Can You Mix Half Water in Automotive Urea?
2 Answers
You cannot mix half water in automotive urea. Extended information is as follows: 1. Introduction to Automotive Urea: Automotive urea is an essential additive for SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction), used to reduce nitrogen oxide pollution in diesel vehicle exhaust. 2. Consequences of Using Inferior Automotive Urea: It can cause the vehicle's engine to automatically decelerate and contaminate the catalyst in the SCR catalytic reaction tank, leading to severe consequences. 3. How Automotive Urea Works: When nitrogen oxides are detected in the exhaust pipe, the urea tank automatically sprays diesel exhaust fluid, which reacts with nitrogen oxides in the SCR catalytic reaction tank through redox reactions, producing non-polluting nitrogen and water vapor that are then expelled.
I understand your concern about saving money, but diluting diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), also known as AdBlue, with half water is completely wrong. DEF is crucial for diesel vehicles' SCR systems to reduce emissions, and its concentration is strictly regulated—the national standard requires a 32.5% urea solution, with water merely as a carrier. Adding half water dilutes the solution, drastically reducing its concentration. This prevents proper reaction in the exhaust system, leading to harmful crystallization that clogs nozzles and can even damage the entire SCR unit. While it might seem like a small saving in the short term, long-term consequences include warning lights, reduced power, and much higher repair costs—I once saw a neighbor spend over ten thousand on repairs due to this. Always use genuine DEF and never add anything to it.
