AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Moorgate: How It Happens and How to Stop It
Keep your engine and ignition off then ring 0333 366 0103 now — the rest can wait when AdBlue is already in your diesel tank. Caught before your motor runs, it is generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is in Moorgate. Reading in advance? In that case what follows covers why it happens and what to stop it ever happening.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
Plenty of modern diesels around Toftwood, as well as Moorgate, run on two fluids; your engine takes only your diesel. AdBlue's own tank keeps it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, where spraying treats the gas.
There's a filler for every tank. Other vehicles keep the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; a lot more have the two side by side under one flap. The diesel side is topped up at the pump all the time. Seldom topped up, AdBlue normally comes out of a bottle, poured by a driver who has to stop and think what cap to use. It's in that gap that the mistake happens.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Moorgate: how it takes place
Carelessness rarely causes it. Instead is three things lining up together.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a warning from the car, and running dry means limp mode — hence a rushed top-up, maybe before work off Moorgate, or outside The Bull on the way home after work.
Next, your hand goes for the cap it would have used on the old vehicle — because a rental car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not.
Nothing halts the pour once it has started, because a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Moorgate or out in South Green.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Whether a Moorgate forecourt or a driveway over in Northall Green, spend a couple of seconds over these before any goes in.
- Position can mislead; the cap doesn't. AdBlue ones tend to be blue or carry the word "AdBlue" — diesel ones usually do not.
- On many motors, the size tells: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- Open the flap and check for a label — plenty of vehicles mark which goes in which filler just there.
- Can't see it next to your diesel inlet? Then look below the bonnet or in your boot — the handbook will say where.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park outside Wymondham, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
Anywhere in Norfolk the light comes on, this is a routine for that day.
- Not in a rush on the side of Southend, not on a slope, not with the engine running: park and switch off first.
- Silly as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew the cap does the trick — after you have found the filler and read the cap.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check once more. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Never carry on to step five.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Moorgate already?
Brief list, then. Top of it: your engine stays unstarted. Leave the ignition off too, since on many diesels it alone runs the pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where your fuel is sucked from — so do not top up with diesel to dilute it.
At a forecourt — BP, Morrisons or another — the staff will usually help roll the car away, when you ask. Your own drive around Moorgate is where it should stay.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if your engine has already run. The next exit is the place to leave if you're on the M11, under 50 miles from Moorgate. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Norwich, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Moorgate.
When we get there in Moorgate, what occurs?
Wherever the vehicle came to rest, whether by Grove House Infant and Nursery School, near Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart and Saint Margaret Mary or on your own drive, our van travels to it. Which fluid got in, the amount, and whether it ran: our engineers ask since the answers set the work and quote. The price is given over the phone, before any van leaves.
Emptying your tank comes next, then a full flush of the fuel system. With AdBlue that matters more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own. Testing is at the end: before that, fresh diesel is added, and the fuel filter is flushed or changed if necessary. Then our engineers start the engine and confirm it runs properly before we leave.
If the engine hasn't run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we're there, using pumps that are safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house after dark. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Misfuelling cover is part of plenty of insurance policies — so use the wait to look at yours.
About Moorgate
Moorgate is a suburban area in Norfolk, situated near the River Wensum and close to the city of Norwich. Moorgate sits at an elevation of 49 metres, with semi-detached housing being the predominant type of accommodation in the area. Moorgate is located near other local places such as South Green and Dumpling Green, and is within commuting distance of Norwich. Moorgate has a population of around 4546 people, according to recent estimates.
AdBlue drains across Norfolk, Moorgate included
Being a residential suburb, Moorgate shares its vans surrounding areas — Dereham, Dumpling Green — all the way through NR postcodes and the wider area around them. Our van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting NR19 1.
The car does not need to move. Anywhere it stands — near Dereham Library, on a lay-by heading to Moorgate Recreation Ground, on a drive — that is where it gets drained. If you're near a border, or somewhere hard to describe like the back of Dereham Leisure Centre, ring and ask instead of guessing.
The short version for Moorgate people
Tip no AdBlue till you've read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank anyway, leave the car off then phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, anywhere in Norfolk.