Chedgrave: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Avoid It?
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? Then put this page aside a moment, leave the ignition and engine off, then call 0333 366 0103. Normally, when your motor hasn't turned, it's emptied and fully cleaned where your car sits around Chedgrave. The rest of this page explains why it happens and how to ensure it doesn't — useful if you are reading before it has happened.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel motor need its own filler?
Diesel feeds the motor — but many modern diesels driven around Chedgrave and Langley Street hold another liquid too. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to clean it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
There is a filler on each tank. Many of vehicles have a single flap for the two, whereas others put the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is filled at the petrol pump all the time. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less commonly, normally from a bottle, and usually by a person who has to stop and think where it goes. The slip lives in that gap.
AdBlue in your diesel tank around Chedgrave: how it happens
Carelessness seldom causes it. Instead is three things coming up together.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a warning from the vehicle, and letting it run out means limp mode — hence a hurried top-up, maybe before work off Rectory Lane, or at The White Horse on the way home after work.
The old car's filler is where your hand goes — yet a hire car, a new motor or a company car keeps the fillers elsewhere. That's a second factor: a new motor.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, so nothing stops the tip after it has started. Whether it occurs in Loddon or the middle of Chedgrave, it's the same few seconds.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Before you pour anything, whether on a driveway in Heckingham or a forecourt in Chedgrave, check these. They take a few seconds.
- Check the cap instead of going by position: AdBlue ones are frequently blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps usually are not.
- On plenty of cars, the size gives it away: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- Look inside your fuel flap: many vehicles have a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- Cannot see it beside your diesel inlet? In that case look beneath the bonnet or inside your boot — the handbook will say which.
- Picking up a hire or company car, say at the car park at Cantley? Ask whoever drove the vehicle last before leaving, not when the light goes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
The day the light goes on, anywhere across Norfolk, follow this routine.
- Pull in on level, motor off, with time in hand — not hurried on the side of Langley Road.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it does the trick.
- The diesel cap remains on. Where both share a flap, confirm it is closed before the bottle comes up.
- Gently does it, through the bottle's own spout, till it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the vehicle.
Spot at step two or three that it has already gone into the diesel side? Then stop just there. Never go on to step five.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Chedgrave?
Don't start the engine: that is where the short order of things starts. Leave your ignition off too, because on many diesels switching it on by itself starts the pump. Thinning it with more diesel won't work, because AdBlue settles to the base rather than mixing — and that's where the fuel is pulled from.
The attendants at Shell, Fuelsell or any forecourt will normally lend a hand to push the vehicle away when asked. On your own drive in Chedgrave? Then your car stays where it is.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if the engine has already run. Chedgrave lies over 50 miles from the M11; there, use the next exit. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Norwich, under 10 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Chedgrave.
What takes place when our technicians get there around Chedgrave
Wherever your car has stopped, whether by Loddon Junior School, beside Chedgrave Village Sign or on your own drive, the van comes to it. What liquid was put in, the quantity, and whether it ran: our technicians ask because those answers decide both work and price. You hear that quote on the phone, before anyone heads out.
Then that tank is cleared and your system purged thoroughly. Unlike petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and eats at some fuel-system metals, and neither clears away by itself. Hence it matters more. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Then our technicians start the engine and make sure it runs correctly before leaving.
Unrun cars mostly need a half-hour job from the moment we arrive. The kit is fine on a busy forecourt, and hushed enough for a residential street after dark. Nothing upfront; you settle up on the day. Afterwards, a VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for your insurer. Before we get there, take a look at your policy; plenty carry cover for misfuelling.
About Chedgrave and where it is
Chedgrave is a village situated on the River Chet in Norfolk, with a low elevation of around 9 metres above sea level. Chedgrave lies near the towns of Loddon and Norwich, and is surrounded by other small villages such as Sisland and Stubbs Green. Chedgrave has a population of approximately 1053 people and predominantly consists of detached housing. Chedgrave is located about 98.9 miles from London, making it a rural community with easy access to the city.
Chedgrave and Norfolk: AdBlue drains across the area
Being a village, Chedgrave shares its vans surrounding places — Sisland, Stubbs Green — right across NR postcodes and the surrounding area beyond. The van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting NR14 6.
The vehicle does not need to shift. We drain it where it is — a side street close to Al Saints, a lay-by on the way to Harvey Green, a drive. If you are close to a border, or somewhere hard to explain like the back of Loddon Library, ring and ask rather than assuming.
In short, for Chedgrave motorists
Tip no AdBlue till you have read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank regardless, leave it off and phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it waits, anywhere in Norfolk.