AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Shirkoak: Why It Occurs and How to Stop It
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? In that case put this page down for now, leave your ignition and engine off, then phone 0333 366 0103. A drain and a full flush, done just where your vehicle sits in Shirkoak, is normally what it needs if found before your motor runs. The remainder of this page explains why it occurs and how to make sure it does not — useful if you're reading ahead of time.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel car need its own filler?
Many current diesels on the roads around Shirkoak and Brook Street carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your engine. AdBlue's own tank holds it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, where a spray treats the gas.
Different tanks, different fillers. Some motors keep the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; a lot more place the two side by side under one flap. Diesel goes in at each filling station call-out, week in, week out. Far less often, the AdBlue side gets filled — mostly from a bottle, by someone working out where it goes. It is in the gap that the error happens.
Shirkoak: how AdBlue in your diesel tank takes place
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a warning from the car, and running out means limp mode — so a rushed top-up, maybe before work off Bethersden Road, or at Bonny Cravat on the way home that evening.
The old car's filler is where the hand reaches — yet a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers somewhere else. That is the second factor: an unfamiliar motor.
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. Whether it occurs in Woodchurch or the middle of Shirkoak, it is the same few seconds.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Be it a Shirkoak forecourt or a driveway out in Brissenden Green, take a few seconds on these before anything is poured in.
- Check the cap rather than going by position: AdBlue caps are regularly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones normally aren't.
- On many vehicles, size tells: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Plenty of cars say there which fuel goes where.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that's where the filler sits if it is not by the diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park at Ham Street, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
The day the light comes on, anywhere in Kent, follow this routine.
- Stop somewhere level, motor off, with time in hand — never rushing on the side of Shadoxhurst Road.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once you find the AdBlue filler and read it. Silly, yes, but 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.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap, and look again — confirm the diesel cap stayed shut throughout. Only then, start the vehicle.
Discover during the second or third step that AdBlue went in the diesel filler? That's where you stop. Leave out stage five entirely.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank in Shirkoak already?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start your engine. On many diesels your ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so don't switch it 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 pulled from.
If you are on a forecourt, whether it is the Esso or the Tesco, ask the attendants to help roll the car clear of the petrol pump. Your own driveway around Shirkoak is the place it stays.
When the engine has run by now, stop somewhere safe then turn the car off. On the M20, under 10 miles from Shirkoak, that means the next exit. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Canterbury, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Shirkoak.
Our arrival around Shirkoak, and what happens next
The van reaches the car anywhere it has come to rest — your own driveway, near Woodchurch Museum, or outside Woodchurch Church of England Primary School. The replies determine the work and the price, and so our technicians ask what got in, about how much, and whether it's run. No one sets off until you've heard the price over the phone.
Then your tank is emptied and the fuel system flushed thoroughly. With AdBlue that matters more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not wash out on its own. Filter flushed or, where it must be, replaced; clean diesel in; and then a test of your car. Before we leave, our technicians fire it up and make sure that it's running properly.
Using pumps safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough for use outside a house at night, most jobs where the engine has not run take roughly half an hour after our technicians are there. Nothing in advance; you settle up that day. Afterwards, the VAT invoice and the report from the engineer go to you for the insurer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About Shirkoak and where it is
Shirkoak is a small village in Kent, situated inland at an elevation of 56 metres, and is located approximately 48.5 miles from London. Shirkoak sits near the villages of Woodchurch and Brattle, and is close to Townland Green. Shirkoak has a population of around 574 people and is characterised by predominantly detached housing. Shirkoak is also within commuting distance of the city of Canterbury, which is 18.6 miles away.
AdBlue drains around Shirkoak and across Kent
Shirkoak is a rural village, and the vans that cover it also work the towns near it, Townland Green and Brattle among them, across the TN postcode area. Give a postcode that starts TN26 3, and our van arrives quickest.
Moving the vehicle isn't necessary. Our technicians drain it where it is — a side street close to All Saints, a lay-by on the way to Hells Hole, a driveway. Ring and ask rather than guessing if you are near a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of Rare Breeds Centre.
In short, for Shirkoak drivers
Before you tip, read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless, leave the car off and phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it sits, anywhere around Kent.