If you drive a new diesel car, changes are you’ll have spotted a second, smaller filler cap next to the main diesel filler or something by your spare wheel….this is Adblue.
Adblue is a non-toxic liquid that’s colourless in appearance and is a solution of water and urea. To comply with Euro 6, recent diesel-powered cars use SCR technology to inject microscopic quantities of this liquid into the flow of exhaust gases. When the urea and water solution combines with exhaust emissions, it produces nitrogen and oxygen – harmless gases that occur naturally in the environment – by breaking down mono-nitrogen oxides (gases that can be harmful and are found particularly in the fumes from diesel exhausts).
My car, a VW, comes up with a warning to get my Adblue topped up - it begins a 1,000 mile countdown and is fitted with a system where if I don’t top it up before this countdown gets to zero...the car will simply not start!
All manufacturers are different but if you’re driving a lease car it’s your responsibility to get the Adblue topped up. My recent refill cost me less that £14 at my local VW dealer and took less than half an hour!
Read more about AdBlue on this useful article written by CarBuyer.co.uk