AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in St Stephens: How It Happens and How to Stop It
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? Then set this page aside a moment, keep the ignition and engine off, then ring 0333 366 0103. A drain plus a full flush, done right where your car stands in St Stephens, is usually all it takes if found before your motor runs. Here in advance? Then what follows covers how it comes about and how to stop it ever happening.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel car
Plenty of newer diesels around Launceston, like those in St Stephens, carry on two fluids; the motor gets only your diesel. AdBlue's own tank keeps it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, where a spray treats the gas.
There is a filler on each tank. On a lot of cars the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. At the pump, the diesel side is topped up constantly. Much less frequently, the AdBlue side is filled — normally from a bottle, by someone working out where it goes. Mistakes happen in that gap between them.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in St Stephens: how it happens
It is hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a drive off Roydon Road before work, or in the car park at White Horse Inn heading home: that's where the hurried top-up happens. Why the rush? As AdBlue gets low the vehicle tells you, and if it's empty, limp mode kicks in.
The old car's cap is where your hand goes — but a hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers elsewhere. That is a second factor: an unfamiliar car.
Lastly, the bottle goes in: diesel filler or AdBlue one, it goes in just as easily, and once the tip begins, nothing halts it. Whether it takes place in Newport or the middle of St Stephens, it's the same few seconds.
Telling the AdBlue filler from the diesel filler
A couple of seconds is all these take — so run through them before you tip anything, on a drive in Chapel or a forecourt around St Stephens.
- Position can mislead; the cap does not. AdBlue ones tend to be blue or carry the word "AdBlue" — diesel caps usually don't.
- Check the size: the smaller filler neck is, on plenty of motors, the AdBlue one.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Plenty of cars say there which fuel goes where.
- Cannot find it beside the diesel inlet? Then check below the bonnet or in your boot — the handbook will say which.
- Whoever had it before knows. Ask when you collect a hire car or company car — at Gunnislake's car park, perhaps — rather than when the warning appears.
How to top up without AdBlue in the diesel tank
The day the light goes on, wherever in Cornwall, follow this routine.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with your engine running, and not in a rush on the side of St Stephen's Hill.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and say the word "AdBlue" aloud as unscrewing it. It seems silly. It does the trick.
- The diesel cap stays on. When both share a flap, confirm it's closed before the bottle comes up.
- Finish when the tank is topped up or the bottle runs dry; before that, pour gently using the built-in spout.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start your car.
Find at step two or three that it has already gone into your diesel side? So stop right there. Never go on to stage five.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank around St Stephens?
Then the order of things is short. Do not start the motor. The fuel pump starts on plenty of diesels as soon as the ignition goes on — and so leave it off. Diluting it with extra diesel fails, because AdBlue settles to the base rather than blending — and that's where the fuel is pulled from.
If you're at a forecourt, whether it is the BP or the another forecourt nearby, ask the attendants to help push your car clear of the pump. If you're on your own driveway around St Stephens, leave the car where it is.
If your motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. Come off the M5 — under 50 miles out of St Stephens — at the first exit. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Plymouth, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across St Stephens.
Our arrival in St Stephens, and what takes place next
Wherever the car has stopped, be it by St Stephens Community Academy, near St Stephen or on your own drive, our van travels to it. The answers determine the work and the quote, so our technicians ask what went in, about how much, and whether it's run. Nobody sets off before you have heard the quote by phone.
Next: draining, then a thorough flush of the whole system. Much more than with petrol, it counts here: crystals form, some metals corrode, and none of it washes out unaided, however long it sits. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the car is tested. Before we leave, our engineers fire it up and confirm that it is running smoothly.
Using pumps safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs where your motor hasn't run need roughly half an hour once we are there. Paying happens on the day, not upfront, and you receive the paperwork an insurer asks for: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. While we travel, have a look at your policy; plenty include cover for misfuelling.
About St Stephens, for a moment
St Stephens is a suburban area in Cornwall, situated on the banks of a river and characterised by its terraced housing. St Stephens sits at an elevation of 131 metres, with nearby places including Newport, Lanstephan, and St Thomas. St Stephens is located near the city of Plymouth, which is approximately 21.6 miles away. St Stephens forms part of the wider residential area surrounding the nearby cities.
AdBlue drains across Cornwall, St Stephens included
Lanstephan and St Thomas are among the places near St Stephens, a residential suburb, that the same teams cover, over PL postcodes. Fastest of all: quote a PL15 8 postcode to the van.
Moving the car isn't needed. The drain happens on the spot, be it a drive, a street by St Stephans Community Hall, or a layby towards Launceston Golf Club. Tricky to pin down, like the back of St Thomas the Apostle? Close to a county line? Checking beats guessing, so phone.
St Stephens people: the short version
Read the cap before you pour. AdBlue in your diesel tank regardless? Leave the vehicle off then phone 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, throughout Cornwall.