Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Barnstaple: Why It Happens
Leave your motor and ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103 now — reading can wait when AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. Around Barnstaple, catching it before your engine turns normally leaves draining and a thorough flush on the spot. Reading in advance? Then what follows covers why it happens and what to prevent it ever happening.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel motor
Diesel goes to the motor — but plenty of current diesels driven round Barnstaple and Raleigh hold another liquid as well. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to clean it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Each tank has its own filler. Other vehicles keep the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; plenty more place the two side by side behind one flap. The diesel side is fuelled at the pump all the time. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less frequently, usually from a bottle, and usually by someone who has to stop and think where it goes. The mistake grows in the gap between them.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Barnstaple: how it happens
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
Hurry follows from the warning. Your car warns you as AdBlue runs low, and an empty tank sends the vehicle into limp mode — so the top-up gets done in a rush, before work on a driveway off Bear Street, or heading home in the car park outside Corner House.
The old car's cap is where your hand reaches — but a rental car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers elsewhere. That is a second thing: a strange car.
Third, the bottle goes in: diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it slides in as easily, and after the tip starts, no part stops it. It takes a few seconds, whether out in Pilton or right in the centre of Barnstaple.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
A couple of seconds is all these take — so run through them before you tip anything, on a driveway in Bradiford or a forecourt in Barnstaple.
- Read the cap rather than going by position: AdBlue ones are regularly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps normally aren't.
- The size. On plenty of motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Many cars say there which fuel goes where.
- Can't find it next to the diesel inlet? Then look below the bonnet or inside the boot — the owner's manual will say which.
- Ask the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — when you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park outside the nearest station.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
When the light comes on, wherever around Devon, use this routine.
- Not in a rush on the side of Joy Street, not on a slope, not with your motor running: park then switch off properly.
- Daft as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew the cap works — once you've located the filler and read it.
- The diesel cap remains on. When both sit under a flap, confirm it is shut before the bottle comes up.
- Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap, then check once more — making sure the diesel filler stayed closed throughout. After that, start the car.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you have already poured into your diesel side. Leave out step five altogether.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank around Barnstaple?
Then the order of things is short. Do not start your engine. Don't switch the ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Thinning it with extra diesel won't work, since AdBlue settles to the base instead of blending — and that's where your fuel is drawn from.
On a forecourt — BP, Asda or any other — the staff will normally help roll the vehicle clear, when you ask. Leave it where it is if you are on your own drive in Barnstaple.
If the motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. The next exit means where to leave if you are on the M5, under 50 miles from Barnstaple. A short hop across Barnstaple is a smaller job than a run towards Exeter, under 50 miles away, and so tell us roughly how far it went.
Our arrival around Barnstaple, and what occurs next
Outside Yeo Valley Primary School, close to Queens Theatre or on your own drive: wherever your car has stopped, we come to it. What liquid went in, the amount, and whether it ran: our technicians ask since the answers decide both work and price. During the call itself, you hear our quote — ahead of dispatch.
Then the tank is cleared and your system purged thoroughly. With AdBlue that counts 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. The filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the car is tested. Your engine is fired up next and checked to be sure it runs correctly, all before we head off.
Unrun cars mostly mean a half-hour visit after the moment we arrive. The equipment is fine on a busy filling station, and quiet enough for a driveway after dark. Nothing in advance; you settle up that day. At the end, a VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for the insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Barnstaple, for a moment
Barnstaple is a town situated on the River Taw in north Devon, with a population of around 17957 people. Barnstaple has a mix of housing types, but is predominantly characterised by terraced homes. Barnstaple sits at a low elevation of 13 metres above sea level, close to nearby places like Pilton and Sticklepath. Barnstaple is located approximately 33 miles from Exeter, the nearest city.
Barnstaple and Devon: AdBlue drains across the area
As a riverside town, Barnstaple shares its vans nearby areas — Derby, Sticklepath — all the way through EX postcodes and the wider area beyond. The van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting EX31 1.
Your car stays where it is. Wherever it stands — near TK Maxx, on a layby heading to Pilton Park, on a drive — that's where it is cleared. If you're close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain like the back of Pannier Market, ring and ask instead of assuming.
The short version for Barnstaple motorists
Tip no AdBlue till you have read the cap. Still AdBlue in the diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel can drain it where it stands, anywhere in Devon: keep the car off then phone 0333 366 0103.