Why It Occurs and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Melton
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave your motor and your ignition off then call 0333 366 0103. A drain and a full flush, done right where your car stands in Melton, is usually what it takes when caught before your engine runs. The remainder of this page explains why it takes place and how to make sure it doesn't — useful if you are reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
Not one fluid but two: that's how plenty of modern diesels near Melton and Bromeswell carry, with diesel for the engine. Its own tank keeps it, and from there it goes to the exhaust, and there spraying cleans the gas.
Each tank comes with a filler of its own. Some cars put the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; plenty of others place both together under one flap. Filling your diesel side at the petrol pump happens all the time. A driver who has to stop and work out where it goes usually fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less commonly. The error lives in that gap.
How does AdBlue in your diesel tank occur around Melton?
It is rarely carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a drive off Wilford Bridge Road before work, or in the car park outside The Coach and Horses on the way home: that's where the hurried top-up takes place. Why the rush? As AdBlue gets low the vehicle tells you, and once it is gone, limp mode kicks in.
Then, your hand reaches for the cap it knew on the old motor — since a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car places the fillers where your last one didn't.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, and so nothing stops the tip after it has started. It takes a few seconds, whether in Mill Hills or right in the centre of Melton.
The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart
Whether a Melton forecourt or a drive out in Drybridge Hill, take a few seconds on these before anything goes in.
- Blue and lettering: an AdBlue cap is often blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap normally doesn't. Trust the cap, not its position.
- Look at the size: the smaller neck is, on plenty of cars, the AdBlue one.
- Open the filler flap and look for a label — plenty of motors show what goes in which inlet right there.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that is where the filler is if it is not by the diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- The person who drove it last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park at the nearest station, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever around Suffolk that is.
- Pull in somewhere level, motor off, with time in hand — never rushing on the side of Melton Road.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after finding the AdBlue filler and read it. Daft, yes, yet it works.
- Both behind a single flap? So confirm the cap on the diesel filler is still closed ahead of lifting the bottle.
- Finish when your tank fills or the bottle is empty; until then, tip gently through the built-in spout.
- Only then, start the car: close the cap, check again, and make sure the diesel cap was never opened.
Discover at the second or third stage that AdBlue went in the wrong tank? That is where you stop. Step five is off limits.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, around Melton?
Short order, then. First: your motor remains off. The fuel pump runs on plenty of diesels as soon as the ignition goes on — and so leave it off. Filling up with diesel won't dilute it: instead, AdBlue sinks to the base of the tank, right where fuel is taken from.
The attendants at Gulf, Shell or another forecourt will normally help to push the vehicle clear when you ask. Leave it where it is if you're on your own driveway around Melton.
Already started? Stop once it is sensible, then switch off. Melton lies under 50 miles from the M11; there, take the first exit. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Colchester, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Melton.
Melton: what occurs when our engineers get there
By Melton Primary School, close to Burness Parish Rooms or on your own driveway: wherever the car has stopped, our technicians come to it. The replies decide this work and the quote, so our technicians ask what went in, about how much, and if it has run. The quote comes on the call, ahead of any van leaving.
Then the tank is drained and your system cleaned thoroughly. Not like petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and attacks some fuel-system metals, and neither clears away by itself. Hence it matters more. Testing comes at the end: before that, fresh diesel goes in, and the fuel filter is cleaned or changed if necessary. Before we leave, our technicians start the car and make sure that it is running correctly.
Unstarted cars usually need a half-hour visit after arrival. The equipment is fine on a busy filling station, and quiet enough for a residential street late at night. The insurer usually wants an engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and both are yours at the end. Payment is on the day, with no money upfront. It is worth checking your insurance while we travel to you: misfuelling cover comes with many policies.
About Melton
Melton is a small village in Suffolk, situated on the banks of the River Deben at a low elevation of around 10 metres. Melton lies near the towns of Woodbridge and Ipswich, and is close to the Mill Hills and Bromswell Heath. Melton has a population of approximately 1034 people, living in predominantly semi-detached housing. Melton is located near the A12 road, providing connections to Colchester and London, which is around 75 miles away.
AdBlue drains around Melton and across Suffolk
As a village, Melton has the same vans as nearby places — Woodbridge, Bromswell Heath — right through IP postcodes and the surrounding area beyond. The van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting IP12 1.
Your car stays put. Anywhere it sits — near Melton Village Sign, in a layby heading to Hall Farm play area, at home — that's where it is cleared. Assuming doesn't help behind Garrod Memorial, close to a border, or somewhere hard to describe; ring and ask.
In short, for Melton drivers
Read the cap before you tip. AdBlue in your diesel tank regardless? Keep it off and ring 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, across Suffolk.