Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Burnham-on-Sea: Why It Happens
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? Then put this page aside a moment, leave your ignition and motor off, and ring 0333 366 0103. In Burnham-on-Sea, catching it before the engine runs normally leaves draining and a full flush on the spot. Reading in advance? Then what follows explains how it happens and how to stop it happening at all.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel motor
Plenty of modern diesels in Alstone, like those in Burnham-on-Sea, carry on two liquids; your engine gets just your diesel. Its own tank keeps it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, where spraying cleans the gas.
Different tanks, separate fillers. Many of motors share a single flap for both, whereas some move the AdBlue filler to your boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is fuelled at the petrol pump all the time. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less regularly, usually from a bottle, and usually by a person who has to stop and think where it goes. The error lives in that gap.
How AdBlue in the diesel tank takes place around Burnham-on-Sea
Carelessness seldom explains it. What does is three things lining up together.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a message from the vehicle, and letting it run out means limp mode — so a rushed top-up, perhaps before work off St Andrew's Road, perhaps outside Dunstan House Inn on the way home after work.
Unfamiliar vehicles come next, too. Rentals, new motors and company vehicles put their fillers differently, and habit reaches for the cap used on the old one.
Third, the spout fits: diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it slides in just as easily, and after the tip starts, no part stops it. Whether it occurs in Middle Burnham or the middle of Burnham-on-Sea, it is the same few seconds.
The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart
A few seconds is all the checks take — so run through them before you pour anything, on a driveway in Ham or a forecourt in Burnham-on-Sea.
- Where it sits misleads; the cap does not. AdBlue caps tend to be blue or bear the name "AdBlue" — diesel caps usually do not.
- Check the size: the smaller filler neck is, on many motors, the AdBlue one.
- A label inside the fuel flap frequently shows which fuel goes where, on plenty of cars. Look for it.
- The handbook. If the filler isn't by your diesel cap, it is in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Check with 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 Highbridge & Burnham.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
When the light goes on, anywhere in Somerset, use this routine.
- Switch off after you park — flat ground, engine stopped, and not in a rush beside Manor Road at the roadside.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and speak the name "AdBlue" aloud as unscrewing it. It seems silly. It works.
- Both behind a single flap? So make sure the lid on your diesel filler is still shut before raising the bottle.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's 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 the vehicle.
Discover during the second or third stage that AdBlue went into the diesel filler? That's where you stop. Skip stage five altogether.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, in Burnham-on-Sea?
Then the order of things is short. Do not start the engine. The fuel pump runs on plenty of diesels the moment the ignition is switched on — so leave it off. Diluting it with extra diesel fails, since AdBlue sinks to the base instead of blending — and that's where your fuel is pulled from.
If you are on a forecourt, whether it is the Esso or the Applegreen, ask the attendants to help roll the vehicle away from the petrol pump. Your own driveway around Burnham-on-Sea is where it stays.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if the engine has already run. On the Edithmead Spur, under 3 miles from Burnham-on-Sea, that means the next exit. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Wells, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Burnham-on-Sea.
What happens when we get there around Burnham-on-Sea
Outside St Andrew's Church Junior School, near St Andrews or on your own driveway: wherever the car has stopped, our engineers come to it. What liquid went in, the amount, and if it ran: our engineers ask because the answers decide both work and price. On the call itself, you hear our price — before anything else.
After that: draining, then a thorough flush of the whole system. With AdBlue that counts more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it doesn't wash out on its own. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and your car is tested. We don't leave until it has been fired up and is running properly.
Most jobs are done in about half an hour after our technicians get there, provided your motor hasn't run — and the pumps our technicians use are fine on a live forecourt and quiet at night beside a house. Nothing in advance; you settle up on the day. At the end, a VAT invoice and the report from the engineer go to you for your insurer. Misfuelling cover is part of plenty of insurance policies — and so use the wait to look at yours.
About Burnham-on-Sea, for a moment
Burnham-on-Sea is a coastal town situated in Somerset, England, where the River Parrett meets the sea. It has a long history as a small fishing community, but its appeal as a seaside destination led to significant growth. The town's location on Bridgwater Bay makes it a notable spot in the region. Burnham-on-Sea is now a popular resort town with a rich history and natural surroundings.
AdBlue drains across Somerset, Burnham-on-Sea included
As a coastal town, Burnham-on-Sea has the same vans as nearby areas — Edithmead, Highbridge — all the way across TA postcodes and the surrounding area beyond. A postcode starting TA8 1 gets our van to you fastest.
No need to shift the car. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Manor Gardens, a side street close to Burnham-on-Sea Baptist Church: our technicians drain the car where it stands. Tricky to explain, like the back of Burnham-on-sea Community Centre? Close to a border? Asking is better than guessing, and so ring.
The short version for Burnham-on-Sea motorists
Read the cap before you tip. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank regardless, leave it off and phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it sits, anywhere around Somerset.