Broke Hall: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Avoid It?
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave your engine and your ignition off and call 0333 366 0103. A drain and a full flush, carried out just where your vehicle sits around Broke Hall, is usually what it takes if found before your motor runs. Not happened yet? Further down, the rest of the page covers the reasons it happens and the ways to prevent it altogether.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
Diesel goes to the engine — but plenty of modern diesels seen round Broke Hall and Gainsborough hold a second liquid too. AdBlue goes to your exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
There's a filler for each tank. Some motors put the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; plenty of others have both together behind one flap. At the pump, your diesel side gets filled constantly. A driver who has to stop and think where it goes normally fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less commonly. The mistake grows in the gap between them.
How AdBlue in your diesel tank occurs in Broke Hall
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
On a driveway off Warren Heath Road before work, or in the car park at The Golden Hind on the way home: that's where the hurried top-up happens. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low the vehicle warns you, and if it's empty, limp mode kicks in.
Unfamiliar cars come next, too. Rentals, new cars and company vehicles put their fillers differently, and habit goes for the cap used on the old one.
Nothing halts the pour once it has started, because a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Broke Hall or out in Warren Heath.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Check these before pouring, at a forecourt around Broke Hall or a driveway out in Rose Hill. A few seconds, that's all.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap usually 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. Many vehicles say there which fuel goes where.
- Can't see it next to the diesel filler? In that case check beneath the bonnet or in your boot — the owner's manual will say which.
- Collecting a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park at Derby Road? Check with the person who drove the car last before you set off, not when the light goes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
Anywhere across Suffolk the light comes on, here is a routine for the day.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with your engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Warren Heath Avenue.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly and it works.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check a second time. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start your car.
Stop there if you find, at stage two or three, that you have already poured into the diesel side. Never go on to stage five.
Broke Hall: already put AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start the engine. On plenty of diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so do not switch it on. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is pulled from — so do not top up with diesel to dilute it.
The attendants at Sainsbury's, East of England Co-op or another forecourt will usually help pushing your car clear when asked. Leave it where it is if you're on your own driveway in Broke Hall.
Already run? Pull over when it's sensible, then switch off. The next exit is where to leave when you're on the M11, under 50 miles from Broke Hall. About how far did it go? Hopping across Broke Hall is less a job than a trip of under 25 miles towards Colchester, so tell us.
Broke Hall: what occurs when our technicians arrive
Anywhere your car came to rest, be it by Broke Hall Community Primary School, near St Augustines Church or on your own drive, the van comes to it. The answers settle the work and our price, so our engineers ask what was put in, roughly how much, and whether it's run. Nobody sets off until you've heard the price by phone.
Emptying that tank comes next, followed by a thorough flush of the fuel system. Unlike petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and eats at some fuel-system metals, and none of it washes away by itself. That is why it counts more. A test is last: before that, clean diesel goes in, and the filter is flushed or changed as needed. We do not go until it has been started and is running properly.
If your engine hasn't run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we're there, using pumps that are fine on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house after dark. Nothing in advance; you settle up on the day. Afterwards, a VAT invoice and the report from the engineer go to you for the insurer. While we travel, take a look at your insurance documents; plenty carry cover for misfuelling.
About Broke Hall itself
Broke Hall is a suburban area in Suffolk, situated near the coast and approximately 32 metres above sea level. Broke Hall is located near several other local places, including Warren Heath, Racecourse, and Priory Heath. Broke Hall has a population of around 4233 people and is characterised by predominantly semi-detached housing. Broke Hall is also within commuting distance of London, being around 67.8 miles away, and is closer to the city of Colchester, which is 16.6 miles away.
AdBlue drains round Broke Hall, and Suffolk beyond
Throughout IP postcodes, our vans that cover Broke Hall — a residential suburb — work the surrounding locations too, Priory Heath and Racecourse among them. Quickest of all: give a IP3 8 postcode for our van.
The car remains put. Draining takes place on the spot, be it a driveway, a road near St Augustine's Church Hall, or a lay-by towards Cobham Road Recreation Ground. Ring and ask rather than assuming if you're close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of Gospel Hall.
Broke Hall motorists: the short version
Read the cap before you tip. AdBlue in your diesel tank after all? Leave the car switched off and call 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, throughout Suffolk.