AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Dulverton: Why It Happens and How to Stop It
Stop here for a moment if the diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, then call 0333 366 0103. Caught before your motor runs, it is normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Dulverton. Here in advance? In that case the rest covers how it comes about and what to prevent it happening at all.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel car
No single liquid but two: that's what plenty of newer diesels near Dulverton and Exebridge carry, with diesel feeding your engine. Its own tank keeps it, and from there it goes to your exhaust, and there spraying treats the gas.
Each tank has its own filler. On a lot of vehicles the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. Topping up your diesel side at the petrol pump goes on constantly. Rarely filled, AdBlue usually comes from a bottle, poured by a driver who must stop and think what cap it needs. That gap is where the mistake lives.
How does AdBlue in your diesel tank happen around Dulverton?
Carelessness seldom causes it. What does is three things lining up together.
On a drive off Union Street before work, or in the car park at Tap Bar heading home: that's where the hurried top-up takes place. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue runs low the vehicle warns you, and if it's gone, limp mode kicks in.
The old car's cap is where your hand reaches — but a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers elsewhere. That's the second thing: a strange car.
Nothing halts the tip once it has started, because a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. Battleton or the heart of Dulverton: it is the same few seconds in both.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Be it a Dulverton forecourt or a drive out in Waddicombe, spend a few seconds over these before any is poured in.
- Where it sits can mislead; the cap doesn't. AdBlue caps are often blue or carry the name "AdBlue" — diesel ones normally don't.
- Look at the size: the smaller filler neck is, on many cars, the AdBlue one.
- A label inside the fuel flap frequently says which fuel goes where, on plenty of vehicles. Look for it.
- The handbook. If the filler isn't by the diesel cap, it's in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park at Tiverton Parkway, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
For the day the warning comes on — wherever it is in Somerset — a simple routine to follow.
- Pull in on level, engine off, with time to spare — not hurried on the side of High Street.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it does the trick.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Before starting the vehicle, close the cap and check again that the diesel cap never opened off.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Skip stage five altogether.
Put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Dulverton already?
Brief order, then. First: your engine remains off. Keep the ignition off as well, because on many diesels switching it on by itself starts the pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is pulled from — so do not top up with diesel to thin it.
Ask the attendants to help roll the vehicle away from the pump if you're at a forecourt — the Pace, the NWF or somewhere else. Your own drive in Dulverton is the place it stays.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if the engine has already run. Dulverton sits under 15 miles from the M5; on it, take the next junction. A short hop across Dulverton is a smaller job than a run towards Exeter, under 25 miles away, so tell us about how far it went.
Our arrival in Dulverton, and what takes place next
By All Saints CofE VC Infants School, close to Dulverton Town Hall or on your own drive: wherever the car has stopped, our engineers come to it. Both the work and the quote rest on three replies — what liquid, which amount, and whether it has run — so our engineers ask. You hear that price by phone, before anybody heads out.
Emptying that tank comes next, then a thorough flush of the fuel system. With AdBlue that counts more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own. Testing is last: before that, fresh diesel is added, and the fuel filter is cleaned or changed as needed. Your engine is fired up next and checked to confirm it runs correctly, all before we head off.
Most jobs are finished in roughly half an hour once our technicians arrive, provided your engine has not run — and the pumps our engineers use are safe on a live forecourt and quiet after dark beside a house. Nothing in advance; you settle up that day. Afterwards, a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer are handed to you for the insurer. It's worth looking at your insurance while we travel to you: misfuelling cover is included with plenty of policies.
About Dulverton itself
Dulverton is a small town situated on the River Exe in Somerset, with a population of around 1386 people. Dulverton sits at an elevation of 145 metres, surrounded by rolling hills and countryside, and is located near the villages of Battleton, Brushford, and Bury. Dulverton has a range of detached housing, reflecting its appeal as a residential location. Dulverton is approximately 22 miles from Exeter and 151 miles from London, making it a rural town with good transport links.
AdBlue drains across Somerset, Dulverton included
Over TA postcodes, our vans covering Dulverton — a riverside town — work the nearby places too, Bury and Brushford included. The van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting TA22 9.
The vehicle stays put. The drain happens on the spot, be it a drive, a road by Dulverton Library, or a lay-by on the way to Exmoor Lawns. If you're near a border, or somewhere hard to describe like the back of Dulverton Heritage Centre, ring and ask instead of assuming.
For Dulverton motorists, the short version
First, the cap; after that, the tip. AdBlue in your diesel tank regardless? Leave the car switched off and call 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, throughout Somerset.