Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Martock: Why It Happens
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave your engine and your ignition off then call 0333 366 0103. In Martock, finding it before the engine turns usually means a drain and a full flush on the spot. The remainder of this page covers why it occurs and how to make sure it does not — useful if you're reading ahead of time.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel car need its own filler?
Many modern diesels around Highway, as well as Martock, carry on two fluids; the engine takes only the diesel. Its own tank keeps it, and from there it goes to your exhaust, and there spraying cleans the gas.
Every tank has a filler of its own. Some motors keep the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; plenty of others place the two together under one flap. At the petrol pump, the diesel side is topped up constantly. Far less often, the AdBlue side gets filled — mostly from a bottle, by a person working out where it goes. It is in the gap that the slip happens.
Martock: how AdBlue in your diesel tank takes place
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a warning from the car, and letting it run dry means limp mode — hence a hurried top-up, maybe before work off East Street, perhaps outside White Hart Hotel on the way home after work.
The old car's cap is where your hand reaches — but a hire car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers somewhere else. That's the second thing: an unfamiliar motor.
A spout-topped bottle finds no resistance at a diesel filler any more than at an AdBlue one. So the pour, after started, keeps on. Whether it occurs in Hurst or the middle of Martock, it's the same few seconds.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Before you pour anything, whether on a drive in Stapleton or a forecourt around Martock, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is regularly blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap normally is not. Read it instead of going by position.
- The size. On many vehicles the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Plenty of cars say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If the filler is not by your diesel cap, it is in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The previous driver will know. Check when you pick up a hire car or company car — at Crewkerne's car park, say — not once the light comes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in the diesel tank
On the day the light comes on — anywhere it is across Somerset — a simple routine to use.
- Switch off after you park — level ground, engine off, and never in a rush beside Church Street at the roadside.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once you find the AdBlue filler and reading it. Silly, yes, yet it works.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave the vehicle on.
- Gently does it, through the bottle's own spout, until it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Shut the cap, and check once more — making sure the diesel filler stayed closed throughout. Only then, start your car.
Discover at the second or third stage that the bottle went into the diesel filler? That is where you stop. Step five stays off limits.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, around Martock?
Do not start the motor: that's where the short order of things begins. The fuel pump runs on many diesels the moment the ignition is switched on — so leave it off. Do not top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where your fuel is drawn from.
The attendants at Texaco, BP or any forecourt will normally lend a hand to push the vehicle clear if you ask. Your own driveway around Martock is the place it should stay.
If your motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. Come off the M5 — under 15 miles out of Martock — at the first exit. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Wells, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Martock.
Martock: what happens when we turn up
Wherever the car came to rest, whether outside Martock Church School, beside War Horses Trough or at home, our van travels to it. Which fluid got in, the quantity, and whether it ran: our technicians ask since those replies set both work and quote. During the call itself, you are told our price — before anything else.
The system is then flushed thoroughly, after your tank is drained. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own — which is why the flush counts more with AdBlue than with petrol. Testing is at the end: before that, clean diesel goes in, and the fuel filter is cleaned or replaced as needed. The motor is started next and tested to be sure it runs properly, all before our technicians go.
Most jobs are done in roughly half an hour once our technicians arrive, provided your engine has not run — and the pumps we use are fine on a live forecourt yet quiet at night outside a house. Nothing upfront; you settle up on the day. Afterwards, the VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for the insurer. Wrong-fuel cover is part of plenty of insurance policies — so make use of the wait to check yours.
About Martock, for a moment
Martock is a village in Somerset, situated on the banks of the River Parrett at an elevation of around 22 metres. Martock lies near the villages of Hurst, Bower Hinton, and Coat, and is approximately 17 miles from the city of Wells. Martock has a population of around 1620 people, predominantly living in semi-detached housing. Martock is located in the South West region of England, about 120 miles west of London.
AdBlue drains in Martock and across Somerset
Over TA postcodes, our teams that cover Martock — a village — work the surrounding places too, Coat and Bower Hinton among them. A postcode starting TA12 6 gets our van to you fastest.
There's no need to move the vehicle. The drain takes place on the spot, whether a drive, a street by Market House, or a lay-by on the way to Ash Village Recreation Ground. Awkward to explain, like the back of Martock Library? By a border? Checking beats guessing, and so phone.
The short version for Martock drivers
Before you pour, read the cap. Even so AdBlue in the diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel can empty it wherever it stands, wherever in Somerset: switch the vehicle off then call 0333 366 0103.