AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Leiston: How It Happens and How to Prevent It
Keep the engine and ignition off then ring 0333 366 0103 now — reading can wait when AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. Around Leiston, finding it before your motor runs usually means draining and a full flush where it stands. The rest of this page explains why it occurs and how to make sure it does not — handy if you're reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
Diesel feeds the engine — but plenty of newer diesels seen around Leiston and Sizewell hold a second liquid as well. AdBlue's own tank keeps it, and from there it goes to the exhaust, and there spraying cleans the fumes.
Different tanks, separate fillers. Plenty of motors have a single flap for both, whereas some put the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. Diesel goes in on each forecourt call-out, week in, week out. Much less regularly, the AdBlue side gets filled — normally from a bottle, by someone working out where it goes. The mistake grows in the gap between them.
AdBlue in your diesel tank around Leiston: how it occurs
Seldom is it carelessness: usually three things coincide.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the car tells you, and if it runs out altogether, the car goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a drive off Main Street before work, or in the car park outside The Engineer's Arms on the way home.
Then, your hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old motor — since a rental car, a new motor or a company car places the fillers somewhere your last one did not.
Third, the spout goes in: diesel filler or AdBlue one, it goes in just as easily, and after the tip begins, no part halts it. Whether it takes place in Aldringham or the middle of Leiston, it is the same few seconds.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Check these first, at a forecourt around Leiston or a driveway over in Theberton. A few seconds, no more.
- Read the cap instead of going by position: AdBlue caps are commonly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps usually aren't.
- On many motors, the size gives it away: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Many motors say there which fuel goes where.
- Cannot find it beside your diesel filler? In that case look below the bonnet or inside your boot — the handbook says where.
- Collecting a hire or company car, say at the car park outside Saxmundham? Ask the person who drove the car last before you set off, rather than when the light goes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever around Suffolk that is.
- Not in a rush on the side of Valley Road, not on a slope, not with your engine running: park then switch off first.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after finding the AdBlue filler and reading it. Silly, yes, but it does the trick.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave the vehicle on.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Only after that, start your car: close the cap, check once more, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened.
Find at stage two or three that it's already gone into the diesel side? Then stop just there. Never go on to stage five.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank around Leiston?
The short order of things, beginning with not starting your engine. The fuel pump starts on many diesels the moment your ignition is switched on — and so keep it off. Don't top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is drawn from.
If you are at a forecourt, whether it is the Shotter's or the Samkins, ask the attendants to help roll the car away from the pump. Leave it where it is if you are on your own driveway around Leiston.
If the motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. Leiston sits over 50 miles from the M11; on it, take the next junction. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Norwich, under 50 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Leiston.
Leiston: what takes place when our technicians arrive
By Leiston Primary School, close to Council Offices or on your own drive: wherever the vehicle has stopped, our engineers come to it. We ask what was put in, about how much, and if it has run, since those answers determine this work and the price. The price comes over the phone, before any van leaves.
After that: draining, then a thorough flush of the whole system. Unlike petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and attacks some fuel-system metals, and none of that washes out by itself. Hence it matters more. Testing comes last: before that, clean diesel is added, and the filter is cleaned or replaced if necessary. Before we leave, we start the engine and make sure that it's running properly.
If your engine hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there, using pumps that are safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house after dark. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Leiston and where it is
Leiston is a small town on the Suffolk coast, situated near the villages of Aldringham and Knodishall. Leiston lies at a low elevation of around 13 metres above sea level, close to the eastern edge of England. Leiston has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are particularly prevalent in the town. Leiston is located approximately 31 miles from Norwich and 87 miles from London.
AdBlue drains around Leiston and across Suffolk
Leiston is a coastal town, and our vans that cover it also work the towns near it, Coldfair Green and Knodishall among them, across the IP postcode area. The van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting IP16 4.
Moving the car isn't needed. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Victory Road Recreation Ground, a side street near Leiston Library: we drain the car where it sits. Ring and ask rather than guessing if you are near a boundary, or somewhere hard to describe, like the back of Long Shop Museum.
The short version for Leiston drivers
Pour nothing till you have read the cap. AdBlue in the diesel tank regardless? Leave the car off then phone 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, across Suffolk.