Audi adblue update 23WA-S

[Artiglio]

Good day

Cars gone in today for its s-tronic oil change and a fuel filter. They’ve said there’s an update due, 23WA-S, which they say is to ensure that any issues with the adblue system are displayed in the car rather than only being revealed under a full diagnostic scan.
Car runs fine and advlue consumption has been steady at 500 miles per litre (ish).
A quicksearch throws up a couple of posts on other forums suggesting that post update cars have lost performance and adblue and fuel consumption has increased.
I’ve declined the update for now, is that sensible or should i have it applied?

cars an avant, facelift , stronic, 2015 ultra.

any insights appreciated.

tia phil

[Artiglio]

They say that this update is necessary to maintain your DPF and catalytic converter and to comply with the latest emissions regulations. Do you know what happens? They install new software and this increases the EGR rate. The effect is that your engine is then supplied with more exhaust gases at partial load and internal sooting increases. At first this does reduce emissions, but in the long term the engines have to contend with the problems that sooting brings with it: poor performance and jerking combined with increased fuel consumption. This also affects the lifespan. I have been able to revoke my vehicle so far. You have to sign for it. The same applies to VWs of these models. As long as possible - three years so far - I will keep my vehicle away from these measures. Good tuning specialists are familiar with the problem and can "improve" this measure. I am sure that there will be many dissenting voices now. Wait and see. But do your research beforehand because this update cannot be reversed.

apologies for the format, it’s from copying from google translate, does the above seem plausible?

[Artiglio]

Good day, info seems a bit thin on the ground, but from a german forum, (via google translate) its suggested that the update is to “improve” the emmissions by increasing the egr rate, which initially improves emissions but down side is increased carbon build up in the engine and ancillaries.

Despite declining the update in the dealership, they are now calling asking me to confirm this in writing, i’ve again asked for full details of what the update does and again they say it is to ensure all faults with the adblue system are displayed on the dashboard rather than just stored in the system.
Does anyone know what I should be asking for in terms of a full disclosure of what the update does?

[Crasher]

The AdBlue system on the Ultra is a joke, not fit for purpose. We had one in earlier this week, no warnings other than the light so he had kept driving as no one could fix it. He drove all the way up here from Milton Keynes only for me to tell him the CAT and DPF are toast and mega money to fix, the DPF is SO huge you have to left and move the engine to the left to get the thing out!

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52972418800_282e3516ac_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2oGZuzw)

[Artiglio]

Cheers Crasher, armed with the knowledge i have now i’d never have bought a diesel and instead gone for a tfsi , but too late for that. In an attempt to stave off problems for as long as possible, i’ve only used bp ultimate or shell vpower ( vpower almost exclusively for last 3 years) and oil changes at 9k or annual. Then try to use it to avoid clogging it up with too many shoort runs between longer journeys. ( though taking it up the m2 and back just for the sake of it makes a mockery of any supposed efficiency , let alone time wasted)
Round my way, no independent garage wants to get involved in much beyond the traditional mechanical side of things, my local vw specialist wouldn’t even do the s-tronic oil change. ( that said audi were £260 with a courtesy car, which every 40k doesn’t seem too outrageous, the shroud and actuator parts for the fuel flap were £63.48 (i fitted them) so again hardly end of world pricing).

Is there any reason to think the software upgrade will improve the adblue systems reliability? Reading a few other german and italian forums seems to suggest 23-WA is more about VW/Audi dealing with their emissions shenanigans than inproving the vehicles and that performance is reduced and adblue consumption increased.

In the absence of any positive info i’ll keep declining it. Though it’s unlikely to go to an audi dealer until the cam belt needs doing in 40k.

[Crasher]

I think the update was more about adBlue range than anything as it was fudged to make the fluid last between services because the tank was too small and Mericans found it annoying to top up

[Artiglio]

Hard to see why putting adblue in is such a hardship.

That aside sometimes you can’t make things up. Returning from a day out, engine management light comes on. Finish rest of journey and plug in my foxwell ( i realise its cheap and nasty, but has done all i’ve needed)

Throws up a 19226 Code

200 miles since last regen ( seems odd as fans overran yesterday, but today was 110 miles each way so was not too bothered, is that figure the mileage since previous completed regen?)

calculated soot mass 11.8 grammes

particulate filter oil ash volume 0.1 l

DPF differential pressures. At tickover 19 hpa
Stationary 2500 rpm 58 hpa
Back to tickover. 11 hpa

Gives adblue as having 1800 miles til deficiency , which from my notes means i’m still at about 500 miles per litre which is consistent with use since i bought it.

Bought with 38k on it in 2018, now has 112k. I’ve been careful about the adblue, fuel and use ( ie longer run if its been mostly short runs for a week or so) but no idea how original owner used it ( though only time the particulate icon came up on dash was a week after i bought it , so suggests they were’nt too careful).

A quick google shows getting the adblue injector out is easy enough, is there any obvious way of seeing if its been dribbling?

I’ll see if i can get a proper scan arranged , but my local vw/audi independent is a bit busy and it might take a week or two. Any obvious things i should check?

Searching on here suggests it’s a dpf out for a clean , would that seem about right?

[Crasher]

What is the Ash Mass? That DPF can't be cleaned in situ and if is blocked with reducatant crystals it requires specialist chemicals to dissolve them plus the EGR cooler will be clogged with them.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52972382655_cd4a43c4be_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2oGZiQk)

[Artiglio]

Good morning

The only figure I can find for ash is

DPF oil ash volume 0.1L

then for soot

Particle Filter Soot Mass calculated 0.027lbs. ( so 12.24 grammes)
Particle Filter soot Mass Measured 0.000lbs

Time since last regeneration 18600 seconds

Driven 105miles since MIL activation.

I can’t find a reading for soot mass, whether that’s my lack of knowledge with the Foxtel or its limitiations i have no idea. It’s 210 miles from me to nottingham, is that going to do more harm than bringing it up to you for proper diagnosis is worth. If not is it ok to message and arrange something. Or if it will do too much harm do you have any recommendations for specialists in Kent /SE?

TIA.

[Crasher]

Sorry, soot mass measured and calculated, why in imperial?

[Artiglio]

Sorry, soot mass measured and calculated, why in imperial?

That’s the way it is displayed on the Foxwell, just as some of the distance measurements come up in metres other is kilometres of miles. Might be I need to set it to metric i’ll have a look. Ok, it was set on US units, now on metric

soot mass calculated 12.3 grammes
soot mass measured 0.1 grammes

apologies for confusion.

[Crasher]

OK but about ready to do an active regen

[Artiglio]

That makes sense, had another play with the foxwell, says 319 km since last regen and that it was 4.6 hours ago. Both are about right, it was doing a regen when istarted journey saturday. Also that I’ve driven 105 miles with the engine light on.
So would it make sense to give it a blast up motorway and back and see what happens? Should i delete the error code ?

[Crasher]

You can't do any damage deleting the code, will the Foxwell allow you into Basic Settings for a "service regeneration whilst standing"? Also, run it on Shell V Power, makes a huge difference.

[Artiglio]

Thanks again, i’ll check on foxwell, if it will - go ahead and do it?

I’ve had car 6 years and 75k miles, last 2 years it’s only had v-power or standard shell for a couple of refill, before that it was a mix of v-power and bp-ultimate , with odd tank of whatever else was available.

[Artiglio]

Bit of an update.

Turns out there’s a small german car specialist very near me, the local car buffs speak well of them, doesn’t advertise as he has more than enough work to keep him busy. In with them and diagnostics have been done, the system says the car still requires the warranty software update, so no problems there.
But it needs an egr and cooler, a sensor ( cap iirc), seemingly a huge number of gaskets ,fixings etc and as i thought the nearside drive shaft is on its way out. Never realised a genuine drive shaft could be so expensive, so it’s getting a pattern. Hopefully being done early part of next week. My bank account is quivering in fear and shock. That said i’ve never had a big bill in 40 years of motoring so shouldn’t complain too much. Though really shouldn’t be needed if it weren’t for inadequacies of audi’s euro 6 design.

[Artiglio]

Got it back yesterday,

Diagnostics
EGR cooler
seals
charge sensor
Drive shaft. ( pattern part)
labour
adaptions and testing

so i’m no £2173.60 poorer.

lets see if this cooler and solely using vpower lasts as long as the original.

[Artiglio]

I asked for the old cooler back, 3 of the tubes cleared instantly using a kebab skewer , none of the others would. So I cut it in half. Has anyone else done this as the construction inside the rest of the tubes looks as though it’s either built from bad tube or it’s designed to clog up. The tubes have an ID of about 5.5mm BUT all ( but the 3 mentioned) have blobs of metal inside , so that it’s impossible to see light through a whole tube but you get partial through the others, this was after some prodding , probbing and use of a bit of everything in cupboard under sink.
Be interesting to know if others have seen similar , as it almost seems like bad tubes have been used for the cooler. Utterly ***** design. Definitely not crystalised adblue. It shines when you scrap the blobs.

[Artiglio]

Hopefully this comes out ok39721not the best bit of cutting vut hopefully shows the internal makeup.

[Artiglio]

This shows the only 3 clear tubes, if all were like that , would it have lasted much longer?39722

[Crasher]

That triggered my Trypophobia :1zhelp: from how I could bear to look, it looks melted.