How It Happens and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Coxheath
Stop here for a moment if the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, then call 0333 366 0103. Usually, if your motor has not run, it's drained and thoroughly rinsed where your car is around Coxheath. If you're reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it happens and how to make sure it does not.
AdBlue in a diesel motor, and its separate tank
Many newer diesels around Dean Street, like those in Coxheath, carry on two fluids; your engine gets only your diesel. AdBlue's own tank holds it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, and there spraying treats the fumes.
Each tank has its own filler. Some vehicles keep the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; plenty more have both together under one flap. Diesel gets filled at each forecourt call-out, again and again. Far less frequently, the AdBlue side is filled — mostly from a bottle, by someone thinking about where it goes. It's in that gap that the slip happens.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Coxheath: how it happens
Rarely is it carelessness: normally three things coincide.
On a drive off Westerhill Road before work, or in the car park at The Horseshoes heading home: that's where the rushed top-up takes place. Why the rush? As AdBlue runs low the car tells you, and once it is gone, limp mode follows.
Then the car is unfamiliar. A hire car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers where your last one didn't, and the hand gets to for the cap it would have used on the old one.
Nothing stops the pour once it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Coxheath or out in Loose.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Be it a Coxheath forecourt or a driveway over in East Farleigh, spend a couple of seconds over these before anything is poured in.
- Where it sits can mislead; the cap does not. AdBlue ones are often blue or bear the name "AdBlue" — diesel ones usually don't.
- On many vehicles, the size gives it away: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Many vehicles say there which fuel goes where.
- Cannot find it beside your diesel filler? Then look below the bonnet or in the boot — the handbook says where.
- Check with the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — if you pick up a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park at East Farleigh.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
On the day the light comes on — anywhere it is across Kent — a simple routine to follow.
- Stop on level, engine off, with time to spare — not rushing on the side of Crispin Court.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly and it does the trick.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave the vehicle on.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the vehicle.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Step five stays off limits.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, around Coxheath?
Brief list, then. Top of it: the engine stays off. Leave the ignition off as well, since on many diesels switching it on by itself runs the fuel pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where the fuel is sucked from — so don't top up with diesel to dilute it.
If you are on a forecourt, whether it is the Shell or the FASS, ask the attendants to help push the vehicle away from the pump. On your own drive in Coxheath? Then your car remains where it is.
When the engine has been run already, pull over safely then switch it off. The next junction is where to leave if you are on the M20, under 5 miles from Coxheath. A short hop across Coxheath is a smaller job than a run towards Southend-on-Sea, under 25 miles away, and so tell us about how far it went.
Coxheath: what takes place when we arrive
Anywhere the vehicle came to rest, be it by Coxheath Primary School, near Coxheath Scout Group or on your own drive, the van travels to it. The answers decide this work and the price, so our engineers ask what went in, roughly how much, and whether it has run. The quote comes over the phone, ahead of any van leaving.
Your system is then cleaned thoroughly, after your tank is emptied. Much more than with petrol, it counts with AdBlue: the crystals build up, some metals corrode, and none of that clears out on its own, however long it is left. A test is last: before that, fresh diesel goes in, and the fuel filter is cleaned or replaced if necessary. We don't go until it has been fired up and is running smoothly.
If your engine has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we're there, using pumps that are fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house after dark. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. While we travel, have a look at your policy; plenty carry cover for misfuelling.
About Coxheath and where it is
Coxheath is a village in Kent, situated inland at an elevation of 123 metres, and is located near the villages of Loose and Linton. Coxheath has a population of approximately 2823 residents and predominantly consists of semi-detached housing. Coxheath is positioned near the North Downs, an area of outstanding natural beauty, and is within commuting distance to London, being around 32.9 miles away. Coxheath remains a residential community with a mix of local amenities and rural surroundings.
Coxheath and Kent: AdBlue drains across the area
Loose Hill and Linton are among the towns near Coxheath, a rural village, that the same vans cover, throughout ME postcodes. Quote a postcode that starts ME17 4, and our van gets there quickest.
The car remains put. Anywhere it sits — near Holy Trinity Church Coxheath, on a lay-by en route to Amsbury Wood, on a drive — that's where it is emptied. If you're close to a border, or somewhere hard to describe like the back of Coxheath Library, ring and ask instead of assuming.
The short version for Coxheath people
Before you pour, read the cap. Still AdBlue in your diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel will empty it wherever it stands, anywhere in Kent: keep the car off and call 0333 366 0103.