AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in High Cross: How It Occurs and How to Avoid It
Stop reading for a moment when the diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, and phone 0333 366 0103. A drain plus a thorough flush, carried out just where your car stands in High Cross, is normally all it takes when caught before the motor runs. Nothing happened yet? Below, the rest of the page explains the reasons it occurs and the how to avoid it altogether.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Plenty of modern diesels on the roads round High Cross and Newnham carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the engine. 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. Under one flap, next to each other: that's the arrangement on a lot of vehicles. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler is under the bonnet or in the boot instead. Diesel gets filled at every forecourt visit, week in, week out. Someone who has to stop and think where it goes usually fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less regularly. The error lives in that gap.
AdBlue in the diesel tank around High Cross: how it occurs
It is seldom carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a drive off Madingley Road before work, or in the car park outside The Plough heading home: that's where the rushed top-up takes place. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low the car warns you, and once it is empty, limp mode kicks in.
Then the vehicle is strange. A hire car, a new motor 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.
Third, the bottle goes in: diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it slides in just as easily, and after the tip begins, no part stops it. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of High Cross or out in Eddington.
Telling the AdBlue filler from your diesel filler
Whether a High Cross forecourt or a drive over in Newnham Croft, spend a couple of seconds on these before any goes in.
- Read the cap rather than going by where it sits: AdBlue ones are regularly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps normally aren't.
- Look at the size: the smaller neck is, on many cars, the AdBlue one.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Many vehicles say there which fuel goes where.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that is where your filler sits if it is not by the diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- Picking up a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park outside Cambridge? Ask the person who drove the vehicle last before you set off, not once the light comes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever in Cambridgeshire that is.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with the engine running, and not in a rush on the side of High Cross.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after you find the AdBlue filler and read it. Silly, yes, yet it does the trick.
- The diesel cap stays on. Where the two share a flap, confirm it's shut before the bottle comes up.
- Gently does it, through the bottle's own spout, until it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap, and check again — making sure your diesel cap remained shut throughout. After that, start the vehicle.
Spot at stage two or three that it's already gone into your diesel side? Then stop right there. Do not go on to step five.
High Cross: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Brief order, then. First: the motor stays off. On many diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so do not switch the vehicle on. Don't top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where the fuel is sucked from.
The staff at BP, Esso or any forecourt will normally help to push the vehicle away if asked. Your own driveway in High Cross is the place it should stay.
Already started? Stop once it is sensible, then turn off. On the M11, under a mile from High Cross, that means the next exit. Mileage matters — a quick hop across High Cross is a smaller job than heading under 3 miles towards Cambridge — so say roughly how far it went.
When our engineers turn up around High Cross, what happens?
The van reaches the vehicle wherever it has come to rest — your own drive, near West Hub Library, or outside University of Cambridge Primary School. What liquid went in, the quantity, and if it ran: we ask because the replies set both work and price. Nobody heads out until you've heard our quote by phone.
Your system is then rinsed thoroughly, once the tank is emptied. More than with petrol, it matters here: crystals build up, some metals corrode, and nothing clears away on its own, however long it is left. The filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. We do not go until it has been started and is running smoothly.
With pumps safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough for use outside a house at night, most jobs in which your engine hasn't run need roughly half an hour once we are there. No money in advance; you settle up on the day. Afterwards, the VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for the insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About High Cross
High Cross is a suburban area located on the outskirts of Cambridge, situated near the River Cam in Cambridgeshire. High Cross sits at a low elevation of around 20 metres, with nearby places including Eddington, Ridgeway Village, and Coton. High Cross is characterized by its predominantly flat housing stock, with the area being close to the city centre, approximately 1.7 miles from Cambridge. High Cross is also within commuting distance to London, being around 49.6 miles away.
AdBlue drains across Cambridgeshire, High Cross included
As a residential suburb, High Cross shares its vans surrounding places — Ridgeway Village, Coton — right across CB postcodes and the wider area around them. A postcode starting CB3 0 gets the van to you fastest.
The car stays where it is. Wherever it stands — near University of Cambridge Sports Centre, on a lay-by en route to West Cambridge Site Wildflower Gardens, on a drive — that's where it is emptied. Guessing won't help behind Tomorrow, Today, close to a boundary, or somewhere awkward to describe; phone and ask.
The short version for High Cross people
Pour no AdBlue until you've read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank all the same, leave it off then phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it sits, anywhere across Cambridgeshire.