West Bergholt: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Prevent It?

AdBlue in a diesel car: two tanks, two fillers

Diesel goes to your motor — yet many current diesels driven around West Bergholt and Horkesley Heath hold another liquid as well. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to clean it, and it lives in a tank of its own.

Each tank has one filler of its own. Other vehicles keep the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; plenty more have both together under one flap. The diesel side is topped up at the pump all the time. The AdBlue side is filled far less frequently, normally from a bottle, and normally by someone who has to stop and think where it goes. The slip lives in that gap.

How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one

Before you tip anything, whether on a driveway in Great Horkesley or a forecourt in West Bergholt, check these. They take a few seconds.

• Where it sits can mislead; the cap doesn't. AdBlue caps tend to be blue or bear the name "AdBlue" — diesel ones usually don't.
• The size. On many motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
• A label inside your fuel flap often shows which fuel goes where, on many cars. Check for it.
• The handbook shows which it lives when the filler is not next to the diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
• Whoever had it before knows. Check when you pick up a hire car or company car — at Colchester's car park, perhaps — rather than when the warning comes on.

What happens when our engineers turn up in West Bergholt

We come to the car wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside Heathlands Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, West Bergholt, near St Mary the Virgin, West Bergholt or on your own driveway. The answers determine this work and the price, and so our engineers ask what went in, about how much, and whether it's run. The quote is given on the call, before any van leaves.

Then your tank is drained and your system rinsed thoroughly. More than with petrol, it counts here: crystals build up, some metals corrode, and none of that clears out on its own, however long it is left. Filter cleaned or, if needed, swapped; clean diesel in; and then a test of the car. Next we start the engine and confirm it runs smoothly before leaving.

If your engine has not run, the majority of 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 at night. Nothing upfront; you settle up on the day. At the end, the VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for your insurer. While we travel, take a look at your policy; many carry cover for misfuelling.