How It Occurs and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Malmesbury
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? Then put this page aside a moment, keep your ignition and motor off, then phone 0333 366 0103. A drain and a full flush, carried out just where the car sits in Malmesbury, is usually all it takes if found before the motor runs. Not happened yet? Below, the rest of the page covers the reasons it happens and the how to prevent it altogether.
AdBlue in a diesel motor: two tanks, two fillers
Many modern diesels in Brokenborough, like those in Malmesbury, run on two fluids; your motor gets only your diesel. Its own tank keeps it, and from there it goes to the exhaust, where a spray treats the fumes.
Different tanks, separate fillers. On a lot of motors the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. Filling your diesel side at the petrol pump happens all the time. Far less frequently, the AdBlue side gets filled — mostly from a bottle, by a person working out where it goes. The mistake grows in the gap between them.
Malmesbury: how AdBlue in the diesel tank occurs
Carelessness seldom explains it. Instead is three things coming up at once.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the vehicle tells you, and if it runs out completely, the vehicle goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a driveway off Abbey Row before work, or in the car park outside The Three Cups on the way home.
Next, the hand goes for the cap it knew on the old motor — because a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not.
Lastly, the bottle fits: diesel filler or AdBlue one, it goes in as readily, and after the pour begins, no part halts it. It's seconds, be it out in Burton Hill or bang in the centre of Malmesbury.
Telling the AdBlue filler from your diesel filler
Whether a Malmesbury forecourt or a drive out in Lea, spend a few seconds over these before anything is poured in.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is regularly blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap normally isn't. Read it rather than going by where it sits.
- The size. On plenty of motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- A label inside the fuel flap frequently shows which fuel goes where, on plenty of motors. Look for it.
- Can't find it next to the diesel inlet? Then look beneath the bonnet or in your boot — the handbook will say where.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park at Kemble, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
For the day the warning appears — anywhere you are in Wiltshire — a simple routine to use.
- Turn off once parked — flat ground, engine off, and never in a rush beside Bristol Street on the verge.
- Silly as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap does the trick — once you have located your filler and read it.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave the car on.
- Slowly does it, through the bottle's own spout, until it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap, and look once more — making sure the diesel filler remained closed throughout. Only then, start the vehicle.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you have already poured into the diesel side. Don't go on to step five.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, in Malmesbury?
Don't start your motor: that's how the short order of things starts. Don't switch your ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where your fuel is sucked from — so don't top up with diesel to thin it.
Ask the staff to help roll the vehicle away from the petrol pump if you're on a forecourt — the Texaco, the another forecourt nearby or anywhere else. Leave it where it is if you're on your own driveway around Malmesbury.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if your motor has already run. The next junction is where to come off if you are on the M4, under 5 miles from Malmesbury. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Bath, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Malmesbury.
Malmesbury: what occurs when we get there
By St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Malmesbury, near St Mary's Hall or on your own driveway: wherever your car has stopped, our engineers come to it. We ask what got in, about how much, and if it has run, since those replies determine this work and the quote. You hear that quote on the phone, before anyone heads out.
The fuel system is then flushed thoroughly, after your tank is cleared. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not wash out on its own — which is why that matters more here than with petrol. Testing comes at the end: before that, fresh diesel goes in, and your filter is cleaned or changed if necessary. We do not leave until it has been fired up and is running smoothly.
With pumps safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs where the engine hasn't run need about half an hour after our engineers arrive. The insurer will ask for the engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and both are yours once this job is done. Payment comes on the day, with no deposit. Before we get there, have a look at your policy; many include cover for misfuelling.
About Malmesbury, for a moment
Malmesbury is a town situated in the north of Wiltshire, England, nestled near the banks of a river. The town's older area is perched on a hill, almost encircled by water. Its location is close to several major towns, including Swindon and Bristol. Malmesbury's riverside setting adds to its charm, with the surrounding landscape dominated by the gentle flow of the river.
Malmesbury and Wiltshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Over SN postcodes, our teams that cover Malmesbury — a riverside town — work the surrounding spots too, Milbourne and Filands included. Our van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting SN16 0.
There's no need to shift the car. A drive, a lay-by on the way to The Cloister Gardens, a side street close to United Reform Church: we drain the vehicle where it sits. Ring and ask rather than assuming if you are near a boundary, or somewhere hard to describe, like the back of Daniel's Well.
The short version for Malmesbury motorists
Tip no AdBlue till you have read the cap. Still AdBlue in your diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel will empty it where it stands, anywhere in Wiltshire: switch it off then call 0333 366 0103.