How It Occurs and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Van
Stop here for a moment if the diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, and call 0333 366 0103. Caught before the motor runs, it's normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Van. The remainder of this page covers why it happens and how to make sure it does not — handy if you are reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Plenty of newer diesels on the roads round Van and Denscombe carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the motor. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Separate tanks, different fillers. Under one flap, next to each other: that's the arrangement on many vehicles. On others, AdBlue's filler is beneath the bonnet or in the boot instead. At the petrol pump, your diesel side gets filled constantly. Seldom filled, AdBlue normally comes out of a bottle, tipped by a driver who has to stop and think which filler it needs. That gap is where the error lives.
How AdBlue in the diesel tank happens around Van
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
On a driveway off Van Road before work, or in the car park outside Brew Monster heading home: that is where the rushed top-up happens. Why the rush? As AdBlue runs low the car tells you, and if it's empty, limp mode kicks in.
The old car's filler is where your hand goes — but a hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers elsewhere. That's a second factor: a strange vehicle.
Nothing halts the tip once it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. Castle Park or the heart of Van: it takes the same few seconds in both.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
A couple of seconds is all the checks take — so check them before you tip anything, on a driveway in Mornington Meadows or a forecourt around Van.
- Check the cap rather than going by position: AdBlue ones are frequently blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps normally are not.
- On plenty of motors, the size tells: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- Check inside the fuel flap: plenty of cars have a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If the filler is not by your diesel cap, it's in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Collecting a hire or company car, say at the car park at Caerphilly? Check with whoever drove the car last before leaving, rather than once the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever across Caerphilly that is.
- Not in a rush on the side of Cwrt Ty Mawr, not on a slope, not with the engine running: park and switch off first.
- 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 your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Stop once the tank fills or the bottle is empty; until then, tip slowly using the own spout.
- Shut the cap, and look again — making sure the diesel filler remained closed the whole time. Only then, start the vehicle.
Find at stage two or three that it has already gone into the diesel side? Then stop right there. Stage five is off limits.
Van: already put AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Short list, then. First: the motor stays off. Do not switch the ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Thinning it with more diesel won't work, because AdBlue sinks to the base rather than blending — and that is where the fuel is sucked from.
At a forecourt — Morrisons, Asda or any other — the staff will normally help push your car away, if you ask. At home in Van? So your car stays put.
Where the engine has been run already, pull over somewhere safe then switch it off. Leave the M4 — under 3 miles out of Van — at the next exit. Mileage counts — a short hop across Van is a smaller job than heading under 10 miles towards Cardiff — so tell us roughly how far it went.
What occurs when our technicians get there around Van
Our van comes to your car wherever it stopped — your own driveway, near Van Road United Reformed Church, or by the local primary school. Which fluid went in, the amount, and whether it ran: our engineers ask since those answers decide both work and quote. During the call itself, you are told our quote — ahead of anything else.
Emptying that tank comes next, followed by a full flush of the fuel system. More than with petrol, it counts with AdBlue: crystals build up, certain metals are attacked, and nothing clears out on its own, however long it sits. After your filter is cleaned — or replaced, if needed — clean diesel is added, and finally your vehicle gets tested. Then our engineers fire it up and check it runs correctly before we go.
Unstarted vehicles usually need a half-hour job from the moment we arrive. The kit is fine on a busy filling station, and quiet enough for a driveway after dark. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Misfuelling cover is included in plenty of insurance policies — so use the wait to look at yours.
About Van, briefly
Van is a suburban area in Caerphilly, situated near the banks of a river at an elevation of around 101 metres. Van sits close to Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, and is part of the wider urban area surrounding it. Van has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are particularly prevalent in the area. Van is located near several other local places, including Castle Park and Lansbury Park.
Van and Caerphilly: AdBlue drains across the area
Lansbury Park and Caerphilly are among the places near Van, a residential suburb, that the same teams cover, over CF postcodes. Give a postcode beginning CF83 3, and our van gets there quickest.
The vehicle does not need to shift. Wherever it sits — near Twyn Community Centre, on a lay-by heading to Coed y Maerdy, on a drive — that's where it gets emptied. If you're near a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain like the back of Caerphilly Library, ring and ask instead of assuming.
In short, for Van drivers
Always, the cap; after that, the tip. Still AdBlue in your diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel can drain it where it stands, wherever across Caerphilly: keep the vehicle off then call 0333 366 0103.