AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in St Columb Minor: Why It Occurs and How to Stop It
Keep the motor and ignition off and ring 0333 366 0103 first — reading can wait when AdBlue is already in your diesel tank. Caught before the motor runs, it's generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is in St Columb Minor. Not happened yet? Below, the rest of the page covers the why it occurs and the ways to avoid it altogether.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
No single liquid but two: that's what plenty of modern diesels near St Columb Minor and Quintrell Downs run, with diesel for your motor. Its own tank keeps it, and from there it goes to your exhaust, and there a spray cleans the fumes.
Separate tanks, different fillers. Other motors put the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; a lot more place the two side by side under one flap. Diesel goes in on each filling station call-out, week in, week out. Seldom filled, AdBlue normally goes in out of a bottle, poured by someone who has to stop and think which filler to use. That gap is where the slip lives.
AdBlue in your diesel tank around St Columb Minor: how it happens
Carelessness rarely causes it. Instead is three things coming up at once.
Haste follows from the warning. The vehicle warns you as AdBlue runs low, and a dry tank puts it into limp mode — so the top-up gets done in a rush, before work on a drive off Church Street, or on the way home in the car park outside Farmer's Arms.
Then, the hand goes for the cap it would have used on the old vehicle — since a rental car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers where your last one didn't.
A spout-topped bottle finds no resistance at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. And so the pour, once started, keeps on. Whether it happens in Porth or the middle of St Columb Minor, it's the same few seconds.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Look at these before pouring, on a forecourt around St Columb Minor or a driveway out in Trencreek. A few seconds, that's all.
- Colour and marking: an AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap normally doesn't. Trust the cap, not its position.
- The size. On many motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- A label inside your fuel flap frequently shows which fuel goes where, on plenty of motors. Look for it.
- The handbook. If your filler isn't by the diesel cap, it is in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The person who drove it last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park at Quintrell Downs, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
For the day the light comes on — wherever it is in Cornwall — a routine to follow.
- Turn off after you park — flat ground, engine off, and never in a rush beside Mountbatten Close at the roadside.
- Find the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and speak the word "AdBlue" out loud as unscrewing it. It sounds daft. It does the trick.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Gently is best, through the bottle's own spout, till it is full or the bottle runs out.
- Only then, start the vehicle: close the cap, check once more, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Never go on to step five.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank in St Columb Minor?
Do not start your engine: that is where the short order of things begins. Don't 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 pulled from — so don't top up with diesel to dilute it.
The attendants at Shell, Morrisons or another forecourt will normally lend a hand to push your car clear if you ask. Your own drive in St Columb Minor is where it stays.
If your engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. St Columb Minor sits over 50 miles from the M5; on it, take the next exit. Roughly how far did it go? Crossing St Columb Minor is less a job than a trip of under 15 miles to Truro, so say.
Our arrival around St Columb Minor, and what takes place next
Our technicians come to the car wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside St Columb Minor Academy, close to St Columba or on your own drive. Our engineers ask what was put in, roughly how much, and if it has run, since the replies decide this work and the quote. On the call itself, you are told our quote — ahead of dispatch.
Then your tank is drained and the system purged thoroughly. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own — which is why the flush matters more here than with petrol. Your filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. The motor is fired up next and checked to make sure it runs properly, all before we leave.
Unstarted vehicles mostly mean a half-hour visit after arrival. The kit is safe on a busy filling station, and hushed enough for a driveway late at night. Your insurer usually wants an engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and you get both at the end. Payment comes on the day, with no deposit. Before we get there, take a look at your policy; many carry cover for misfuelling.
About St Columb Minor and where it is
St Columb Minor is a suburban area in Cornwall, situated near the coast and approximately 10 miles from the city of Truro. St Columb Minor has a population of around 2904 people and is characterised by semi-detached housing. St Columb Minor is close to nearby places such as Porth, Whipsiderry, and Lane, and is located at an elevation of 55 metres above sea level. St Columb Minor is also relatively distant from London, at a distance of 226.7 miles.
AdBlue drains across Cornwall, St Columb Minor included
St Columb Minor is a residential suburb, and the teams that cover it also work the places around it, Whipsiderry and Lane among them, across the TR postcode area. Quickest of all: quote a TR7 3 postcode for our van.
No need to move the vehicle. Draining happens on the spot, whether a driveway, a road by Treviglas Sports Hub, or a layby towards The Barrowfields. Assuming doesn't help at the back of Newquay Sports and Community Centre, close to a border, or somewhere hard to pin down; ring and check.
St Columb Minor people: the short version
Read the cap before you tip. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank all the same, leave the vehicle off and ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, anywhere across Cornwall.