is it all the same ? reason I ask is , I recently bought a diesel car (audi a6 ) which uses ad blu . so off I trot to my local bp and buy a bottle 1,5l , its a brand label and marked as suitable for audis (and others) however the price was £9.99 
ffs . so thinking maybe I could use the 10l bottles at a fraction of the price on sale at truck stops etc . but wouldn’t want to use something that may be different . am I right in thinking its all the same ? thanks
Did you ever see that episode of only fools and horses where Mike(pub landlord) sells a plate of beef stew to trigger for 50pence… then a second later sells the exact same stuff at 4quid to some pish guy but calls it beef bourguignon. Somes this thread up perfectly!
I was talking to the Techy guys of a car manufacturer a few years back when they were first looking at Ad blue for cars, they were suggesting that it should be a service item to be done by the dealer as they could see all sorts of problem getting the general public to put the right liquid in the right tank, it was bad enough with truck drivers when it first arrived.
So being able to buy a bottle at £9.99 seems like a bargain compared with having to take it to your Audi dealer and get a “technician” to pour it in for you. 
As for your question, I can’t see it being any different from the stuff you put in the truck.
On a car its supposed to be a top up of adblue at service intervals, one of those 15lts from the garage would last longer than you would probably own the car
Are there different types for trucks though…or is it all a money making thing? Daf trucks bring a warning for ‘incorrect adblue used’. Or does that mean someone some diesel in by mistake?! They say don’t mix colour of coolant in cars but surely coolant is coolant? Think that’s to do with additives for corrosion etc.
KarlM:
Are there different types for trucks though…or is it all a money making thing? Daf trucks bring a warning for ‘incorrect adblue used’. Or does that mean someone some diesel in by mistake?! They say don’t mix colour of coolant in cars but surely coolant is coolant? Think that’s to do with additives for corrosion etc.
I can’t see how there can be different ones or service areas would need to stock different types and have various pumps. As far as I understand Adblue is mainly water and the rest is the chemical that reacts with the NO2 in the exhaust.
Maybe the DAF warning is if somebody tries to use water instead of Adblue or as you say put diesel in, but I think that’s pretty terminal for the Adblue system.
I have heard you have to be careful with mixing coolants as they can form a sludge, but don’t know if this is an urban myth. 
But myth or not I’m not going to experiment with my car.
Coolant is coolant is coolant. I used to sub for a chemical Co in Middlesbrough and they used to blend coolants. We used to load X litres of glycol and then add X kg of coloured powder (depending on what colour the end user specced), so it was all the same base and only the dye changed.
the maoster:
Coolant is coolant is coolant. I used to sub for a chemical Co in Middlesbrough and they used to blend coolants. We used to load X litres of glycol and then add X kg of coloured powder (depending on what colour the end user specced), so it was all the same base and only the dye changed.
I did wonder if it was an Urban Myth. 
I know it’s against all rules of all manliness …
But has the OP considered reading the label on the different bottles of AdBlu ■■? 
the maoster:
Coolant is coolant is coolant.
Nope. There are at least five different types which are completely chemically different from each other. Ethylene Glycol, Propelene Glycol, IAT, OAT and the new waterless coolants.
muckles:
I can’t see how there can be different ones or service areas would need to stock different types and have various pumps. As far as I understand Adblue is mainly water and the rest is the chemical that reacts with the NO2 in the exhaust.
It’s 33% Urea and 66% purified water. Urea is the chemical found in urine, a safer (relative) form of Uric acid, produced in the liver. (Strictly speaking not a form, it’s modified slightly is what I mean)
Don’t lick your hands after handling AdBlue (or eat a sandwich etc).
the maoster:
Coolant is coolant is coolant. I used to sub for a chemical Co in Middlesbrough and they used to blend coolants. We used to load X litres of glycol and then add X kg of coloured powder (depending on what colour the end user specced), so it was all the same base and only the dye changed.
I’m led to believe that automotive coolants contain more than glycol. They also contain corrosion inhibitors, and there is a wide belief that a mixture can react. There is also wide belief that older coolants are not as compatible with the materials in newer engines - just like you don’t use older viscosities of engine oils, or older formulations of transmission oils in newer vehicles, and how certain oils degrade certain rubbers.
I don’t know the chemistry but a reaction may, at best, neutralise the inhibitors, and allow the underlying corrosion to occur uninhibited. At worst, it may produce a solution that accelerates the corrosion, or cause deposits to occur which impair the heat transference. These sorts of problems won’t cause breakdown immediately, but will reflect in the lifetime of the engine.
It is also only a correlation, but I have noted in the past that engines whose coolant colour indicates mixed coolants, seem to have had cloudy coolant and sludge deposits too (although it wasn’t possible to say one caused the other).
When coolants of different colours all cost the same now, why take a chance?
Well I put a gallon of WATER in the add-blu tank of a 2011 Volvo FH last night,
runs like a Swiss watch!!![emoji56]
syramax:
is it all the same ? reason I ask is , I recently bought a diesel car (audi a6 ) which uses ad blu . so off I trot to my local bp and buy a bottle 1,5l , its a brand label and marked as suitable for audis (and others) however the price was £9.99
Hi, I deliver the stuff. It’s identical to the truck stuff, in fact we deliver it to a car plant as well as HGV customers and it all comes from the same pipe. Be very careful that the AdBlue you put in your car is completely free of contamination as car SCR’s are a bit more sensitive than truck ones.
Ad -blue should all be the same …The DAF warning is for contamination /diluted …Thing with cars ,is some need specific bottle with the correct adaptor ,as some tank fillers where where in the boot with the spare wheel and you screwed the bottle on
There had been cases where ad blue was not being made to the correct spec …though that was in the early days
claretmatt:
syramax:
is it all the same ? reason I ask is , I recently bought a diesel car (audi a6 ) which uses ad blu . so off I trot to my local bp and buy a bottle 1,5l , its a brand label and marked as suitable for audis (and others) however the price was £9.99Hi, I deliver the stuff. It’s identical to the truck stuff, in fact we deliver it to a car plant as well as HGV customers and it all comes from the same pipe. Be very careful that the AdBlue you put in your car is completely free of contamination as car SCR’s are a bit more sensitive than truck ones.
thanks for all replies , the one above is the one I wanted to hear/read . I would have thought if the cap is kept on and tight it should be ok as regards contamination .the flexi nozzle on the 10l bottles will fit nicely into the car filler and its possible to “dismantle/reassemble” the filler nozzle on the 1.5l bottle so I will be able to fill it from a 10l bottle and keep it in the boot .
.
Conor:
Propelene Glycol
Which is also found in a certain DOG FOOD!!!
Go find out for yourself though which one it’s in… 
chaversdad:
On a car its supposed to be a top up of adblue at service intervals, one of those 15lts from the garage would last longer than you would probably own the car
Does that not negate the whole purpose of it then? If we take the average lifespan of a car to be 100k miles then realistically it can’t be squirting in more than a capful of the stuff every 500 miles or so (from a 15l bottle), which is going to do ■■■■ all.
apparantley ? it should use ad blu / diesel at a ratio of 1% or there abouts , or 1ltr of adblu per 100 ltrs of diesel . so ive been told by a mate who heard it off …