Why It Happens and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in East Burton
Stop here a minute if the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, then phone 0333 366 0103. Around East Burton, finding it before your engine turns normally means a drain and a full flush on the spot. Nothing happened yet? Below, the page covers the reasons it occurs and the ways to prevent it for good.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel vehicle need its own filler?
Diesel feeds the motor — but many newer diesels seen about East Burton and East Knighton hold a second fluid too. AdBlue goes to your exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Each tank has its own filler. On a lot of motors the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is fuelled at the petrol pump all the time. Much less regularly, the AdBlue side gets filled — normally from a bottle, by someone thinking about where it goes. It is in the gap that the mistake happens.
East Burton: how AdBlue in your diesel tank happens
It is rarely carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a driveway off The Alisons before work, or in the car park at Seven Stars (Freehouse) heading home: that is where the rushed top-up happens. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low your car warns you, and if it's gone, limp mode follows.
Then the vehicle is new. A hire car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers where your last one didn't, and the hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old one.
No part stops the pour after it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. It takes seconds, whether out in Giddy Green or right in the heart of East Burton.
Telling the AdBlue filler from your diesel filler
Check these first, at a forecourt around East Burton or a driveway out in Blacknoll. A few seconds, no more.
- Read the cap instead of going by position: AdBlue ones are regularly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps normally aren't.
- Many motors fit AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- Look inside your fuel flap: plenty of cars have a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- Can't see it next to your diesel filler? Then check below the bonnet or inside the boot — the handbook will say where.
- Collecting a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park outside Wool? Check with the person who drove the vehicle last before leaving, rather than when the light comes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up
On the day the light comes on — anywhere you are around Dorset — a routine to follow.
- Switch off once parked — flat ground, engine off, and not in a rush beside Burton Road at the roadside.
- Silly as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew the cap does the trick — after you've located the filler and read the cap.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Stop when the tank fills or the bottle is empty; before that, tip slowly using its own spout.
- Before starting the car, close the cap and check a second time that your diesel cap was never came off.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Do not go on to step five.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank in East Burton?
Do not start your motor: that is how the short order of things begins. Keep the ignition off as well, because on plenty of diesels it by itself runs the fuel pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where your fuel is sucked from — so do not top up with diesel to dilute it.
The attendants at Murco, another forecourt nearby or another forecourt will usually lend a hand pushing the vehicle clear when you ask. If you're on your own drive in East Burton, leave the vehicle where it stands.
If your motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. Come off the M27 — under 50 miles out of East Burton — at the first junction. About how far did it go? Crossing East Burton is less work than a run of under 50 miles to Salisbury, and so tell us.
What takes place when our technicians turn up around East Burton
The van comes to your car anywhere it has come to rest — your own driveway, near East Burton Village Hall, or outside St Mary & St Joseph's Catholic Primary School. Those replies decide this work and the price, and so our engineers ask what was put in, about how much, and whether it's run. Nobody heads out before you've heard the quote by phone.
Next: draining, then a full flush of the entire system. Unlike petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and attacks some fuel-system metals, and none of it clears away unaided. Hence it counts more. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and your car is tested. Then our engineers fire it up and confirm it runs correctly before we leave.
Unrun vehicles mostly mean a half-hour visit from arrival. The equipment is safe on a live filling station, and hushed enough for a driveway after dark. The insurer will ask for an engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and both are yours at the end. Payment is on the day, with no deposit. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About East Burton
East Burton is a suburban area in Dorset, situated on the riverside at a low elevation of around 20 metres. East Burton lies near the villages of Giddy Green, Braytown, and Wool, and is approximately 33 miles from the city of Salisbury. East Burton has a population of around 1088 people, predominantly living in detached housing. East Burton is also within commuting distance of larger cities, being around 108 miles from London.
AdBlue drains about East Burton, and Dorset beyond
Over BH postcodes, the vans that cover East Burton — a residential suburb — work the nearby places too, Wool and Braytown among them. Give a postcode that starts BH20 6, and our van gets there fastest.
Shifting your car isn't necessary. Anywhere it stands — beside Frome Dale Bed & Breakfast, in a layby en route to East Burton Village Green, at home — that's where it is emptied. Tricky to pin down, like the back of St Joseph's Catholic Church? Close to a county line? Asking is better than guessing, so phone.
East Burton motorists: the short version
Before you tip, read the cap. AdBlue in the diesel tank regardless? Leave the vehicle switched off and phone 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, across Dorset.