Adblue pump failure

[J0HNM]

Just sharing my recent experience with a failure of the Adblue pump in my 6.1 Ocean (MY21).
Shortly after driving off the ferry in Santander I got the yellow engine-outline warning light so drove to nearest VW agent (in Torrelavega about 20k from Santander). The garage was very good and diagnosed the problem was failure of the Adblue pump. Within a few days a new pump had been fitted but the garage said they weren't able to 'configure' it and that they were in communication with VW head office for guidance.
Over several days they were told to try certain things but none worked. Eventually the problem was discovered to be a fault with the software garages use for diagnosing and configuration. The work-around solution was to use a 'different channel' to configure the pump. Apparently it is normal to use the same channel to configure a component as well as diagnose issues. But with the Adblue pump scenario a software bug prevents this and it was only when a different channel was used that they could successfully configure the newly fitted pump.
My communication with the garage was via Google translate so some of the terminology above may be inexact but I thought it worth sharing and the gist of the message should be accurate enough.

 

[Hawthorn37]

Thanks for sharing. Did you manage to get it changed under warranty?

 

[J0HNM]

Yes, no problem (cost to warranty was about EUR 700). I did have to pay for a new fill of Adblue but the level was quite low so that wasn't a problem for me. Although buying Adblue from VW is probably most expensive way to get hold of it.
Also, for information, we had RAC recovery insurance. They put the two of us us up in a hotel. Their limit is £30 per person per night and up to a maximum of £500 (which we nearly hit). If we were a larger group we would have had to start paying for accommodation ourselves. Also discovered that I could have either a hire car or accommodation but not both. Although I could have the nights in a hotel and then get a hire car for up to a max 14 days or until the van was repaired.
Still all's well that ends and we had good weather for our enforced stay near Santander.

 

[Corradobrit]

Yes, no problem (cost to warranty was about EUR 700). I did have to pay for a new fill of Adblue but the level was quite low so that wasn't a problem for me. Although buying Adblue from VW is probably most expensive way to get hold of it.
Also, for information, we had RAC recovery insurance. They put the two of us us up in a hotel. Their limit is £30 per person per night and up to a maximum of £500 (which we nearly hit). If we were a larger group we would have had to start paying for accommodation ourselves. Also discovered that I could have either a hire car or accommodation but not both. Although I could have the nights in a hotel and then get a hire car for up to a max 14 days or until the van was repaired.
Still all's well that ends and we had good weather for our enforced stay near Santander.

In could think of worse places to be holed up. Glad it worked out. If you remember how low as the AdBlue level (number of remaining miles)?

 

[J0HNM]

I think about 2,500 miles. I was waiting for the 1,000 mile notification and planned to then add 10 litres which, I think, is what California Chris suggests in one of his excellent YouTube videos. I've never had to add any so far - we had (only) done about 8,500 miles in the van from new.
What did confuse me was that the invoice from the garage said 19 'units' had been added but I'm not sure if that means 19 litres, seems a lot. But we were do delighted to get the van back we didn't question anything.

 

[Hawthorn37]

Yes, no problem (cost to warranty was about EUR 700). I did have to pay for a new fill of Adblue but the level was quite low so that wasn't a problem for me. Although buying Adblue from VW is probably most expensive way to get hold of it.
Also, for information, we had RAC recovery insurance. They put the two of us us up in a hotel. Their limit is £30 per person per night and up to a maximum of £500 (which we nearly hit). If we were a larger group we would have had to start paying for accommodation ourselves. Also discovered that I could have either a hire car or accommodation but not both. Although I could have the nights in a hotel and then get a hire car for up to a max 14 days or until the van was repaired.
Still all's well that ends and we had good weather for our enforced stay near Santander.

Good to know the warranty worked out.

 

[J0HNM]

Slight correction to the above: I had done about 13,000 miles (not 8,000) with about 3,000 still to go (according to the adblue display). This would imply that a full tank of adblue is good for 15-16 K miles (depending how you drive and other factors no doubt). Also van is 4Motion.

 

[andyinluton]

Slight correction to the above: I had done about 13,000 miles (not 8,000) with about 3,000 still to go (according to the adblue display). This would imply that a full tank of adblue is good for 15-16 K miles (depending how you drive and other factors no doubt). Also van is 4Motion.

The biggest factor on how long a tank lasts is which tank you have fitted!

You are showing as owning a T5 which wouldn't have Adblue

A T6 or early T6.1 has about a 12 litre tank, later T6.1 its 25 litres. I'm guessing your 19 units equates to 19 litres.

I'm currently using about 5 litres of Adblue every 1000 miles in a 2023 model 204 but have been driving into central London a lot, I expect our quick jaunt down to Spain over Easter will change the average usage a lot.

Also various remaps over the years have changed the adblue consumption hence the bigger tanks being fitted.

 

[Corradobrit]

The biggest factor on how long a tank lasts is which tank you have fitted!

You are showing as owning a T5 which wouldn't have Adblue

A T6 or early T6.1 has about a 12 litre tank, later T6.1 its 25 litres. I'm guessing your 19 units equates to 19 litres.

I'm currently using about 5 litres of Adblue every 1000 miles in a 2023 model 204 but have been driving into central London a lot, I expect our quick jaunt down to Spain over Easter will change the average usage a lot.

Also various remaps over the years have changed the adblue consumption hence the bigger tanks being fitted.

He says in the OP that the pump failed on a MY21 T6.1

 

[andyinluton]

He says in the OP that the pump failed on a MY21 T6.1

I realise that.

It was more a subtle prompt that perhaps he ought to change his details to show the correct vehicle, its a pain having to re-read every post in a thread to try and work out what van is being talked about. It takes seconds to do as a one off operation.

He's not the only one, there are loads showing "looking to buy" months after they have taken delivery & I cant decide if thats worse than showing the wrong vehicle details.......heres another offender:


Corradobrit
Messages
1,484
Location
Europe
Vehicle
Looking to buy

 

[Perfectos]

He says in the OP that the pump failed on a MY21 T6.1

But the OPs profile say T5, as stated,
that’s the point I think was being made.

a full explanation by Andy to help others understand the differences between models , whilst highlighting the Profile being incorrect.

edit: Haha simultaneous posts Andy !

 

[J0HNM]

Yes, mea culpa. I should (will) update the profile. I really liked the T5 but had to change as we live in a ULEZ area.

 

[davidjennytravel]

Just sharing my recent experience with a failure of the Adblue pump in my 6.1 Ocean (MY21).
Shortly after driving off the ferry in Santander I got the yellow engine-outline warning light so drove to nearest VW agent (in Torrelavega about 20k from Santander). The garage was very good and diagnosed the problem was failure of the Adblue pump. Within a few days a new pump had been fitted but the garage said they weren't able to 'configure' it and that they were in communication with VW head office for guidance.
Over several days they were told to try certain things but none worked. Eventually the problem was discovered to be a fault with the software garages use for diagnosing and configuration. The work-around solution was to use a 'different channel' to configure the pump. Apparently it is normal to use the same channel to configure a component as well as diagnose issues. But with the Adblue pump scenario a software bug prevents this and it was only when a different channel was used that they could successfully configure the newly fitted pump.
My communication with the garage was via Google translate so some of the terminology above may be inexact but I thought it worth sharing and the gist of the message should be accurate enough.

I have exactly the same problem having driven from England to Amman in Jordan. However they don't do diesel here and nobody is able to fix the problem despite many hours of trying. It seems my only option is to abandon the vehicle (valued at £38,000) in Jordan, fly home and forfeit the £10,000 deposit with Carseurope for the carnet de passage. Total cost £50,000. All because of a "software bug" which VW apparently know about but haven't fixed. Can anyone help?

 

[Corradobrit]

I have exactly the same problem having driven from England to Amman in Jordan. However they don't do diesel here and nobody is able to fix the problem despite many hours of trying. It seems my only option is to abandon the vehicle (valued at £38,000) in Jordan, fly home and forfeit the £10,000 deposit with Carseurope for the carnet de passage. Total cost £50,000. All because of a "software bug" which VW apparently know about but haven't fixed. Can anyone help?

Thoughts of abandoning seems a bit premature. Is it drivable? Can it be loaded into a car container and shipped to Europe eg France? This company offers the service

JO - MoveHub

www.movehub.com

 

[J0HNM]

I have exactly the same problem having driven from England to Amman in Jordan. However they don't do diesel here and nobody is able to fix the problem despite many hours of trying. It seems my only option is to abandon the vehicle (valued at £38,000) in Jordan, fly home and forfeit the £10,000 deposit with Carseurope for the carnet de passage. Total cost £50,000. All because of a "software bug" which VW apparently know about but haven't fixed. Can anyone help?

That sounds an awful predicament and there must be a solution. As Corradobrit says, transportation is an option.
And as for driving it: at all times my vehicle was driveable (both with the faulty pump and with the unconfigured new pump) albeit with reduced power.
As far as repairing is concerned...
Do they have the VW diagnostic software? I assume they do have in order to correctly diagnose that the problem is a faulty pump.
Have they fitted a new pump and are now having a problem configuring it?
The configuration is where the software bug problem kicks in.
Assuming they have the software and have used it to diagnose the message I was given was that they had to use a 'different channel' to configure.
The garage I used was the VW agency in Torrelavega, Spain. Our main contact was Henrique and via a WhatsApp business account using Google translate. I'll contact you directly with the number I used and also my contact details. I'd be happy to try and contact him again and find out who at VW they communicated with for technical help but I suspect that might have to wait till Monday (assuming not a bank holiday in Spain?). But it would be good to hear that the garage have the diagnostic software etc.
Hope you are able to have a nice few days in Amman. Best, John.

 

[davidjennytravel]

Thoughts of abandoning seems a bit premature. Is it drivable? Can it be loaded into a car container and shipped to Europe eg France? This company offers the service

JO - MoveHub

www.movehub.com

No its not driveable. It was down to 0 miles but our friend Amer put a further 30 miles on it. We are getting a new pump from Germany and hope that the Jordanian VW dealers can configure it. The worst option is to get a tow-truck to get it to Germany, but getting into and out of Jordan and Iraq is horrendous under normal circumstances, but on top of a tow-truck????? The best option would be for VW to fix the software bug . But thanks for the advice; I will give movehub a try if all else fail.

 

[davidjennytravel]

That sounds an awful predicament and there must be a solution. As Corradobrit says, transportation is an option.
And as for driving it: at all times my vehicle was driveable (both with the faulty pump and with the unconfigured new pump) albeit with reduced power.
As far as repairing is concerned...
Do they have the VW diagnostic software? I assume they do have in order to correctly diagnose that the problem is a faulty pump.
Have they fitted a new pump and are now having a problem configuring it?
The configuration is where the software bug problem kicks in.
Assuming they have the software and have used it to diagnose the message I was given was that they had to use a 'different channel' to configure.
The garage I used was the VW agency in Torrelavega, Spain. Our main contact was Henrique and via a WhatsApp business account using Google translate. I'll contact you directly with the number I used and also my contact details. I'd be happy to try and contact him again and find out who at VW they communicated with for technical help but I suspect that might have to wait till Monday (assuming not a bank holiday in Spain?). But it would be good to hear that the garage have the diagnostic software etc.
Hope you are able to have a nice few days in Amman. Best, John.

 

[davidjennytravel]

Thanks for that John. It is so comforting to know that there are friends prepared to help. We are spending the next 4 weeks travelling Egypt by public transport and hotel which, for campervan travellers like us, is utterly humiliating, but better than sitting on our heels in Amman.

 

[Corradobrit]

No its not driveable. It was down to 0 miles but our friend Amer put a further 30 miles on it. We are getting a new pump from Germany and hope that the Jordanian VW dealers can configure it. The worst option is to get a tow-truck to get it to Germany, but getting into and out of Jordan and Iraq is horrendous under normal circumstances, but on top of a tow-truck????? The best option would be for VW to fix the software bug . But thanks for the advice; I will give movehub a try if all else fail.

Who says it isn't drivable? The amble system is there solely to meet EU6 emissions standards. I don't think running it short distances and low speed will have any detrimental impact. Maybe other can confirm. Personally I would avoid the risks associated with an overland transport and have it shipped, assuming of course the new pump can't be installed and coded.
Good luck and enjoy your unplanned excursions.

 

[Corradobrit]

*adblue

 

[WelshGas]

Thanks for that John. It is so comforting to know that there are friends prepared to help. We are spending the next 4 weeks travelling Egypt by public transport and hotel which, for campervan travellers like us, is utterly humiliating, but better than sitting on our heels in Amman.

Be aware, the Forum member who mentioned the “ Software glitch “ has a T6.1 and you have a T6. Different vehicle software between the 2 vehicles.

 

[davidjennytravel]

Be aware, the Forum member who mentioned the “ Software glitch “ has a T6.1 and you have a T6. Different vehicle software between the 2 vehicles.

Thankyou WelshGas, there may not be a glitch after all. The confusion here is because the VW dealer, Nuqul at Na'ur, don't do vans or diesel, only petrol driven cars. They have a steep learning curve!

 

[J0HNM]

Fingers crossed for the repair. And I'm sure the travels round Egypt will be an enjoyable adventure once you get into it.
PS hopefully irrelevant but, on the software detail front, I was told the garage in Spain had installed their version of the management software in January 2023

 

[Blueeyedboy]

Our T6.1 failed earlier this year left me
Feeling cheesed off after previously owning T5.1 with no issues.
Dealer who repaired ours said unfortunately a large number of faulty pumps have been fitted to vehicles and they have no idea until they go faulty. Not just VW apparently.

 

[davidjennytravel]

Anybody still reading this thread may be interested to know that we got a private company in Amman to dig into the bowels of the adblue software system and disable it. So the van now runs perfectly thinking that it is using adblue when it isn't. I must add that the VW agent in Amman was useless, And VW in Germany ignored all my pleas for help.