How It Happens and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Milton
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? Then put this page down a moment, keep your ignition and motor off, and phone 0333 366 0103. A drain plus a full flush, carried out just where the car stands in Milton, is usually all it takes if found before the engine runs. If you are reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it happens and how to make sure it doesn't.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
Diesel feeds the engine — yet plenty of modern diesels seen around Milton and Kings Hedges carry a second liquid as well. AdBlue goes to your exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to clean it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Different tanks, different fillers. Under one flap, side by side: that is the layout on many motors. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler is beneath the bonnet or in your boot instead. At the pump, the diesel side is topped up all the time. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less regularly, usually from a bottle, and normally by a person who has to stop and think where it goes. That gap is where the slip lives.
How does AdBlue in the diesel tank happen around Milton?
It is seldom carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a drive off Butt Lane before work, or in the car park outside The White Horse on the way home: that's where the rushed top-up takes place. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue runs low the car warns you, and if it's empty, limp mode follows.
The old car's cap is where your hand goes — yet a hire car, a new vehicle or a company car keeps the fillers somewhere else. That's the second thing: a new car.
A spouted bottle meets no resistance at a diesel filler any more than at an AdBlue one. So the pour, once started, keeps on. Horningsea or the heart of Milton: it is the same few seconds either way.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you tip anything, whether on a driveway in Chesterton or a forecourt around Milton, check these. They take a few seconds.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap usually is not. Read it rather than going by position.
- The size. On many cars the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- Lift the flap and look for a label — plenty of motors mark what belongs in each inlet right there.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that's where the filler sits if it's not by your diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- The previous driver will know. Ask as you pick up a rental or company car — at Cambridge North's car park, say — rather than once the light appears.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever around Cambridgeshire that is.
- Not in a rush on the side of Wilson Way, not on a slope, not with your engine running: park then switch off properly.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and say the word "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew it. It sounds daft. It does the trick.
- Both under one flap? Then make sure the lid on the diesel filler stays shut ahead of raising the bottle.
- Slowly is best, through the bottle's own spout, until it's full or the bottle runs out.
- Only then, start the car: close the cap, check a second time, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened.
Spot at step two or three that it has already gone into your diesel side? Then stop just there. Don't carry on to stage five.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Milton already?
Don't start your engine: that is where the short order of things begins. Don't switch the ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Don't top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where the fuel is sucked from.
At a forecourt — Tesco, BP or another — the attendants will usually help push your car clear, when you ask. Your own drive around Milton is the place it should stay.
If the motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. On the M11, under 5 miles from Milton, that means the next junction. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Cambridge, under 5 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Milton.
Our arrival in Milton, and what takes place next
We come to the car wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside Milton Church of England Primary School, close to New Apostolic Church or on your own drive. Both the work and our quote depend on three replies — which fluid, which amount, and whether it's run — so our technicians ask. You hear that quote by phone, before anybody heads out.
Then that tank is emptied and your system rinsed thoroughly. Unlike petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and attacks some fuel-system metals, and neither washes away by itself. Hence it matters more. The filter cleaned or, where needed, replaced; fresh diesel in; and then a check of the vehicle. Before we go, our technicians fire it up and confirm that it's running smoothly.
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. Nothing in advance; you settle up on the day. At the end, a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer go to you for the insurer. Wrong-fuel cover is part of many insurance policies — and so use the wait to look at yours.
About Milton
Milton is a village in Cambridgeshire, situated near the city of Cambridge and surrounded by other small settlements like Horningsea and Landbeach. Milton sits in a low-lying area, with an elevation of around 9 metres, and is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock. Milton is located approximately 3 miles from Cambridge and 52 miles from London, making it a commuter-friendly location. Milton remains a relatively small community with a population of around 2872 residents.
Milton and Cambridgeshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Throughout CB postcodes, the vans that cover Milton — a rural village — work the surrounding places too, Fen Ditton and Landbeach among them. Our van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting CB24 6.
Shifting the vehicle is not necessary. Our engineers drain it where it is — a side street close to Milton Village Sign, a lay-by on the way to Beer Garden, a driveway. Tricky to explain, like the back of Mother and Child? By a border? Asking beats guessing, and so ring.
Milton people: the short version
Read the cap before you tip. Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, anywhere in Cambridgeshire, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank anyway — so leave the car off and phone 0333 366 0103.