Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Crabble: Why It Happens
Stop reading for a moment when your diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, and ring 0333 366 0103. In Crabble, catching it before the motor turns usually means a drain and a full flush where it stands. If you are reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it takes place and how to make sure it doesn't.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Not one fluid but two: that is how plenty of newer diesels near Crabble and Buckland Valley run, with diesel for the engine. 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. On a lot of cars the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. Filling your diesel side at the pump goes on all the time. Someone who has to stop and work out where it goes normally tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less often. The mistake grows in the gap between the two.
How does AdBlue in the diesel tank take place in Crabble?
Rarely is it carelessness: normally three things coincide.
Hurry follows from the warning. Your car warns you as AdBlue runs low, and an empty tank sends it into limp mode — so the top-up gets done quickly, before work on a driveway off Lewisham Road, or on the way home in the car park outside The Cricketers.
Then, the hand goes for the cap it would have used on the old motor — because a rental car, a new motor or a company car places the fillers somewhere your last one did not.
Third, the bottle fits: a diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it slides in just as readily, and after the tip starts, nothing halts it. Whether it takes place in River or the middle of Crabble, it is the same few seconds.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you tip anything, whether on a drive in Kearsney or a forecourt in Crabble, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Read the cap rather than going by where it sits: AdBlue ones are regularly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps normally aren't.
- Plenty of motors fit AdBlue the smaller neck of the two.
- Look inside the fuel flap: plenty of motors have a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- Can't find it next to the diesel inlet? In that case look beneath the bonnet or in the boot — the handbook will say where.
- Whoever had it before will know. Ask as you collect a hire car or fleet car — from Kearsney's car park, perhaps — rather than once the light appears.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever in Kent that is.
- Switch off once parked — flat ground, motor stopped, and never in a rush by River Meadow at the roadside.
- Silly as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew the cap does the trick — once you've located the filler and read the cap.
- The diesel cap stays on. Where the two share a flap, confirm it's closed before the bottle comes up.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Before starting your car, close the cap and look a second time that your diesel cap was never opened off.
Discover during the second or third stage that the bottle went into the wrong tank? That's where you stop. Leave out step five altogether.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, in Crabble?
Then the order of things is short. Do not start your engine. Do not switch your ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Don't top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where your fuel is drawn from.
At a forecourt — Esso, Tesco or another — the attendants will normally help roll the vehicle away, when you ask. At home around Crabble? So your car stays where it is.
Already run? Stop once it's sensible, then switch off. The next exit is where to come off if you are on the M20, under 10 miles from Crabble. A short hop across Crabble is a smaller job than a run towards Canterbury, under 15 miles away, and so tell us about how far it went.
Crabble: what occurs when our engineers turn up
Anywhere your car has stopped, whether by River Primary School, beside the centre or at home, the van travels to it. Both the work and our quote depend on three replies — which liquid, what amount, and whether it's run — so our engineers ask. That price is given on the call, before any van leaves.
Next: draining, then a full flush of the entire system. Unlike petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and eats at certain fuel-system metals, and none of it washes out unaided. That is why it matters more. The filter flushed or, if it must be, replaced; fresh diesel in; then a test of the car. Then our technicians fire it up and confirm it runs properly before we go.
Unrun cars usually need a half-hour job after the moment we arrive. The equipment is safe on a busy filling station, and hushed enough for a driveway after dark. No money upfront; you settle up that day. Afterwards, the VAT invoice and a report from the engineer go to you for the insurer. It's worth checking your insurance while we travel to you: misfuelling cover comes with plenty of policies.
About Crabble, for a moment
Crabble is a suburban area in Kent, situated near the coast and approximately 13 miles from Canterbury. Crabble sits at an elevation of 34 metres, overlooking the surrounding landscape and the nearby River. Crabble is characterized by its predominantly semi-detached housing stock, which reflects the typical residential development of the region. Crabble is home to around 3302 residents, who enjoy the area's proximity to the city of Canterbury and the scenic coastal setting.
AdBlue drains round Crabble, and Kent beyond
Being a residential suburb, Crabble shares its vans surrounding places — Buckland, St Radigunds — all the way across CT postcodes and the wider area around them. The van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting CT17 0.
The vehicle does not need to shift. The drain takes place right there, whether a drive, a road near River Methodist Church, or a lay-by towards River Bottom Wood. If you are close to a border, or somewhere hard to describe like the back of St. Andrew's, ring and ask rather than guessing.
The short version for Crabble drivers
Pour nothing until you've read the cap. AdBlue in your diesel tank after all? Leave it switched off and phone 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, across Kent.