Why It Occurs and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in North Molton
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave the motor and the ignition off and phone 0333 366 0103. A drain and a thorough flush, carried out just where the car stands around North Molton, is normally what it takes if found before your motor runs. If you're reading before it has happened, the rest of this page is about why it occurs and how to make sure it does not.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel car
Many current diesels on the roads about North Molton and South Radworthy carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your engine. Its own tank holds it, and from there it goes to the exhaust, where a spray cleans the fumes.
Each tank has its own filler. 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. The diesel side is fuelled at the pump all the time. Someone who has to stop and work out where it goes usually tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less regularly. The mistake lives in that gap.
AdBlue in the diesel tank around North Molton: how it takes place
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
On a drive off East Street before work, or in the car park at The Miners' Arms heading home: that is where the rushed top-up takes place. Why the rush? As AdBlue gets low the car warns you, and if it is empty, limp mode kicks in.
The old car's cap is where your hand goes — but a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers elsewhere. That is the second factor: a strange motor.
Third, the bottle goes in: a diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it slides in as easily, and once the tip starts, nothing halts it. Oakford or the middle of North Molton: it takes the same few seconds either way.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you pour anything, whether on a drive in North Heasley or a forecourt in North Molton, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Where it sits can mislead; the cap does not. AdBlue ones tend to be blue or carry the name "AdBlue" — diesel ones normally do not.
- Many motors fit AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- A label inside your fuel flap frequently says which fuel goes where, on plenty of motors. Check for it.
- The handbook says which it is when the filler isn't next to the diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- Picking up a hire or company car, say at the car park outside Umberleigh? Check with the person who drove it last before leaving, not once the light goes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
Wherever around Devon the light comes on, this is a routine for the day.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with your motor running, and not in a rush on the side of Broad Close.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly and it does the trick.
- Leave the diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Finish when the tank is topped up or the bottle is empty; before that, pour gently through its built-in spout.
- Before you start your car, shut the cap and look a second time that your diesel cap was never came off.
Discover at the second or third stage that AdBlue went into the wrong tank? That's where you stop. Never go on to stage five.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank in North Molton?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start your motor. Do not switch your ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Topping up with diesel will not dilute it: rather than mixing, AdBlue sinks to the bottom of your tank, right where the fuel is taken from.
At a forecourt — JJ Garages, Esso or any other — the staff will usually help push your car away, if you ask. If you are on your own drive in North Molton, leave it where it is.
Already started? Stop when it is sensible, then turn off. North Molton sits under 25 miles from the M5; there, take the first exit. A short hop across North Molton is a smaller job than a run towards Exeter, under 50 miles away, and so tell us roughly how far it went.
North Molton: what happens when our engineers arrive
We come to your car wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside North Molton Primary School, near All Saints, North Molton or on your own driveway. What fluid got in, the quantity, and whether it ran: we ask since those answers decide both work and price. During the phone call itself, you hear our quote — ahead of dispatch.
After that: a drain, then a thorough flush of the whole system. More than with petrol, it matters with AdBlue: crystals build up, certain metals are attacked, and none of that washes out unaided, however long it sits. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Your engine is started next and checked to be sure it runs correctly, all before our engineers leave.
Using pumps safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough for use outside a house at night, most jobs where your engine hasn't run need about half an hour after we arrive. The insurer usually wants the engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and you get both once this job is done. Payment comes on the day, with no deposit. While we travel, take a look at your policy; many include cover for misfuelling.
About North Molton
North Molton is a village in Devon, situated on the banks of a river at an elevation of around 190 metres. North Molton lies near the villages of Oakford and Brinsworthy, and is approximately 25 miles from the city of Exeter. North Molton has a population of around 770 people, predominantly living in semi-detached housing. North Molton is located in the South West region of England, about 162 miles west of London.
AdBlue drains round North Molton, and Devon beyond
As a village, North Molton shares its vans nearby places — Brinsworthy, Heasley Mill — right across EX postcodes and the surrounding area beyond. The van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting EX36 3.
There's no need to shift your car. Anywhere it sits — beside North Molton Sports Hall, on a layby heading to Broomball Plantation, on a drive — that is where it is emptied. Ring and ask instead of assuming if you're close to a border, or somewhere hard to describe, like the back of North Molton Sports Club.
The short version for North Molton people
Read the cap before you tip. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank all the same, leave it off then call 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel clears it where it waits, anywhere in Devon.