Why It Happens and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Crawley
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? In that case set this page aside for now, leave the ignition and engine off, then call 0333 366 0103. Normally, if the engine hasn't run, it is emptied and fully cleaned where the vehicle is in Crawley. The remainder of this page covers why it takes place and how to make sure it does not — useful if you are reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
No single liquid but two: that is what many modern diesels around Crawley and Furnace Green run, with diesel feeding the motor. AdBlue's own tank holds it, and from there it goes to your exhaust, where 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. The diesel side is topped up at the petrol pump all the time. The AdBlue side is topped up far less frequently, usually from a bottle, and normally by somebody who has to stop and think where it goes. It is in that gap that the slip lives.
How does AdBlue in the diesel tank occur in Crawley?
It's rarely carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a driveway off Cross Keys before work, or in the car park at White Hart heading home: that is where the rushed top-up happens. Why the rush? As AdBlue gets low the vehicle warns you, and once it is gone, limp mode kicks in.
New-to-you motors are second, too. Hire cars, new motors and company vehicles put their fillers in new places, and habit reaches for the cap it used on the old one.
Third, the bottle fits: a diesel filler or AdBlue one, it slides in as easily, and once the pour begins, no part stops it. Whether it occurs in Northgate or the middle of Crawley, it's the same few seconds.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Before you tip anything, whether on a drive in Tilgate or a forecourt in Crawley, check these. They take a few seconds.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is often blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap normally isn't. Read it instead of going by where it sits.
- Many vehicles fit AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- Lift the filler flap and look for a label — many cars show what goes in each inlet right there.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that is where your filler is if it's not by your diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- Collecting a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park at the nearest station? Ask the person who drove it last before you set off, rather than once the light comes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
Anywhere across West Sussex the light comes on, here is a routine for that day.
- Not in a rush on the side of Haslett Avenue West, not on a slope, not with your engine running: park then switch off properly.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly and it does the trick.
- The two under a single flap? So make sure the lid on your diesel side is still shut ahead of raising the bottle.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Only then, start your car: close the cap, check again, and make sure the diesel cap was never opened.
Find at step two or three that it's already gone into the diesel side? So stop right there. Step five is off limits.
Crawley: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Then the order of things is short. Do not start your engine. Leave the ignition off too, since on plenty of diesels it by itself starts the pump. Filling up with diesel will not weaken it: rather than mixing, AdBlue sinks to the base of that tank, right where the fuel is taken from.
At a forecourt — BP, Sainsbury's or another — the staff will normally help push the vehicle away, if you ask. If you're on your own driveway in Crawley, leave it where it stands.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if the motor has already run. On the M23, under 3 miles from Crawley, that means the next exit. A short hop across Crawley is a smaller job than a run towards Brighton and Hove, under 25 miles away, and so tell us roughly how far it went.
Our arrival around Crawley, and what happens next
Outside St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary School, Crawley, near Saint John the Baptist or on your own driveway: wherever your car has stopped, our engineers come to it. Which liquid went in, the amount, and if it ran: we ask since those answers decide both work and quote. No one heads out until you've heard our price over the phone.
Then the tank is emptied and the system cleaned thoroughly. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not wash out on its own — which is why that matters more here than with petrol. Filter cleaned or, where it must be, swapped; clean diesel in; then a test of the vehicle. The engine is started next and checked to confirm it runs correctly, all before our engineers go.
Using pumps safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough for use outside a house at night, most jobs in which the engine hasn't run need roughly half an hour once our engineers arrive. Nothing upfront; you settle up on the day. Afterwards, a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer go to you for the insurer. Misfuelling cover is included in plenty of insurance policies — so use the wait to check yours.
About Crawley, briefly
Crawley is a town situated in the South East of England, on the banks of the River Mole in West Sussex. Crawley sits at an elevation of 76 metres, approximately 27 miles south of London and 20 miles north of Brighton and Hove. Crawley is characterised by its predominantly flat housing stock, including many apartments and flats, and is divided into neighbourhoods such as Northgate, Southgate, and West Green.
AdBlue drains across West Sussex, Crawley included
Southgate and West Green are among the towns around Crawley, a new town, that the same vans cover, over RH postcodes. Fastest of all: quote a RH10 1 postcode to our van.
Shifting the vehicle is not needed. Our technicians drain it where it is — a side street near Saint Francis and Saint Anthony's, a lay-by on the way to Memorial Gardens, a drive. Ring and ask instead of guessing if you are close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of The Golden Tree.
Crawley motorists: the short version
First, the cap; after that, the tip. Still AdBlue in your diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel will empty it where it is, wherever in West Sussex: keep the car off then ring 0333 366 0103.