The engine light does come on although later in the journey than previously. In the ferry queue at Dover I try my new dongle for the first time and am impressed with it and the app. I get 3 fault codes, one relating to an Eco Button light signal failure - I'm not aware of any such failure - and two codes in the Adblue Dosing unit, P203B00 & P206A00. No explanations are given for these and searching Google gets no results. I find my Dongle and app can clear the codes and cancel the engine light.
We continue to Spain and have a nice time. The engine light comes on on long journeys but not on shorter ones. I cancel the engine light about 6 times in all, always exactly the same codes.
On the journey back home through France after three weeks or so away, the adblue warning light comes on, at about the expected time for a refill and luckily about 20 miles before our overnight aire where I had planned to stop. But very soon after the refill warning I get a message I haven't seen before, stating I must fill within 205 miles, that swiftly changes to another message informing the vehicle will not restart once switched off, then yet another message saying I must put in 1.1 gal and wait for warning to clear before restarting.
I get to the aire and park myself up but do not switch off. With engine running I put in the 5 litres of adblue I carry, wait for message to clear but it doesn't. I switch off, turn ignition back on, message remains, I wait some minutes to see if it clears, it doesn't. I attempt to start the engine - it doesn't. We are stuffed.
We call the breakdown service we have with Comfort insurance, which results in a mechanic turning up quite quickly. He can't get message to clear, I'm able to show him my empty container that shows 5 litres/1.1 gallons has been put in, he arranges for vehicle to be recovered.
That takes the whole of the next day, during which time I trudge in the rain to a nearby supermarket to buy another 5 litres. The van only takes 4 of them before overflowing, which shows it's taken 9 litres of a 18 litre capacity. I also trudge in the rain to the local garage, and with the help of Google Translate ask them if they'd send a guy round with diagnostic kit to see what they can achieve. A mechanic zooms round in a car and he has a good go, but has no success. I appreciate their kindness and they're happy with 20 euros. They were very good.
About 5 pm a breakdown vehicle turns up driven by a mere slip of girl of about 20. She expertly straps our moho front wheels onto her vehicle and drives the whole rig to the workshop some distance away. Her driving was absolutely spot on, she stopped half way to check the straps, at the garage she reverses the rig in in one go to where she places our motorhome, she spoke some English, that young woman has received excellent training and she was naturally smiley and helpful anyway, it was nice to see in one so young. The workshop manager had agreed to stay behind after closing time to wait for us.
I can't reveal where we were or the name of the business because the workshop manager went out on a limb to help us, in a manner that could jeopardise his job. Suffice to say, the van was at exactly the right business and premises.
Workshop manager promises they'll get started on us the following afternoon. When he does so the upshot is they can't clear the light, it's probably a problem with the level measurement inside the tank, requiring a new tank at a cost of 1200 euros but it will take a week to get one.
An alternative he says, is there's a business nearby who could carry out Adblue Delete. He'd remove the engine ECU from the vehicle, take it and me to the business, he doesn't want any payment himself for doing so because it's something he's not supposed to do in his position. Quote for the job is 350 euros, no payment up front, I only pay if it's successful.
End of work the manager removes the ECU and we go off in his van. The ECU is handed over, we have a chat, the ECU guy will deliver it back the following day, workshop manager will fit it in his lunch break (they have a 2 hour lunch break!). I Google the business, it seems legit, he has a website and a presence on social media, he has good reviews, the price he quoted me is the price he quotes on his website.
All goes to plan, the ECU is returned, the manager refits as promised, the ignition is switched on - the error message is still there and the vehicle won't start. Phone calls ensue, they decide to repeat the process that afternoon.
We decide we've had enough, we decamp to a hotel a 5 minute walk away, with a good restaurant opposite.
That evening my tracker app shows the ignition being turned on and off. I get a phone call, there's been no success, can I go and see him 8am next morning?
Overnight I'm on the phone to my pal Mark, he advises all the things they could try, such as instructing the engine ECU that the instrument cluster has been replaced, etc etc. For brevity, I won't go through all that was advised, but workshop manager says they have already tried everything Mark suggests. I have to say, the workshop manager was very good, he spoke some English, we both made full use of Google Translate on our phones, he remained calm and professional at all times, he had given us lots of time in what is a large, busy place, I feel he'd made a genuine effort to help us.
So it's back to square one and replace the tank at considerable cost and we have to wait for one to arrive, about 5 days not including the weekend. We have moved to a small apartment in a nearby city because I cannot face hotel food for a week, not even Best Western. We could have the van repatriated but I've been put off by stories of this taking weeks, we have our ebikes and a month's amount of stuff with us.
So there we are. We have to put up with a simply tremendous amount of inconvenience because of a failure of emissions equipment.
I've been having a read about adblue, naturally. It is supposed to reduce emissions, however: Apparently 220 million tons of this stuff is produced ANNUALLY and then shipped around the world. Shipping is the dirtiest transport of all. Adblue uses urea, which also goes into fertiliser, and the demand for both has contributed to the price of fertiliser rising which in turn has contributed to the cost of food rising.
Adblue is sold by the pump at filling station forecourts but is also sold widely in plastic containers. I don't have adblue available at a filling station near me at home so I've been buying it in plastic containers myself, it's actually cheaper to do so. Of the 220 million tonnes of adblue sold annually, how many millions of plastic containers are produced? I mentioned the Wynn's additive for adblue, naturally that is also sold in small plastic bottles.
I think these emission reduction systems are a cheat, just as cars detecting that they're on test are a cheat. Emission reduction systems such as adblue, stop-start systems and diesel particulate filters and so on are all gaming the system, to reduce tail pipe emissions but at the cost of globally shipping hundreds of millions of tons of fluid and equipment, overwhelmingly delivered by diesel truck or van, which must result in a net increase in emissions and pollutants.
As soon as we return to the UK I will be having Adblue Delete carried out on our van and I'd strongly advise others to do likewise. I'm told it's undetectable and is reversible, and I don't think there's any moral or ethical problem with this whatsoever, because these systems are a cheat.
I think it's outrageous the inconvenience and cost we've been put to. We'll be stranded for about 10 days, if we were anywhere near our 90 day limit we would have had to fly home then travel back again to collect the van. These emissions reduction systems are unreliable and I think it takes only one delivery by a diesel-engined vehicle, or one recovery by a diesel engined truck as we have had, to more than wipe out a vehicle's emissions reduction over the lifetime of same.
Stop start systems - the reductions in fuel and emissions must be tiny, but imagine if a new starter motor has to be delivered and replaced because it has failed prematurely? As I say, this is cheating. It is in the manufacturers interests to reduce CO2 figures for various reasons, and even savings of grams can result in a vehicle being placed in a lower tax band - no matter what the consequences to owners in terms of breakdowns or to the environment with diesel-engined vehicle deliveries.
And where is the safety, in a vehicle that won't start because computer says no? What about females travelling on their own? What if the vehicle isn't in a safe place?
I am not saying all this out of sour grapes, or being yet another old man railing against the world, I am being sincere when I say I do NOT believe these systems are reducing emissions, I think common knowledge tells us this.
Thanks for reading, hope this all provides thought, fingers crossed we get our van back in 2-3 days time and that our breakdown insurance covers our costs and accommodation, and yes I'll be submitting a goodwill claim to Fiat.
We continue to Spain and have a nice time. The engine light comes on on long journeys but not on shorter ones. I cancel the engine light about 6 times in all, always exactly the same codes.
On the journey back home through France after three weeks or so away, the adblue warning light comes on, at about the expected time for a refill and luckily about 20 miles before our overnight aire where I had planned to stop. But very soon after the refill warning I get a message I haven't seen before, stating I must fill within 205 miles, that swiftly changes to another message informing the vehicle will not restart once switched off, then yet another message saying I must put in 1.1 gal and wait for warning to clear before restarting.
I get to the aire and park myself up but do not switch off. With engine running I put in the 5 litres of adblue I carry, wait for message to clear but it doesn't. I switch off, turn ignition back on, message remains, I wait some minutes to see if it clears, it doesn't. I attempt to start the engine - it doesn't. We are stuffed.
We call the breakdown service we have with Comfort insurance, which results in a mechanic turning up quite quickly. He can't get message to clear, I'm able to show him my empty container that shows 5 litres/1.1 gallons has been put in, he arranges for vehicle to be recovered.
That takes the whole of the next day, during which time I trudge in the rain to a nearby supermarket to buy another 5 litres. The van only takes 4 of them before overflowing, which shows it's taken 9 litres of a 18 litre capacity. I also trudge in the rain to the local garage, and with the help of Google Translate ask them if they'd send a guy round with diagnostic kit to see what they can achieve. A mechanic zooms round in a car and he has a good go, but has no success. I appreciate their kindness and they're happy with 20 euros. They were very good.
About 5 pm a breakdown vehicle turns up driven by a mere slip of girl of about 20. She expertly straps our moho front wheels onto her vehicle and drives the whole rig to the workshop some distance away. Her driving was absolutely spot on, she stopped half way to check the straps, at the garage she reverses the rig in in one go to where she places our motorhome, she spoke some English, that young woman has received excellent training and she was naturally smiley and helpful anyway, it was nice to see in one so young. The workshop manager had agreed to stay behind after closing time to wait for us.
I can't reveal where we were or the name of the business because the workshop manager went out on a limb to help us, in a manner that could jeopardise his job. Suffice to say, the van was at exactly the right business and premises.
Workshop manager promises they'll get started on us the following afternoon. When he does so the upshot is they can't clear the light, it's probably a problem with the level measurement inside the tank, requiring a new tank at a cost of 1200 euros but it will take a week to get one.
An alternative he says, is there's a business nearby who could carry out Adblue Delete. He'd remove the engine ECU from the vehicle, take it and me to the business, he doesn't want any payment himself for doing so because it's something he's not supposed to do in his position. Quote for the job is 350 euros, no payment up front, I only pay if it's successful.
End of work the manager removes the ECU and we go off in his van. The ECU is handed over, we have a chat, the ECU guy will deliver it back the following day, workshop manager will fit it in his lunch break (they have a 2 hour lunch break!). I Google the business, it seems legit, he has a website and a presence on social media, he has good reviews, the price he quoted me is the price he quotes on his website.
All goes to plan, the ECU is returned, the manager refits as promised, the ignition is switched on - the error message is still there and the vehicle won't start. Phone calls ensue, they decide to repeat the process that afternoon.
We decide we've had enough, we decamp to a hotel a 5 minute walk away, with a good restaurant opposite.
That evening my tracker app shows the ignition being turned on and off. I get a phone call, there's been no success, can I go and see him 8am next morning?
Overnight I'm on the phone to my pal Mark, he advises all the things they could try, such as instructing the engine ECU that the instrument cluster has been replaced, etc etc. For brevity, I won't go through all that was advised, but workshop manager says they have already tried everything Mark suggests. I have to say, the workshop manager was very good, he spoke some English, we both made full use of Google Translate on our phones, he remained calm and professional at all times, he had given us lots of time in what is a large, busy place, I feel he'd made a genuine effort to help us.
So it's back to square one and replace the tank at considerable cost and we have to wait for one to arrive, about 5 days not including the weekend. We have moved to a small apartment in a nearby city because I cannot face hotel food for a week, not even Best Western. We could have the van repatriated but I've been put off by stories of this taking weeks, we have our ebikes and a month's amount of stuff with us.
So there we are. We have to put up with a simply tremendous amount of inconvenience because of a failure of emissions equipment.
I've been having a read about adblue, naturally. It is supposed to reduce emissions, however: Apparently 220 million tons of this stuff is produced ANNUALLY and then shipped around the world. Shipping is the dirtiest transport of all. Adblue uses urea, which also goes into fertiliser, and the demand for both has contributed to the price of fertiliser rising which in turn has contributed to the cost of food rising.
Adblue is sold by the pump at filling station forecourts but is also sold widely in plastic containers. I don't have adblue available at a filling station near me at home so I've been buying it in plastic containers myself, it's actually cheaper to do so. Of the 220 million tonnes of adblue sold annually, how many millions of plastic containers are produced? I mentioned the Wynn's additive for adblue, naturally that is also sold in small plastic bottles.
I think these emission reduction systems are a cheat, just as cars detecting that they're on test are a cheat. Emission reduction systems such as adblue, stop-start systems and diesel particulate filters and so on are all gaming the system, to reduce tail pipe emissions but at the cost of globally shipping hundreds of millions of tons of fluid and equipment, overwhelmingly delivered by diesel truck or van, which must result in a net increase in emissions and pollutants.
As soon as we return to the UK I will be having Adblue Delete carried out on our van and I'd strongly advise others to do likewise. I'm told it's undetectable and is reversible, and I don't think there's any moral or ethical problem with this whatsoever, because these systems are a cheat.
I think it's outrageous the inconvenience and cost we've been put to. We'll be stranded for about 10 days, if we were anywhere near our 90 day limit we would have had to fly home then travel back again to collect the van. These emissions reduction systems are unreliable and I think it takes only one delivery by a diesel-engined vehicle, or one recovery by a diesel engined truck as we have had, to more than wipe out a vehicle's emissions reduction over the lifetime of same.
Stop start systems - the reductions in fuel and emissions must be tiny, but imagine if a new starter motor has to be delivered and replaced because it has failed prematurely? As I say, this is cheating. It is in the manufacturers interests to reduce CO2 figures for various reasons, and even savings of grams can result in a vehicle being placed in a lower tax band - no matter what the consequences to owners in terms of breakdowns or to the environment with diesel-engined vehicle deliveries.
And where is the safety, in a vehicle that won't start because computer says no? What about females travelling on their own? What if the vehicle isn't in a safe place?
I am not saying all this out of sour grapes, or being yet another old man railing against the world, I am being sincere when I say I do NOT believe these systems are reducing emissions, I think common knowledge tells us this.
Thanks for reading, hope this all provides thought, fingers crossed we get our van back in 2-3 days time and that our breakdown insurance covers our costs and accommodation, and yes I'll be submitting a goodwill claim to Fiat.
