AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Lingwood: How It Happens and How to Prevent It
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? In that case set this page aside for now, keep your ignition and engine off, then phone 0333 366 0103. Usually, when your motor has not run, it's drained and thoroughly cleaned where your car sits in Lingwood. If you are reading before it has happened, the rest of this page is about why it occurs and how to make sure it doesn't.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
Not one fluid but two: that's what many modern diesels near Lingwood and South Burlingham carry, with diesel for your engine. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Each tank comes with a filler of its own. On a lot of cars 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 pump, the diesel side gets filled all the time. Far less often, the AdBlue side is topped up — mostly from a bottle, by a person thinking about where it goes. The mistake lives in that gap.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Lingwood: how it occurs
Carelessness rarely explains it. What does is three things coming up at once.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a message from the vehicle, and letting it run out means limp mode — so a hurried top-up, maybe before work off Post Office Road, or at Kings Head on the way home that evening.
New-to-you motors are second, too. Rentals, new vehicles and company vehicles place their fillers differently, and the hand goes for the cap used on the old one.
Third, the bottle goes in: diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it goes in as readily, and once the pour begins, nothing stops it. North Burlingham or the middle of Lingwood: it is the same few seconds either way.
The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart
Be it a Lingwood forecourt or a drive out in Burlingham Green, spend a couple of seconds over these before any goes in.
- Blue and marking: an AdBlue cap is often blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap usually does not. Go by the cap, not its position.
- Plenty of cars give AdBlue the smaller neck of the two.
- Check inside the fuel flap: many cars carry a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If your filler isn't by the diesel cap, it's in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Check with the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — when you pick up a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park at the nearest station.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
When the light comes on, wherever around Norfolk, follow this routine.
- Switch off after you park — level ground, engine stopped, and never in a rush by Station Road on the verge.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once you find the AdBlue filler and reading it. Daft, yes, but it works.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave it on.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap, and check once more — making sure your diesel cap remained closed the whole time. After that, start your car.
Spot at step two or three that it has already gone into the diesel side? Then stop just there. Don't carry on to stage five.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Lingwood?
Do not start the motor: that's how the short order of things starts. On plenty of diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so do not switch it on. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where your fuel is drawn from — so don't top up with diesel to dilute it.
On a forecourt — BP, Shell or any other — the attendants will normally help push the vehicle clear, if you ask. Your own driveway around Lingwood is the place it stays.
If the engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. Lingwood lies over 50 miles from the M11; on it, take the next exit. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Norwich, under 10 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Lingwood.
Lingwood: what takes place when our engineers arrive
By Lingwood Primary Academy, near Lingwood Village Sign or on your own drive: wherever the car has stopped, our technicians come to it. Both the work and our price depend on three replies — what fluid, which amount, and if it's run — so our technicians ask. You hear that quote on the phone, before anyone heads out.
After that: draining, then a thorough flush of the entire system. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not wash out on its own — which is why the flush matters more here than with petrol. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the car is tested. We don't go until it has been fired up and is running smoothly.
Unstarted cars mostly mean a half-hour job from arrival. The equipment is fine on a live filling station, and hushed enough for a driveway after dark. Nothing in advance; you settle up on the day. At the end, the VAT invoice and a report from the engineer are handed to you for the insurer. While we travel, take a look at your policy; plenty include cover for misfuelling.
About Lingwood itself
Lingwood is a small village in Norfolk, situated approximately 8 miles east of Norwich and 103 miles north-east of London. Lingwood sits in a low-lying area at an elevation of around 25 metres, surrounded by nearby villages such as North Burlingham and Strumpshaw. Lingwood has a population of around 1013 people, predominantly living in semi-detached housing. Lingwood is close to the Norfolk Broads, a network of rivers and lakes that are popular for boating and wildlife spotting.
Lingwood and Norfolk: AdBlue drains across the area
Strumpshaw and Beighton are among the places around Lingwood, a rural village, that the same vans cover, over NR postcodes. A postcode starting NR13 4 gets our van to you fastest.
Your car stays put. Wherever it stands — beside Beacon, on a layby en route to Lingwood Village Green, at home — that is where it gets emptied. Ring and ask rather than assuming if you are near a border, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of Lingwood Village Hall and Social Club.
For Lingwood drivers, the short version
Read the cap before you tip. Even so AdBlue in the diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel can drain it where it is, anywhere across Norfolk: keep it off and phone 0333 366 0103.