanks to ALL who have replied and helped me.

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