Why It Happens and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Crewkerne
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? Then put this page down a moment, keep the ignition and engine off, and call 0333 366 0103. Caught before your engine runs, it's generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is in Crewkerne. The remainder of this page explains why it happens and how to make sure it does not — useful if you're reading before it has happened.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
Diesel feeds your engine — yet many newer diesels driven around Crewkerne and Henley hold another liquid 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.
Each tank has one filler of its own. Other vehicles keep the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; plenty more place the two side by side behind one flap. The diesel side is topped up at the petrol pump all the time. Rarely filled, AdBlue usually comes from a bottle, tipped by someone who must stop and think which cap to use. That gap is where the mistake lives.
Crewkerne: how AdBlue in your diesel tank occurs
Carelessness rarely causes it. What does is three things coming up at once.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a message from the vehicle, and running dry means limp mode — hence a rushed top-up, maybe before work off Market Square, or at The George Hotel on the way home after work.
The old car's cap is where your hand reaches — but a hire car, a new motor or a company car keeps the fillers somewhere else. That is a second thing: a new car.
No part stops the pour after it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. Whether it occurs in Broadshard or the middle of Crewkerne, it is the same few seconds.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Whether a Crewkerne forecourt or a drive out in Misterton, take a couple of seconds on these before anything goes in.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is regularly blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap usually is not. Read it rather than going by position.
- The size. On plenty of 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.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that is where the filler sits if it's not by the diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park at the nearest station, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever around Somerset that is.
- Not in a rush on the side of Market Street, not on a slope, not with the motor running: park then switch off first.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it works.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave it on.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start your car.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Leave out stage five entirely.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, in Crewkerne?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start your motor. Do not switch the ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Do not top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where your fuel is drawn from.
The attendants at Valero, Texaco or another forecourt will normally lend a hand pushing the vehicle clear when asked. If you are on your own driveway in Crewkerne, leave it where it stands.
If your engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. Leave the M5 — under 15 miles out of Crewkerne — at the first exit. Roughly how far did it go? Crossing Crewkerne is smaller work than a run of under 25 miles to Wells, so tell us.
Crewkerne: what takes place when our engineers arrive
Our van reaches the car anywhere it stopped — your own driveway, beside Victoria Hall, or by Ashlands Church of England Primary School. The answers determine this work and our price, so our technicians ask what got in, about how much, and if it has run. The quote comes over the phone, before any van leaves.
Emptying your tank comes next, then a full flush of your system. With AdBlue that matters more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not wash out on its own. Testing comes at the end: before that, fresh diesel goes in, and the fuel filter is flushed or changed as needed. The motor is fired up next and tested to be sure it runs correctly, all before our engineers leave.
Most jobs are finished in about half an hour after our technicians get there, provided your motor hasn't run — and the pumps we use are safe on a live forecourt yet quiet after dark beside a house. Paying is on the day, not upfront, and you are given the paperwork an insurer asks for: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Crewkerne itself
Crewkerne is a small town in south Somerset, situated in a low-lying area of the South West region at an elevation of around 72 metres. Crewkerne lies near the towns of Wells and Chard, and is surrounded by smaller settlements such as Broadshard and Roundham. Crewkerne has a population of approximately 7335 people, living in predominantly semi-detached housing. Crewkerne is located about 123 miles west of London, making it a relatively remote town in the South West.
AdBlue drains around Crewkerne, and Somerset beyond
Being a town, Crewkerne shares its vans nearby places — Roundham, Pye Corner — all the way through TA postcodes and the wider area beyond. Quote a postcode that starts TA18 7, and our van gets there fastest.
Your car doesn't need to move. Wherever it stands — near Crewkerne Museum, on a lay-by en route to Sensory Garden, on a drive — that's where it gets drained. Assuming won't help behind Crewkerne Library, close to a border, or anywhere hard to pin down; phone and ask.
The short version for Crewkerne drivers
First, the cap; after that, the tip. AdBlue in the diesel tank after all? Keep it off and ring 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, throughout Somerset.