AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Poundfield: Why It Happens and How to Avoid It
Leave the engine and ignition off and ring 0333 366 0103 now — the rest can wait if AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. Normally, when the engine has not turned, it's drained and thoroughly rinsed where your car is around Poundfield. Reading in advance? In that case what follows explains how it happens and how to stop it ever happening.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel motor
No single fluid but two: that's how many modern diesels near Poundfield and Jarvis Brook run, with diesel feeding your engine. The exhaust, not your engine, is where AdBlue goes: sprayed into the fumes to clean it, from its own tank.
Each tank has its own filler. On a lot of vehicles the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. At the petrol pump, your diesel side gets filled constantly. Someone who has to stop and think where it goes normally tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less commonly. That gap is where the slip lives.
Poundfield: how AdBlue in the diesel tank takes place
Carelessness rarely explains it. What does is three things lining up together.
On a driveway off Pellings Farm Close before work, or in the car park outside The White Hart on the way home: that is where the hurried top-up happens. Why the rush? As AdBlue runs low your car tells you, and if it is empty, limp mode follows.
New-to-you motors come next, too. Rentals, new cars and company vehicles put their fillers in new places, and habit reaches for the cap used on the old one.
Third, the spout fits: diesel filler or AdBlue one, it slides in just as easily, and once the pour begins, nothing stops it. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Poundfield or out in Steel Cross.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Check these before pouring, on a forecourt in Poundfield or a drive out in Boarshead. Seconds, no more.
- Where it sits can mislead; the cap doesn't. AdBlue ones are often blue or bear the word "AdBlue" — diesel ones normally don't.
- Plenty of motors fit AdBlue the smaller neck of the two.
- Lift the flap and check for a label — plenty of vehicles mark which belongs in which filler right there.
- Can't see it next to your diesel inlet? In that case check below the bonnet or in your boot — the owner's manual says where.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park outside Crowborough, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever in East Sussex that is.
- Pull in somewhere level, engine off, with time to spare — not rushing on the side of Pellings Farm.
- Daft as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew the cap works — after you've found the filler and read it.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Before you start the car, close the cap and check a second time that your diesel cap was never opened off.
Stop there if you find, at stage two or three, that you've already poured into your diesel side. Don't go on to step five.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, around Poundfield?
Then the order of things is short. Do not start the engine. Don't switch your ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Diluting it with more diesel fails, because AdBlue sinks to the bottom instead of blending — and that is where the fuel is pulled from.
The staff at Esso, BP or another forecourt will normally lend a hand pushing your car away if you ask. If you're on your own driveway in Poundfield, leave the car where it stands.
Already started? Pull over when it's safe, then turn off. Come off the M23 — under 15 miles out of Poundfield — at the next exit. Distance counts — a quick hop across Poundfield makes a smaller job than driving under 25 miles towards Brighton and Hove — so say about how far it went.
When our engineers arrive in Poundfield, what occurs?
We come to your car wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside Sir Henry Fermor Church of England Primary School, close to Rock Snake or on your own driveway. Both the work and the quote depend on three replies — what liquid, what amount, and whether it's run — so our technicians ask. During the phone call itself, you hear the price — ahead of anything else.
Your system is then flushed thoroughly, once that tank is cleared. Not like petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and attacks some fuel-system metals, and none of it clears away by itself. Hence it counts more. Testing is last: before that, clean diesel is added, and the fuel filter is cleaned or replaced as needed. Next our engineers start the car and check it runs smoothly before we leave.
If your engine hasn't run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we're there, using pumps that are safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night. Nothing in advance; you settle up on the day. Afterwards, the VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for your insurer. It's worth checking your insurance while we travel to you: misfuelling cover comes with plenty of policies.
About Poundfield, briefly
Poundfield is a suburban area situated near the River Uck in East Sussex, with a mix of detached housing and rural surroundings. Poundfield sits at an elevation of around 160 metres, overlooking the rolling countryside of the South East. Poundfield is located near several smaller settlements, including Steel Cross and Blackness, and is within commuting distance of Brighton and Hove. Poundfield has a population of approximately 2964 residents, living in predominantly detached homes.
AdBlue drains across East Sussex, Poundfield included
Throughout TN postcodes, our vans that cover Poundfield — a residential suburb — work the surrounding locations too, Crowborough and Blackness included. Quickest of all: give a TN6 2 postcode to the van.
Shifting the vehicle isn't needed. The drain takes place right there, whether a drive, a street by St Mary's Catholic Church, or a lay-by on the way to Silver Jubilee Recreation Ground. Assuming won't help at the back of Crowborough Leisure Centre, on a border, or somewhere awkward to describe; phone and ask.
Poundfield motorists: the short version
Read the cap before you tip. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank anyway, leave the vehicle off then ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel clears it where it sits, anywhere around East Sussex.