Tangier: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Prevent It?
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? In that case set this page aside for now, keep your ignition and engine off, and phone 0333 366 0103. A drain and a full flush, done right where your vehicle stands in Tangier, is usually all it takes when caught before your motor runs. Nothing happened yet? Below, the rest of the page covers the why it happens and the how to prevent it for good.
AdBlue in a diesel car: two tanks, two fillers
Plenty of modern diesels in Haines Hill, as well as Tangier, carry on two fluids; your engine takes just your diesel. Kept in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into your exhaust gas to clean it.
Each tank has a filler of its own. Some cars put the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; a lot more have both side by side behind one flap. At the petrol pump, the diesel side gets filled all the time. Much less regularly, the AdBlue side is topped up — normally from a bottle, by someone working out where it goes. That gap is where the slip lives.
Tangier: how AdBlue in the diesel tank takes place
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a warning from the car, and running out leads to limp mode — hence a hurried top-up, perhaps before work off A3807, or at The Winchester on the way home after work.
Next, your hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old motor — because a hire car, a new motor or a company car places the fillers somewhere your last one did not.
Lastly, the bottle fits: diesel filler or AdBlue one, it slides in as readily, and once the tip starts, no part stops it. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Tangier or out in Taunton.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Look at these before pouring, on a forecourt in Tangier or a drive out in Frieze Hill. A few seconds, no more.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is often blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap normally is not. Read it instead of going by where it sits.
- The size. On many cars the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- Look inside your fuel flap: plenty of vehicles have a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If the filler isn't by your diesel cap, it's in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Picking up a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park outside Taunton? Ask the person who drove the car last before you set off, not once the light goes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever around Somerset that is.
- Pull in on level, engine off, with time in hand — never hurried on the side of St Johns Road.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly and it does the trick.
- Leave the 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 car: close the cap, check once more, and make sure the diesel cap was never opened.
Find during the second or third step that AdBlue went into the diesel filler? That's where you stop. Never go on to step five.
Tangier: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
What follows is a short order of things, beginning with no starting the motor. The fuel pump runs on plenty of diesels as soon as the ignition goes on — and so leave it off. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is pulled from — so don't top up with diesel to dilute it.
The attendants at Morrisons, Sainsbury's or another forecourt will normally help pushing the car clear if you ask. Leave it where it is if you're on your own drive in Tangier.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if the motor has already run. The next exit means where to leave if you're on the M5, under 3 miles from Tangier. Mileage matters — a short hop across Tangier makes a smaller job than driving under 25 miles towards Wells — so say about how far it went.
What happens when our technicians arrive around Tangier
Outside North Town Academy, near Taunton Magistrates Court or on your own drive: wherever the vehicle has stopped, we come to it. The replies settle the work and our price, so our technicians ask what went in, about how much, and if it's run. On the phone call itself, you are told the price — ahead of dispatch.
After that: a drain, then a full flush of the whole system. Much more than with petrol, it counts here: the crystals form, some metals are attacked, and none of it washes away on its own, no matter how long it sits. A test comes at the end: before that, clean diesel is added, and your filter is cleaned or changed as needed. We do not go until it has been fired up and is running smoothly.
If your engine hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there, using pumps that are safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house after dark. Paying is on the day, not upfront, and you are given the paperwork an insurer wants: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About Tangier itself
Tangier is a suburban area in Somerset, situated on the riverside at a low elevation of around 17 metres. Tangier is located near the cities of Wells and Taunton, and is also close to the smaller areas of North Town and Wilton. Tangier has a population of approximately 4193 people, and is characterised by a predominance of flat housing. Tangier is some distance from London, at around 133 miles to the west.
AdBlue drains around Tangier, and Somerset beyond
As a residential suburb, Tangier shares its vans nearby areas — North Town, Wilton — right across TA postcodes and the wider area around them. A postcode starting TA1 4 gets our van to you fastest.
The vehicle stays where it is. Wherever it sits — near St John the Evangelist Church, in a lay-by heading to French Weir, at home — that is where it is cleared. Ring and ask instead of guessing if you're near a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of No Man's Land.
In short, for Tangier motorists
Read the cap before you pour. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank anyway, leave it off then phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it sits, anywhere in Somerset.