AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Seal: Why It Happens and How to Stop It
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave your motor and your ignition off and ring 0333 366 0103. Around Seal, finding it before your engine turns usually means draining and a thorough flush where it stands. Not happened yet? Further down, the page covers the why it happens and the how to avoid it for good.
AdBlue in a diesel motor, and its separate tank
Many modern diesels on the roads about Seal and Noahs Ark carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the motor. AdBlue's own tank holds it, and from there it is sent to the exhaust, and there a spray cleans the gas.
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. Diesel gets filled at each forecourt visit, again and again. Seldom filled, AdBlue normally goes in from a bottle, poured by someone who must stop and think which filler it needs. Mistakes happen in that gap between them.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Seal: how it occurs
It's hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a driveway off School Lane before work, or in the car park outside The Five Bells heading home: that's where the rushed top-up happens. Why the rush? As AdBlue gets low the car tells you, and if it is gone, limp mode follows.
New-to-you vehicles come second, too. Hire cars, new vehicles and company motors place their fillers differently, and habit reaches for the cap used on the old one.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, and so nothing stops the pour after it has started. Greatness or the heart of Seal: it takes the same few seconds either way.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
A few seconds is all the checks take — so check them before you pour anything, on a drive in Godden Green or a forecourt in Seal.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is regularly blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap normally isn't. Read it instead of going by position.
- Many motors fit AdBlue the smaller neck of the two.
- Open the filler flap and look for a label — plenty of cars mark which goes in which inlet right there.
- Cannot see it beside your diesel filler? In that case check beneath the bonnet or inside your boot — the handbook says which.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park at Bat & Ball, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
Wherever in Kent the light comes on, here is a routine for that day.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with the engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Bretaneby.
- Silly as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew the cap works — once you have found your filler and read it.
- The diesel cap stays on. Where the two sit under a flap, confirm it is shut before lifting the bottle.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start your car.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Don't carry on to step five.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Seal?
Brief order, then. First: your motor stays off. The fuel pump starts on many diesels as soon as your ignition is switched on — and so leave it off. Do not top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is sucked from.
At a forecourt — Esso, BP or any other — the attendants will normally help push the vehicle clear, if you ask. At home around Seal? So the vehicle stays where it is.
When the engine has been run already, pull over safely and turn the vehicle off. The next junction is where to come off if you are on the M26, under a mile from Seal. A short hop across Seal is a smaller job than a run towards London, under 25 miles away, so tell us roughly how far it went.
When our technicians turn up in Seal, what occurs?
Our van reaches your car wherever it has come to rest — your own drive, beside Seal Library, or outside Seal Church of England Primary School. Both the work and our price rest on three answers — what liquid, what amount, and if it's run — so our technicians ask. Nobody heads out until you have had the price over the phone.
Your system is then rinsed thoroughly, once your tank is drained. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not wash out on its own — which is why the flush matters more here than with petrol. A test comes at the end: before that, fresh diesel is added, and the filter is cleaned or replaced if necessary. We do not leave until it has been fired up and is running smoothly.
Most jobs are done in about half an hour once our technicians arrive, provided your engine hasn't run — and the pumps our technicians use are fine on a live forecourt and quiet at night outside a house. Nothing in advance; you settle up on the day. Afterwards, the VAT invoice and the report from the engineer go to you for your insurer. It's worth checking your policy as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover is included with plenty of policies.
About Seal itself
Seal is a small village in Kent, situated inland at an elevation of around 95 metres, and is located near the villages of Greatness, Wildernesse, and Childsbridge. Seal has a population of approximately 884 residents and is characterised by predominantly detached housing. Seal is positioned about 21 miles from London, making it a commuter village with easy access to the capital. Seal sits in the rolling countryside of the South East, with London being the nearest major city.
AdBlue drains round Seal, and Kent beyond
Being a rural village, Seal shares its vans surrounding areas — Wildernesse, Childsbridge — all the way across TN postcodes and the surrounding area beyond. Fastest of all: quote a TN15 0 postcode for our van.
There's no need to move your car. Anywhere it stands — near Seal Village Hall, on a lay-by en route to Seal Recreation Ground, at home — that's where it is cleared. Ring and ask rather than guessing if you are close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of St Peter & St Paul.
The short version for Seal motorists
First, the cap; then, the pour. AdBlue in the diesel tank regardless? Leave the vehicle switched off then call 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, throughout Kent.