AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Sharpness: How It Occurs and How to Stop It
Pause here a minute if your diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, and ring 0333 366 0103. In Sharpness, catching it before the motor turns normally means a drain and a thorough flush where it stands. Reading before the event? Then the rest explains how it comes about and what to stop it happening at all.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel vehicle need its own filler?
Plenty of current diesels on the roads around Sharpness and Abwell carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the engine. AdBlue goes to your exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
There's a filler for each tank. Plenty of vehicles have a single flap for both, whereas others put the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. Diesel goes in on each filling station call-out, again and again. Much less often, the AdBlue side gets filled — normally from a bottle, by a person working out where it goes. It is in the gap that the mistake happens.
How AdBlue in the diesel tank occurs in Sharpness
It is hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a message from the vehicle, and running out leads to limp mode — hence a hurried top-up, maybe before work off New Street, perhaps at Lammastide Inn on the way home after work.
Unfamiliar cars are second, too. Hire cars, new vehicles and company cars place their fillers in new places, and habit goes for the cap used on the old one.
Third, the bottle goes in: a diesel filler or AdBlue one, it slides in just as readily, and once the pour starts, no part stops it. Whether it occurs in Newtown or the middle of Sharpness, it is the same few seconds.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you tip anything, whether on a drive in Hinton or a forecourt around Sharpness, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap normally is not. Read it instead of going by position.
- The size. On many vehicles the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- Check inside the fuel flap: plenty of cars carry a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- Cannot see it next to your diesel inlet? In that case look below the bonnet or inside your boot — the owner's manual says where.
- Whoever had it before knows. Ask as you pick up a rental or fleet car — at Lydney's car park, say — not when the light appears.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
On the day the light comes on — anywhere it is in Gloucestershire — a simple routine to use.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with the engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Cromwell Close.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and 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.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Only then, start the vehicle: close the cap, check once more, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened.
Discover during the second or third stage that AdBlue went into the diesel tank? That is where you stop. Step five is off limits.
Sharpness: already put AdBlue in your diesel tank?
What follows is a short order of things, starting with not starting your motor. Do not switch your ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where your fuel is drawn from — so do not top up with diesel to thin it.
On a forecourt — Co-op, Sea Fuels or another — the attendants will normally help roll the car clear, when you ask. On your own drive around Sharpness? Then the car stays put.
Already run? Pull over when it is safe, then switch off. Come off the M5 — under 5 miles out of Sharpness — at the first exit. A short hop across Sharpness is a smaller job than a run towards Gloucester, under 15 miles away, so tell us roughly how far it went.
Our arrival in Sharpness, and what happens next
Our van reaches your car wherever it stopped — your own drive, near St Andrew, or by Sharpness Primary School. Those answers settle the work and the quote, so our engineers ask what was put in, roughly how much, and whether it has run. On the call itself, you are told the price — before dispatch.
Draining that tank comes next, followed by 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. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and your car is tested. We do not go until it has been started and is running smoothly.
Unrun vehicles mostly mean a half-hour job after arrival. The kit is fine on a busy forecourt, and quiet enough for a residential street after dark. The insurer usually wants an engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and both are yours at the end. Payment is on the day, with no deposit. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Sharpness
Sharpness is a small coastal village in Gloucestershire, situated near the Severn Estuary at an elevation of around 21 metres. Sharpness lies within a short distance of several nearby settlements, including Newtown, Wanswell, and Brookend. Sharpness has a mix of housing types, but terraced houses are particularly prevalent in the village. Sharpness is located approximately 14 miles from Gloucester and around 102 miles from London.
AdBlue drains across Gloucestershire, Sharpness included
Throughout GL postcodes, the vans that cover Sharpness — a coastal village — work the nearby locations too, Brookend and Wanswell among them. Give a postcode beginning GL13 9, and our van gets there fastest.
No need to shift your car. Draining takes place on the spot, be it a drive, a street by TS Vindicatrix, or a layby on the way to Westfield Brake. Ring and ask instead of assuming if you're close to a border, or somewhere hard to describe, like the back of Lookout.
For Sharpness drivers, the short version
Read the cap before you pour. Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, anywhere in Gloucestershire, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank regardless — and so leave it off and ring 0333 366 0103.