Bardwell: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Avoid It?
Stop here for a moment if your diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, and call 0333 366 0103. A drain plus a thorough flush, carried out right where your vehicle stands in Bardwell, is normally what it takes if found before the engine runs. Not happened yet? Below, the page covers the reasons it happens and the how to prevent it altogether.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel car need its own filler?
Many newer diesels in Ixworth Thorpe, like those in Bardwell, carry on two fluids; the motor takes just the diesel. AdBlue's own tank keeps it, and from there it goes to the exhaust, where a spray treats the fumes.
There is a filler for each tank. Many of vehicles have a single flap for both, while others move the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is fuelled at the pump all the time. A driver who has to stop and work out where it goes usually tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less often. It's in that gap that the slip lives.
How does AdBlue in the diesel tank occur around Bardwell?
It's seldom carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a warning from the vehicle, and running dry leads to limp mode — so a rushed top-up, perhaps before work off Quaker Lane, or at The Dun Cow, Bardwell on the way home after work.
New-to-you vehicles are second, too. Hire cars, new motors and company motors put their fillers in new places, and the hand reaches for the cap used on the old one.
A spout-topped bottle finds no obstacle at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. So the tip, after begun, keeps on. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Bardwell or out in Stanton Chare.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Be it a Bardwell forecourt or a driveway over in Sapiston, take a couple of seconds over these before any is poured in.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap normally is not. Read it instead of going by position.
- The size. On many cars the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Plenty of motors say there which fuel goes where.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that is where the filler is if it's not by your diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- Picking up a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park at Thurston? Ask the person who drove the vehicle last before you set off, rather than once the light comes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in the diesel tank
Wherever in Suffolk the light comes on, this is a routine for that day.
- Not in a rush on the side of Low Street, not on a slope, not with your engine running: park then switch off properly.
- Daft as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew the cap does the trick — once you have located your filler and read it.
- Leave the diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Slowly is best, through the bottle's own spout, till it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check once more. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start your car.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Step five is off limits.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, in Bardwell?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start your engine. Do not switch your ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Don't top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is pulled from.
Ask the attendants to help roll the vehicle clear of the pump if you're at a forecourt — the Shell, the another forecourt nearby or somewhere else. If you're on your own drive in Bardwell, leave it where it sits.
Where the motor has been run by now, stop safely and turn the car off. Bardwell lies under 50 miles from the M11; on it, take the next junction. A short hop across Bardwell is a smaller job than a run towards Ely, under 50 miles away, so tell us about how far it went.
What occurs when our engineers get there in Bardwell
Anywhere the car came to rest, be it outside Bardwell Church of England Primary School, beside St Peter and St Paul's Church or on your own drive, our van comes to it. Our engineers ask what got in, about how much, and whether it's run, because those answers decide the work and our quote. Nobody sets off before you have had our price by phone.
Next: draining, then a thorough flush of the entire system. With AdBlue that matters more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own. A test comes last: before that, clean diesel is added, and the filter is flushed or replaced as needed. Next our technicians fire it up and check it runs properly before leaving.
Using pumps fine on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs in which the motor has not run need about half an hour once our engineers arrive. Your insurer will ask for the engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and both are yours at the end. Payment is on the day, with no deposit. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Bardwell, for a moment
Bardwell is a village situated in a riverside setting in Suffolk, with an elevation of around 33 metres. Bardwell lies near the villages of Stanton Chare, Bowbeck, and Stanton, and is approximately 25 miles from the city of Ely. Bardwell has a population of around 754 people, predominantly living in detached houses. Bardwell is located in the Eastern region of England, about 70 miles from London.
AdBlue drains round Bardwell, and Suffolk beyond
Bardwell is a village, and our teams that cover it also work the towns near it, Bowbeck and Stanton among them, across the IP postcode area. Our van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting IP31 1.
Moving the car isn't necessary. Draining happens on the spot, be it a drive, a road by Bardwell Windmill, or a lay-by on the way to Little Carr. Ring and ask rather than guessing if you're near a border, or somewhere hard to describe, like the back of Bardwell Village Sign.
Bardwell people: the short version
Always, the cap; after that, the tip. Even so AdBlue in your diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel will empty it where it is, anywhere in Suffolk: switch it off then ring 0333 366 0103.