AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Troy Town: Why It Occurs and How to Prevent It
Pause reading for a moment when your diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, then call 0333 366 0103. Caught before the engine runs, it's usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is around Troy Town. The remainder of this page explains why it takes place and how to ensure it does not — useful if you're reading before it has happened.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
Diesel feeds your engine — but plenty of modern diesels seen about Troy Town and Chatham hold another liquid too. AdBlue goes to your exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Separate tanks, different fillers. Some vehicles keep the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; a lot more have the two together behind one flap. Filling the diesel side at the pump happens all the time. A driver who has to stop and work out where it goes usually fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less frequently. The mistake lives in that gap.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Troy Town: how it happens
It is hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low your car tells you, and if it runs out completely, the vehicle goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a driveway off Hoopers Road before work, or in the car park outside Granville Arms on the way home.
Unfamiliar cars come next, too. Rentals, new cars and company cars put their fillers in new places, and the hand goes for the cap it used on the old one.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, so nothing stops the pour after it has started. Whether it occurs in Rochester or the middle of Troy Town, it's the same few seconds.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
A few seconds is all the checks take — so run through them before you pour anything, on a drive in Frindsbury or a forecourt around Troy Town.
- Read the cap rather than going by position: AdBlue caps are commonly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps usually aren't.
- On plenty of cars, the size tells: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- A label inside the fuel flap often says which fuel goes where, on plenty of vehicles. Look for it.
- The handbook. If the filler is not by the diesel cap, it's in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Whoever had it before knows. Ask when you pick up a rental or fleet car — from Rochester's car park, say — rather than when the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
For the day the warning comes on — wherever you are across Kent — a simple routine to use.
- Not in a rush on the side of King Street, not on a slope, not with your motor running: park and switch off properly.
- Silly as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew the cap does the trick — once you have located your filler and read it.
- Leave the diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Gently does it, through the bottle's own spout, until it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Before you start the vehicle, close the cap and check again that the diesel cap was never opened off.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Stage five stays out.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, in Troy Town?
Don't start your engine: that's how the short order of things begins. Don't switch your ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Do not top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where your fuel is sucked from.
The attendants at Morrisons, Texaco or any forecourt will usually lend a hand pushing your car clear when asked. Leave it where it is if you're on your own driveway around Troy Town.
Where your motor has been run by now, stop somewhere safe and turn it off. The next exit means the place to come off if you're on the M2, under 3 miles from Troy Town. About how far did it go? Crossing Troy Town is less a job than a run of under 15 miles to Southend-on-Sea, so tell us.
Our arrival around Troy Town, and what happens next
Outside St Margaret's at Troy Town CofE Voluntary Controlled Primary School, near St Margaret's or on your own driveway: wherever your car has stopped, we come to it. Those answers settle the work and the quote, so our technicians ask what was put in, roughly how much, and whether it's run. You get that quote by phone, before anybody heads out.
Your system is then rinsed thoroughly, after the tank is cleared. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not wash out on its own — which is why the flush counts more with AdBlue than with petrol. Testing comes last: before that, fresh diesel is added, and the filter is flushed or replaced as needed. We do not leave until it has been fired up and is running properly.
Most jobs are done in roughly half an hour after our technicians arrive, as long as your engine hasn't run — and the pumps our engineers use are fine on a live forecourt yet quiet after dark beside a house. Nothing in advance; you settle up on the day. Afterwards, the VAT invoice and a report from the engineer are handed to you for your insurer. While we travel, have a look at your policy; many include cover for misfuelling.
About Troy Town itself
Troy Town is a coastal suburban area in Kent, situated near the mouth of the Medway estuary at an elevation of around 27 metres. Troy Town lies within commuting distance of London, approximately 28.5 miles to the west, and is close to the nearby cities of Southend-on-Sea and Rochester. Troy Town is predominantly composed of flat dwellings, reflecting its character as a residential area. Troy Town is also near the towns of Strood and Borstal, and is part of the larger Medway conurbation.
Troy Town and Kent: AdBlue drains across the area
Strood and Borstal are among the towns around Troy Town, a residential suburb, that the same vans cover, throughout ME postcodes. A postcode starting ME1 1 gets the van to you fastest.
The car remains put. We drain it where it is — a side street close to Restoration House, a lay-by on the way to The Vines, a drive. Ring and ask instead of assuming if you're close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to describe, like the back of The Vines Church.
The short version for Troy Town people
Always, the cap; after that, the pour. AdBlue in the diesel tank regardless? Keep the vehicle switched off then phone 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, across Kent.