How It Occurs and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Claverham
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? In that case put this page down for now, keep the ignition and motor off, and call 0333 366 0103. Around Claverham, finding it before the engine turns normally leaves draining and a thorough flush on the spot. Reading before the event? In that case what follows covers how it happens and how to prevent it ever happening.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Diesel feeds your motor — yet many modern diesels seen around Claverham and Yatton hold another fluid too. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Every tank comes with a filler of its own. On a lot of motors the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. Diesel gets filled at every filling station call-out, week in, week out. The AdBlue side is topped up far less frequently, normally from a bottle, and usually by someone who has to stop and think where it goes. The error lives in that gap.
How does AdBlue in your diesel tank happen around Claverham?
It's hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the vehicle tells you, and if it runs out altogether, the car goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a driveway off High Street before work, or in the car park outside Star on the way home.
Unfamiliar motors are second, as well. Rentals, new cars and company motors place their fillers in new places, and the hand reaches for the cap it used on the old one.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, so nothing stops the pour once it has started. Cleeve or the heart of Claverham: it is the same few seconds in both.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Whether a Claverham forecourt or a driveway over in Congresbury, take a couple of seconds over these before anything is poured in.
- Position can mislead; the cap does not. AdBlue caps tend to be blue or bear the name "AdBlue" — diesel caps usually do not.
- The size. On many vehicles 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.
- The handbook. If the filler is not by your diesel cap, it's in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The person who drove the vehicle last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park at Yatton, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
For the day the warning appears — wherever it is across Somerset — a simple routine to follow.
- Not in a rush on the side of Chapel Lane, not on a slope, not with the engine running: park then switch off first.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and say the name "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It seems silly. It does the trick.
- The diesel cap stays on. When both sit under a flap, confirm it is shut before the bottle comes up.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Shut the cap, and check again — confirm your diesel filler stayed shut the whole time. Only then, start your car.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Step five is out.
Claverham: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
What follows is a short order of things, beginning with not starting your motor. On plenty of diesels your ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so don't switch the car on. Topping up with diesel won't weaken it: rather than mixing, AdBlue sinks to the base of the tank, right where the fuel is drawn from.
The attendants at Esso, Murco or any forecourt will normally lend a hand to push the car away if asked. Leave it where it is if you are on your own drive around Claverham.
Already started? Stop once it's safe, then turn off. On the M5, under 3 miles from Claverham, that means the next junction. About how far did it go? Crossing Claverham is smaller work than a trip of under 10 miles to Bristol, and so say.
What takes place when our engineers turn up in Claverham
Our technicians come to your car wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside Court-De-Wyck Church School, near Streamcross Community Church or on your own drive. Which liquid went in, the amount, and whether it ran: we ask since those replies decide the work and quote. You get that quote by phone, before anyone heads out.
Next: draining, then a full flush of the entire system. 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. Once your filter has been flushed — or renewed, if needed — clean diesel is added, and then your car gets tested. Next we fire it up and check it runs properly before we go.
Using pumps safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs in which your motor hasn't run take about half an hour once we are there. Nothing upfront; you settle up that day. At the end, the VAT invoice and a report from the engineer go to you for the insurer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About Claverham
Claverham is a small village in Somerset, situated inland at an elevation of 16 metres, approximately 9 miles from Bristol. Claverham has a population of around 877 residents and is characterized by semi-detached housing. Claverham is located near several other small settlements, including Cleeve and Lower Claverham, and is within commuting distance of Bristol. Claverham sits in a relatively flat area of the Somerset countryside, close to Kenn Moor Gate.
Claverham and Somerset: AdBlue drains across the area
Claverham is a rural village, and our vans that cover it also work the towns near it, Lower Claverham and Kenn Moor Gate among them, across the BS postcode area. Quickest of all: quote a BS49 4 postcode for our van.
There's no need to move the vehicle. Anywhere it stands — beside Claverham Village Hall, in a lay-by en route to Broadcroft Play Area, at home — that is where it gets emptied. Assuming doesn't help at the back of St Barnabas Chapel, close to a boundary, or anywhere awkward to pin down; phone and ask.
In short, for Claverham drivers
Read the cap before you tip. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank anyway, leave it off and phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it sits, anywhere across Somerset.