AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Icklesham: How It Occurs and How to Avoid It
Pause reading for a moment if the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, then call 0333 366 0103. A drain and a full flush, done just where the vehicle sits around Icklesham, is normally all it needs if found before your engine runs. Here in advance? Then the rest explains why it happens and how to prevent it ever happening.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
Plenty of newer diesels on the roads about Icklesham and Cock Marling carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your motor. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is sprayed into your exhaust gas and cleans it.
There's a filler on each tank. Under one flap, next to each other: that's the arrangement on a lot of motors. On others, AdBlue's filler is beneath the bonnet or in the boot instead. The diesel side is fuelled at the petrol pump all the time. Seldom filled, AdBlue usually goes in from a bottle, tipped by someone who has to stop and think which cap it needs. It's in the gap that the slip happens.
How does AdBlue in the diesel tank happen in Icklesham?
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a warning from the vehicle, and letting it run out leads to limp mode — hence a hurried top-up, perhaps before work off Laurel Lane, or at The Robin Hood on the way home after work.
The old car's cap is where the hand goes — but a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car keeps the fillers elsewhere. That's the second thing: a strange vehicle.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, so nothing stops the tip after it has started. Whether it occurs in Broad Street or the middle of Icklesham, it is the same few seconds.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Be it a Icklesham forecourt or a driveway out in Guestling Thorn, spend a few seconds over these before any goes in.
- Position misleads; the cap does not. AdBlue caps tend to be blue or bear the name "AdBlue" — diesel ones usually do not.
- Look at the size: the smaller filler neck is, on plenty of cars, the AdBlue one.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Plenty of vehicles say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If the filler is not by the diesel cap, it's in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The previous driver will know. Check as you pick up a rental or company car — at Winchelsea's car park, say — rather than when the light comes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
Anywhere in East Sussex the light comes on, this is a routine for that day.
- Stop on level, engine off, with time to spare — not rushing on the side of Main Road.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after you find the AdBlue filler and reading it. Daft, perhaps, yet it does the trick.
- The diesel cap stays on. Where both share a flap, make sure it is closed before lifting the bottle.
- Stop when the tank is topped up or the bottle is empty; before that, tip gently using the built-in spout.
- Only then, start the vehicle: close the cap, check again, and make sure the diesel cap was never opened.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you have already poured into your diesel side. Never go on to stage five.
Icklesham: already put AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Brief list, then. First: your motor remains off. Leave your ignition off too, since on plenty of diesels switching it on alone starts your pump. Filling up with diesel will not weaken it: rather than mixing, AdBlue drops to the base of your tank, just where fuel is drawn from.
If you are on a forecourt, whether it is the Esso or the Murco, ask the staff to help roll the vehicle away from the pump. On your own drive in Icklesham? Then your car remains put.
If your engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. The next junction is the place to leave when you are on the M20, under 25 miles from Icklesham. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Canterbury, under 50 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Icklesham.
Our arrival in Icklesham, and what happens next
We come to the car wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside Icklesham Church of England Primary School and Nursery, close to All Saints Church or on your own drive. Which fluid got in, the amount, and whether it ran: our technicians ask since the answers set both work and price. On the phone call itself, you hear our quote — ahead of anything else.
The system is then cleaned thoroughly, once your tank is emptied. With AdBlue that matters more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not wash out on its own. The filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Before leaving, our technicians start it and check that it's running smoothly.
If your motor hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there, using pumps that are fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house after dark. Payment happens on the day, not upfront, and you are given the documents your insurer asks for: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. While we travel, take a look at your policy; many include cover for misfuelling.
About Icklesham and where it is
Icklesham is a small village in East Sussex, situated near the coast and approximately 51 metres above sea level. Icklesham lies within the South East region, about 53.5 miles from London, and is close to nearby places such as Broad Street, Pett, and Udimore. Icklesham has a population of around 608 people and predominantly consists of semi-detached housing. Icklesham is also near the city of Canterbury, which is about 30.9 miles away.
Icklesham and East Sussex: AdBlue drains across the area
Throughout TN postcodes, the vans covering Icklesham — a coastal village — work the nearby locations too, Udimore and Pett among them. Our van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting TN36 4.
The car remains put. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Cock Wood, a side street near Old Place: we drain the car where it stands. Assuming doesn't help at the back of The Watcher, close to a boundary, or anywhere awkward to describe; ring and check.
Icklesham drivers: the short version
Pour no AdBlue until you've read the cap. Still AdBlue in your diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel can empty it where it stands, anywhere in East Sussex: keep the vehicle off and ring 0333 366 0103.