How It Happens and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Plumpton Green
Keep the engine and ignition off then ring 0333 366 0103 first — the rest can wait when AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. Caught before the motor runs, it's generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is in Plumpton Green. Reading in advance? Then what follows explains why it comes about and how to prevent it happening at all.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
Many current diesels on the roads round Plumpton Green and South Chailey carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the motor. Your exhaust, not the engine, is where AdBlue ends up: dosed into the gas to fresh it, from a separate tank.
There is a filler for each tank. On a lot of vehicles the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is topped up at the petrol pump all the time. Seldom filled, AdBlue usually comes from a bottle, tipped by a driver who has to stop and think which filler it needs. That gap is where the mistake lives.
How AdBlue in the diesel tank takes place in Plumpton Green
Carelessness seldom explains it. Instead is three things coming up together.
On a drive off The Paddocks before work, or in the car park outside The Fountain on the way home: that's where the hurried top-up takes place. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low your car tells you, and once it is empty, limp mode follows.
Next, your hand goes for the cap it knew on the old car — because a hire car, a new vehicle or a company car places the fillers where your last one didn't.
No part halts the tip after it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Plumpton Green or out in East Chiltington.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Check these first, on a forecourt around Plumpton Green or a driveway over in Ditchling Common. A few seconds, no more.
- Check the cap instead of going by position: AdBlue ones are frequently blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones usually aren't.
- Look at the size: the smaller neck is, on many motors, the AdBlue one.
- A label inside your fuel flap frequently shows which fuel goes where, on many vehicles. Check for it.
- Cannot find it next to the diesel inlet? In that case look beneath the bonnet or inside your boot — the owner's manual says where.
- Whoever had it before will know. Ask when you collect a rental or company car — from Plumpton's car park, say — rather than once the warning comes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
When the light comes on, anywhere around East Sussex, use this routine.
- Park and switch off. Not on a slope, not with your engine running, and not in a rush on the side of The Hedgerows.
- Find the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and speak the name "AdBlue" out loud as unscrewing it. It sounds daft. It does the trick.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Slowly is best, through the bottle's own spout, until it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check once more. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Skip stage five altogether.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank in Plumpton Green?
What follows is a short order of things, starting with no starting your motor. On many diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so do not switch the vehicle on. Don't top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where your fuel is sucked from.
The staff at Gulf, Offham Garage & Store or any forecourt will usually lend a hand pushing the car clear if you ask. If you're on your own driveway in Plumpton Green, leave the vehicle where it stands.
If your engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. On the M23, under 15 miles from Plumpton Green, that means the next junction. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Brighton and Hove, under 10 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Plumpton Green.
Plumpton Green: what takes place when we get there
Our technicians come to your car wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside Plumpton Primary School, close to Plumpton Village Sign or on your own driveway. What liquid was put in, the quantity, and if it ran: our engineers ask since the replies set the work and price. The quote is given over the phone, before any van leaves.
Then that tank is cleared and your system rinsed thoroughly. More than with petrol, it matters here: the crystals form, some metals corrode, and nothing washes away unaided, however long it is left. The filter flushed or, where it must be, swapped; fresh diesel in; then a check of your vehicle. Before leaving, our engineers start the car and confirm that it's running smoothly.
Unrun vehicles mostly mean a half-hour job from arrival. The equipment is safe on a busy forecourt, and quiet enough for a residential street late at night. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. It's worth looking at your policy while we travel to you: misfuelling cover is included with plenty of policies.
About Plumpton Green itself
Plumpton Green is a village in East Sussex, situated near the River Adur and close to the South Downs National Park. Plumpton Green has a population of around 784 people and is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock. Plumpton Green sits at an elevation of 39 metres, with the nearby cities of Brighton and Hove and London being 8.3 and 39.9 miles away respectively.
Plumpton Green and East Sussex: AdBlue drains across the area
Throughout BN postcodes, our teams covering Plumpton Green — a village — work the nearby locations too, Plumpton and Streat included. Quote a postcode that starts BN7 3, and our van arrives quickest.
Shifting the car is not necessary. The drain takes place right there, whether a drive, a street by Village Hall, or a lay-by towards King George V Playing Fields. Tricky to pin down, like the back of All Saints? Close to a border? Checking is better than assuming, so phone.
For Plumpton Green drivers, the short version
Read the cap before you tip. Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, anywhere across East Sussex, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless — and so leave the vehicle off and call 0333 366 0103.