AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in South Green: Why It Happens and How to Avoid It
Stop reading for a moment when the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, then ring 0333 366 0103. A drain and a thorough flush, carried out just where your vehicle stands in South Green, is normally all it needs if found before the engine runs. If you're reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it happens and how to make sure it doesn't.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
Diesel goes to the motor — but plenty of current diesels driven around South Green and Toftwood carry a second liquid too. Its own tank keeps it, and from there it is sent to the exhaust, and there a spray treats the gas.
Separate tanks, separate fillers. 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. Filling the diesel side at the petrol pump happens constantly. Far less commonly, the AdBlue side gets filled — mostly from a bottle, by someone thinking about where it goes. It is in the gap that the mistake lives.
South Green: how AdBlue in the diesel tank occurs
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the car tells you, and if it runs out completely, the car drops into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a drive off South Green Gardens before work, or in the car park at The Greenstone on the way home.
The old car's cap is where your hand reaches — but a hire car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers elsewhere. That's the second factor: a strange car.
No part halts the tip once it has started, because a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. It's a few seconds, whether out in Moorgate or right in the heart of South Green.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
A few seconds is all these take — so check them before you tip anything, on a driveway in Yaxham or a forecourt around South Green.
- Position misleads; the cap does not. AdBlue caps tend to be blue or bear the name "AdBlue" — diesel caps usually do not.
- On plenty of motors, size tells: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Plenty of motors say there which fuel goes where.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that is where your filler is if it is not by your diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- The previous driver will know. Check as you collect a hire car or fleet car — at Wymondham's car park, say — not once the warning appears.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever in Norfolk that is.
- Turn off once parked — flat ground, motor stopped, and never in a rush beside Tavern Lane at the roadside.
- Find the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and speak the word "AdBlue" aloud as you unscrew it. It seems silly. It works.
- The diesel cap remains on. When both sit under a flap, make sure it is shut before the bottle comes up.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check a second time. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
Discover during the second or third step that the bottle went into the wrong tank? That's where you stop. Stage five is out.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, around South Green?
Short list, then. First: the engine stays off. Do not switch your ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Filling up with diesel will not dilute it: rather than mixing, AdBlue sinks to the bottom of your tank, just where fuel is drawn from.
If you are at a forecourt, whether it's the BP or the Tesco, ask the staff to help push your car clear of the petrol pump. Your own drive in South Green is where it should stay.
Already run? Pull over when it's safe, then turn off. The next exit means the place to leave if you are on the M11, under 50 miles from South Green. A short hop across South Green is a smaller job than a run towards Norwich, under 15 miles away, so tell us roughly how far it went.
When we arrive in South Green, what takes place?
By Grove House Infant and Nursery School, near Lord Admiral Nelson or on your own drive: wherever the vehicle has stopped, we come to it. Our technicians ask what went in, about how much, and whether it's run, since the answers settle this work and our price. Nobody sets off before you have heard our quote over the phone.
Your system is then rinsed thoroughly, once your tank is cleared. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it doesn't wash out on its own — which is why the flush matters more with AdBlue than with petrol. Testing is last: before that, clean diesel is added, and your filter is flushed or changed as needed. Before we leave, our technicians fire it up and confirm that it's running smoothly.
If the engine has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there, using pumps that are fine on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night. The insurer will ask for the engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and you get both at the end. Payment comes on the day, with no deposit. Misfuelling cover is part of plenty of insurance policies — so make use of the wait to look at yours.
About South Green itself
South Green is a suburban area situated on the riverside in Norfolk, with an elevation of around 52 metres. South Green lies near the city of Norwich, approximately 14.9 miles away, and is also close to nearby places such as Moorgate, Dumpling Green, and Dereham. South Green has a population of around 3352 people and predominantly consists of semi-detached housing. South Green is located in the Eastern region of England, about 92.5 miles from London.
AdBlue drains around South Green and across Norfolk
As a residential suburb, South Green shares its vans surrounding places — Dumpling Green, Dereham — all the way across NR postcodes and the wider area beyond. A postcode starting NR19 1 gets our van to you fastest.
There's no need to shift the car. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Moorgate Recreation Ground, a side street close to Dereham Leisure Centre: our technicians drain the vehicle where it sits. Guessing won't help behind Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart and Saint Margaret Mary, close to a border, or anywhere hard to describe; phone and ask.
In short, for South Green people
Pour nothing till you've read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank regardless, leave the car off then phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it waits, anywhere around Norfolk.