C4 Diesel Adblue Tank

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Re: C4 Diesel Adblue Tank

Post by GiveMeABreak »

Sorry to hear of the your recent loss Paul.

I tend to treat the Adblue system on my vehicle much like the windscreen washer fluid - I top it up every month. My own theory behind this is that by keeping the tank topped up, there is less air in the Adblue tank which reduces the risk of rust to any remaining metallic components in the tank (despite later tanks having been redesigned with more plastic parts to help prevent this) and also prevents any crystallisation of the Adblue on components when the tank gets low on Urea.

If the Adblue level alert is going haywire, that would indicate that the fluid was well low and may be causing the erratic readings. However if you have filled the system as per the manual

Time will tell no doubt, but with the cost of these tanks such as they are, it doesn't cost me anything more that time as part of regular checks to do.

I hope your dealer will resolve this for you. They may charge for the diagnostic, but that will be a relatively smaller price to pay if they resolve the issue for you. Don't forget if you have any hassle, as long as the car has been regularly serviced according to the manufacturer standards and at the required intervals, they should cover this for you. If you have any hassle, don't hesitate to contact Citroen Head Office and complain directly. They will ask if you have been to the dealer - which is where they will then contact them directly if the dealer is not playing ball.

Good luck, keep us posted.

Just one other point, my vehicle has a specific warning regarding topping up of Adblue when it has run out - so there are specific actions to and not to take:
Important: in the event of a top-up after a breakdown because of a lack of AdBlue, it is essential to wait around 5 minutes before switching on the ignition, without opening the driver’s door,
unlocking the vehicle, introducing the key into the ignition switch, or introducing the key of the “Keyless Entry and Starting” system into the passenger compartment.

Switch on the ignition, then wait for 10 seconds before starting the engine.
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Re: C4 Diesel Adblue Tank

Post by citroen since 1973 »

Hi Marc, thanks for your reply and your condolances.

That's good advice re keeping the AdBlue topped up regularly and something that I will adopt for the future. Thanks also for pointing out about the process to follow, in the event of the tank being drained.

I took my car to Budgen Motors, they're the Citroen dealers for Telford and the surrounding area, this morning. They have never heard of any failings with the AdBlue tank and have no knowledge of the extended warranty for this item, but they did say that they would check this after inspecting the car next Monday. They charge £130 for a 1 hour inspection, which seems pretty steep to me and I asked if this would be refunded in the event of the tank being at fault, but they didn't think that this would be the case! Looks like I'm stuck until then, but hopefully the dealer will play ball in the event of it being the tank. I just hope that they do actually get the diagnosis right.

I have also spoken to the small indy garage we've recently started using and they have suggested blockages in the system, due to crystalisation etc. They can also look at on Monday, but I think that at this stage I'm best sticking with the dealer, as they'll at least have the correct diagnostic equipment and hopefully more specialist knowledge available to them from Citroen.

I'll report back next week, Paul.
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Re: C4 Diesel Adblue Tank

Post by GiveMeABreak »

Yes, stick to the dealer, which you will have to go through for any warranty claim regardless. The diagnostic they are overcharging you by £10 - see Citroen's official website charges which the dealers are obliged to follow:

https://www.citroen.co.uk/maintain/fixe ... pairs.html

You can see it clearly states £120 on the fixed prices site which include VAT.

They will have a guided procedure to follow for faults and they need this evidence to support a reclaim under warranty from Citroen themselves, who then may be able to claim from the manufacturer.
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Re: C4 Diesel Adblue Tank

Post by wheeler »

citroen since 1973 wrote: 21 Apr 2022, 10:35 They have never heard of any failings with the AdBlue tank and have no knowledge of the extended warranty for this item, but they did say that they would check this after inspecting the car next Monday.
How long have they been a Citroen dealer? A couple of weeks?
I would find it very hard to believe they are not aware of any issues with the adblue tanks or the warranty extension on them.
citroen since 1973
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C5 2.2 mk 3 exclusive tourer - beaut, lux car, now my son's
C5 2.2 mk 1 exclusive estate - a fine car, still a Citroen
XM 2.1 estate
XM 2.1 estate - big, full of elec gremlins
BX 1.7 turbo GT estate
BX 1.9 RD estate
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Visa GT - great fun, a bit hairy
Visa - mundane
Dyane - fantastic fun
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Re: C4 Diesel Adblue Tank

Post by citroen since 1973 »

Thanks for the reassurance Marc.

Budgen have been around for a long time now, wheeler and own several other dealerships around Telford and Shropshire, including Peugeot, 2 miles from the Citroen one. I've used them in the past, but not regularly for the past 8 years because they are pricey and I'm not convinced re their ability. Like my indy garage says, someone has to pay for the comfy armchairs and the coffee! Also, I don't appreciate their vague expression when they maintain that they've never heard of any problems with AdBlue and PSA vehicles. I'm just hoping that Monday goes better than I expect, particularly when I read of main dealers replacing other expensive parts that then turn out to be "masking" the real problem!

Still, armed with the knowledge you have all supplied, which I will print off, plus other information I've just found on a site called cactusforums.co.uk, I think that I should be able to convince them that there is a real problem they need to acknowledge.
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Re: C4 Diesel Adblue Tank

Post by Hell Razor5543 »

citroen since 1973 wrote: 21 Apr 2022, 17:08 Still, armed with the knowledge you have all supplied, which I will print off, plus other information I've just found on a site called cactusforums.co.uk, I think that I should be able to convince them that there is a real problem they need to acknowledge.
If that does not work you could always try contacting Citroen UK Head Office, to see if they can help. If THEY don't know about the Ad Blue tank problem...!
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citroen since 1973
Posts: 53
Joined: 01 Jul 2019, 23:35
Location: Telford
My Cars: C4 2.0 C4 Grand Space Tourer - beginning to love it, but still miss the original GS and, of course, the Diane!
VW Eos - 2nd car (all shared with mbh) another bit of fun!
C5 2.2 mk 3 exclusive tourer - beaut, lux car, now my son's
C5 2.2 mk 1 exclusive estate - a fine car, still a Citroen
XM 2.1 estate
XM 2.1 estate - big, full of elec gremlins
BX 1.7 turbo GT estate
BX 1.9 RD estate
BX saloon - I liked the BX range
Visa GT - great fun, a bit hairy
Visa - mundane
Dyane - fantastic fun
GS 1220 estate - 1st Citroen 1973, a great car!
x 9

Re: C4 Diesel Adblue Tank

Post by citroen since 1973 »

Actually James, from the reading I've done on https://www.cactusforums.co.uk/threads/ ... sion.7362/ Citroen appear to have been very helpful. Unlike the comments posted on this site, Citroen actually seem to have paid for the new parts and the labour. They also seem to have covered the cost of the diagnostic checks as well - something that I will be pressing Budgen for next Monday. In fact, it does seem usefuil to contact Citroen directly, before the car goes to the dealer and open a case with them.
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Posts: 53
Joined: 01 Jul 2019, 23:35
Location: Telford
My Cars: C4 2.0 C4 Grand Space Tourer - beginning to love it, but still miss the original GS and, of course, the Diane!
VW Eos - 2nd car (all shared with mbh) another bit of fun!
C5 2.2 mk 3 exclusive tourer - beaut, lux car, now my son's
C5 2.2 mk 1 exclusive estate - a fine car, still a Citroen
XM 2.1 estate
XM 2.1 estate - big, full of elec gremlins
BX 1.7 turbo GT estate
BX 1.9 RD estate
BX saloon - I liked the BX range
Visa GT - great fun, a bit hairy
Visa - mundane
Dyane - fantastic fun
GS 1220 estate - 1st Citroen 1973, a great car!
x 9

Re: C4 Diesel Adblue Tank

Post by citroen since 1973 »

I've just finished a phone conversation with a lovely guy, called Ayoub, from Citroen customer care, he's based in Morocco! He's created a case number for me and noted down my details. He's also told me to call back after the local dealer has checked over the car and they will offer me support (if necessary, I guess).

So, a good result so far and mainly down to the help and info I've gleaned from people on this and the Cactus Forum. Thank you once again, Paul.
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Re: C4 Diesel Adblue Tank

Post by RichardW »

Our Mid 2017 C4 Grand Picasso is on 42k, just waiting on the tank going pop :shock:
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My Cars: C4 2.0 C4 Grand Space Tourer - beginning to love it, but still miss the original GS and, of course, the Diane!
VW Eos - 2nd car (all shared with mbh) another bit of fun!
C5 2.2 mk 3 exclusive tourer - beaut, lux car, now my son's
C5 2.2 mk 1 exclusive estate - a fine car, still a Citroen
XM 2.1 estate
XM 2.1 estate - big, full of elec gremlins
BX 1.7 turbo GT estate
BX 1.9 RD estate
BX saloon - I liked the BX range
Visa GT - great fun, a bit hairy
Visa - mundane
Dyane - fantastic fun
GS 1220 estate - 1st Citroen 1973, a great car!
x 9

Re: C4 Diesel Adblue Tank

Post by citroen since 1973 »

Hi everyone, I took our car in to Budgen Motors, in Telford, on Monday. I believe that hey carried out the promised diagnostic check and carried out a "denox system reset". They also topped it up with more AdBlue and cleaned the car, inside and out. However, they said that they could find no indication from their tests that there were any problems with the AdBlue tank and suggested that I keep an eye on things and get back to them if I needed more help. If so, they will have to carry out "pressure tests".

Since Tuesday the car has been used a lot (for us), including journeys of 2 hrs and 1.5hrs, each way, total 280 miles. So far, it has been fine, but it will remain a worry for me, given the problems I've read about. However, in future I will keep the AdBlue regularly topped up, as Marc has suggested and contact Citroen again if I get any further issues with it.
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Re: C4 Diesel Adblue Tank

Post by Eandpgoodman »

Bought a 2015 plate grand picasso from a dealer, in november, a short time after I started to get an engine failure fault, emissions fault and then the dreaded countdown until startup would be prevented. Currently my car is at 85000 miles.
I keep being advised by garages, and even an RAC recovery that I can get help with getting the adblue tank replaced as the part was recalled but any Citroen dealership is saying my car is not covered.
I don't have any coverage taken out on the car and I'm not sure which way to turn next.
I took out a huge loan to get this car and can't afford the £1.5k+ for this tank as I've already spent loads on diagnostics and other faults.
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Re: C4 Diesel Adblue Tank

Post by GiveMeABreak »

Unfortunately the extended claims for the Urea tanks may be out of scope in your case as the car is 7 years old and has significant mileage. That's why it can be wise to take out some sort of warranty if available on a car of this mileage.

You haven't posted any fault codes up so can't help you with the specifics until we have those - as without these it could be anything.
There are places that can refurbish the tanks (depending on type of tank) which can be cheaper than one from the dealer. But they can also be bought independently for much less, but you would need to have them fitted and primed.

Having said that, I assume the Adblue tank has been topped up of course?
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Re: C4 Diesel Adblue Tank

Post by wheeler »

When have you last spoke to a dealer about this? The extended warranty on the adblue tanks used to be up to 5 years or 93,000 miles however I believe this has very recently (in around the last 4 weeks) been extended even further. Be aware that the partial covering of costs reduces in percentage the older the car is and the higher the mileage gets. The partial covering of costs can also be discretionary depending on service history too.
Probably worth an email to Citroen UK & maybe open a case.
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Re: C4 Diesel Adblue Tank

Post by Spaniel lover »

Hi. We’ve just joined this forum because our 2014 c4 Grand Picasso 2.0L is still displaying the UREA warning and the dreaded “ countdown “ despite us having put 10L of ad blue in. We’ve just visited our local garage ( not Citroen) who ran diagnostics, said he’d cleared the ad blue problem, (although all the error messages still remain???)but said that there is a separate Urea tank which must need topping up and can only be done at a garage because it’s a tank behind the diesel tank and can only be accessed from under the car. We’re now totally confused because no one on this forum has mentioned a separate UREA tank. Please can anyone advise at all because we are certainly confused.com.
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Re: C4 Diesel Adblue Tank

Post by RichardW »

If you've got a warning that the adblue is low with a countdown to engine not starting, and you've filled it up but the error remains, then unfortunately it almost certainly needs a new ad blue tank (which is going to set you back around £1k....). If the error is a more generic Depollution Fault, then it could be that the Eolys DPF additive tank needs refilling. That your garage doesn't know the difference and can't apparently look under the car does not inspire confidence; you might need to find someone else to look at it.
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