--- title: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank Great Clacton: Explained canonical: https://www.petrolinadieselcar.co.uk/adblue-in-diesel/great-clacton-essex/ location: Great Clacton county: Essex latitude: 51.804890 longitude: 1.152860 service: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank updated: 2026-10-22 --- # Why It Happens and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Great Clacton Leave the motor and ignition off and call 0333 366 0103 now — reading can wait when AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. Normally, when your motor hasn't turned, it is drained and fully purged where the car sits in Great Clacton. Nothing happened yet? Below, the rest of the page covers the why it occurs and the ways to avoid it for good. ## AdBlue in a diesel motor, and its separate tank Plenty of newer diesels on the roads round Great Clacton and Rush Green carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your motor. The exhaust, not the engine, is where AdBlue goes: sprayed into the fumes to clean it, from a separate tank. Every tank comes with a filler of its own. 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. At the petrol pump, your diesel side is topped up constantly. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less frequently, usually from a bottle, and usually by a person who has to stop and think where it goes. That gap is where the mistake lives. ## How AdBlue in the diesel tank occurs in Great Clacton Seldom is it carelessness: usually three things coincide. The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the vehicle tells you, and if it runs out altogether, your vehicle drops into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a drive off St Johns Road before work, or in the car park at The Plough on the way home. Unfamiliar vehicles come next, as well. Rentals, new vehicles and company vehicles place their fillers in new places, and habit reaches for the cap used on the old one. Lastly, the bottle goes in: a diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it goes in just as easily, and after the pour starts, nothing stops it. Whether it takes place in Burrsville Park or the middle of Great Clacton, it is the same few seconds. ## How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one A few seconds is all these take — so run through them before you tip anything, on a drive in Little Clacton or a forecourt in Great Clacton. - Blue and lettering: an AdBlue cap is often blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap normally doesn't. Go by the cap, not its position. - Many motors give AdBlue the smaller neck of the two. - Look inside the fuel flap: plenty of vehicles have a label there saying which fuel goes where. - In the boot or under the bonnet: that's where your filler is if it is not by your diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which. - The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park at Clacton-On-Sea, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on. ## How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever around Essex that is. - Not in a rush on the side of Elm Grove, not on a slope, not with your engine running: park then switch off first. - Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once you find the AdBlue filler and reading it. Daft, yes, yet it works. - The diesel cap stays on. Where both sit under a flap, make sure it's shut before lifting the bottle. - Slowly is best, through the bottle's own spout, till it's full or the bottle is empty. - Close the cap and check again. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car. If at step two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Skip step five entirely. ## Put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Great Clacton already? Then the order of things is short. Do not start the engine. On many diesels your ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so don't switch the car on. Don't top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where the fuel is sucked from. If you are at a forecourt, whether it's the Asda or the Esso, ask the attendants to help push the vehicle clear of the petrol pump. Leave it where it is if you are on your own drive around Great Clacton. Already started? Stop when it is sensible, then turn off. Come off the M2 — under 50 miles out of Great Clacton — at the first junction. Roughly how far did it go? Crossing Great Clacton is less work than a trip of under 15 miles to Colchester, so say. ## When our technicians get there in Great Clacton, what occurs? Anywhere the car has stopped, be it outside Great Clacton Church of England Junior School, beside The Iron Works or at home, the van travels to it. Which liquid got in, the amount, and if it ran: our technicians ask because the answers set the work and price. You hear that price on the phone, before anyone heads out. Then your tank is cleared and your system purged thoroughly. Unlike petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and attacks certain fuel-system metals, and neither clears out by itself. Hence it counts more. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Before leaving, we start the engine and make sure that it's running smoothly. Unrun vehicles mostly mean a half-hour visit after arrival. The kit is fine on a live filling station, and hushed enough for a residential street late at night. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours while we're on the way. ## About Great Clacton and where it is Great Clacton is a suburban area located on the coast of Essex, with Burrsville Park and Bockings Elm nearby, and is situated approximately 12 miles from Colchester. Great Clacton has a population of around 6698 people and is characterised by semi-detached housing. Great Clacton sits at an elevation of 14 metres above sea level, close to the larger town of Clacton-on-Sea. Great Clacton is also within commuting distance of London, being around 59 miles from the capital. ## AdBlue drains across Essex, Great Clacton included Throughout CO postcodes, the teams that cover Great Clacton — a residential suburb — work the nearby locations too, Clacton-on-Sea and Bockings Elm included. The van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting CO15 4. Your car does not need to shift. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Old Road Recreation Ground, a side street near St John the Baptist's: we drain the car where it stands. Guessing won't help behind Great Clacton Methodist Church, close to a border, or anywhere hard to describe; phone and ask. ## In short, for Great Clacton motorists Before you pour, read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless, leave the car off then call 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel clears it where it waits, anywhere in Essex.