AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Duck End: Why It Happens and How to Prevent It
Leave your motor and ignition off then ring 0333 366 0103 now — reading can wait when AdBlue is already in your diesel tank. Caught before the engine runs, it is normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is in Duck End. Nothing happened yet? Below, the rest of the page covers the why it takes place and the how to avoid it for good.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel car
No single fluid but two: that is what many modern diesels near Duck End and Little London carry, with diesel for your engine. Its own tank keeps it, and from there it goes to your exhaust, and there spraying cleans the gas.
Each tank comes with a filler of its own. Other vehicles put the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; plenty of others have both side by side under one flap. Diesel goes in on each forecourt visit, again and again. Much less frequently, the AdBlue side gets topped up — mostly from a bottle, by a person working out where it goes. It is in the gap that the slip happens.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Duck End: how it occurs
Rarely is it carelessness: normally three things coincide.
On a driveway off Mill End Road before work, or in the car park at The Red Lion heading home: that's where the rushed top-up happens. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low your car tells you, and once it's empty, limp mode kicks in.
Unfamiliar cars come second, as well. Rentals, new motors and company vehicles place their fillers differently, and the hand goes for the cap used on the old one.
A spout-topped bottle meets no obstacle at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. So the pour, once started, keeps on. It's a few seconds, be it in Finchingfield or bang in the centre of Duck End.
Telling the AdBlue filler from the diesel filler
A few seconds is all these take — so check them before you tip anything, on a driveway in Hawkins Hill or a forecourt around Duck End.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is often blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap normally isn't. Read it rather than going by position.
- Plenty of motors fit AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- A label inside the fuel flap often shows which fuel goes where, on plenty of motors. Check for it.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that's where the filler is if it is not by your diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- The previous driver will know. Ask when you pick up a hire car or company car — from Braintree's car park, say — rather than once the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever in Essex that is.
- Stop on level, engine off, with time to spare — never hurried on the side of The Causeway.
- Daft as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew the cap works — after you've found the filler and read it.
- Leave the diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Finish when your tank is topped up or the bottle is empty; until then, tip slowly using the own spout.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure your 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. Don't carry on to stage five.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Duck End?
Brief order, then. First: your motor remains off. The fuel pump runs on many diesels as soon as the ignition is switched on — so leave it off. Filling up with diesel will not weaken it: instead, AdBlue drops to the bottom of the tank, right where fuel is taken from.
Ask the attendants to help push your car away from the pump if you are on a forecourt — the Gulf, the Tillbrooks Garage or somewhere else. Your own drive around Duck End is the place it stays.
If the engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. The next exit is the place to come off if you are on the M11, under 15 miles from Duck End. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Chelmsford, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Duck End.
Duck End: what takes place when we turn up
Outside Finchingfield St John the Baptist CofE Primary Academy, close to Finchingfield Windmill or on your own driveway: wherever the car has stopped, our engineers come to it. Those answers settle this work and the price, and so our engineers ask what went in, about how much, and if it's run. During the call itself, you are told our quote — ahead of dispatch.
Draining the tank comes next, followed by a full flush of your system. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own — which is why the flush matters more with AdBlue than with petrol. Filter cleaned or, where needed, replaced; clean diesel in; then a test of your vehicle. The engine is started next and checked to make sure it runs smoothly, all before we go.
Unstarted cars usually mean a half-hour job after arrival. The equipment is fine on a busy filling station, and hushed enough for a driveway after dark. The insurer will ask for the engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and both are yours at the end. Payment comes on the day, with no money upfront. Wrong-fuel cover is part of many insurance policies — and so use the wait to look at yours.
About Duck End itself
Duck End is a small suburban area in Essex, situated on the riverside with an elevation of around 69 metres. Duck End lies near the villages of Finchingfield and Mill End, and is approximately 16 miles from Chelmsford. Duck End has a population of around 728 people and predominantly consists of semi-detached housing. Duck End is also within commuting distance to London, being around 40 miles from the city.
AdBlue drains around Duck End and across Essex
Over CM postcodes, our teams covering Duck End — a residential suburb — work the nearby locations too, Howe Street and Mill End included. Fastest of all: quote a CM7 4 postcode for our van.
The car remains put. Wherever it stands — beside Finchingfield Guildhall, on a lay-by heading to The Green, at home — that is where it gets drained. Awkward to explain, like the back of St John the Baptist? Close to a county line? Checking beats assuming, so phone.
In short, for Duck End drivers
Tip no AdBlue till you've read the cap. AdBlue in your diesel tank after all? Leave the car off and ring 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, across Essex.