AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Wordwell: Why It Happens and How to Stop It
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? In that case set this page down for now, keep your ignition and motor off, then phone 0333 366 0103. Around Wordwell, catching it before your engine turns normally means a drain and a thorough flush where it stands. The rest of this page covers why it happens and how to ensure it doesn't — useful if you are reading before it has happened.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel motor
Many modern diesels on the roads round Wordwell and Flempton carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the engine. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into your exhaust gas to clean it.
Each tank has its own filler. Under one flap, side by side: that is the arrangement on many cars. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler sits under the bonnet or in your boot instead. At the petrol pump, your diesel side is topped up constantly. Much less commonly, the AdBlue side is topped up — normally from a bottle, by a person thinking about where it goes. The mistake grows in that gap between them.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Wordwell: how it takes place
Rarely is it carelessness: usually three things line up.
Haste comes from the warning. The vehicle tells you as AdBlue runs low, and a dry tank puts it into limp mode — so the top-up gets done in a rush, before work on a drive off B1106, or on the way home in the car park outside the pub in the village.
Unfamiliar motors come next, as well. Hire cars, new motors and company vehicles put their fillers differently, and the hand reaches for the cap 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, and so nothing stops the pour after it has started. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Wordwell or out in Brockley Corner.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Whether a Wordwell forecourt or a drive over in Ingham, spend a few seconds on these before any goes in.
- Read the cap rather than going by position: AdBlue ones are regularly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps normally aren't.
- Many vehicles fit AdBlue the smaller neck of the two.
- Look inside your fuel flap: plenty of vehicles have a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- The handbook says where it lives when the filler isn't next to the diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- The person who drove the vehicle last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park outside Bury St Edmunds, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
When the light comes on, anywhere across Suffolk, use this routine.
- Pull in somewhere level, engine off, with time in hand — not hurried on the side of Ingham Road.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once you find the AdBlue filler and read it. Daft, yes, but it does the trick.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave it on.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Only then, start the vehicle: close the cap, check a second time, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened.
Discover during the second or third stage that the bottle went into the diesel filler? That's where you stop. Never carry on to stage five.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, in Wordwell?
What follows is a short order of things, beginning with no starting your motor. The fuel pump runs on plenty of diesels as soon as the ignition goes on — and so leave it off. Don't top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where the fuel is sucked from.
The attendants at Esso, Shell or another forecourt will usually lend a hand to push your car away when asked. Leave it where it is if you are on your own drive around Wordwell.
Already run? Pull over when it is safe, then switch off. Wordwell sits under 50 miles from the M11; there, use the first exit. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Ely, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Wordwell.
When we get there around Wordwell, what occurs?
Anywhere your car came to rest, be it by Howard Community Academy, near All Saints or on your own drive, our van travels to it. The replies settle this work and the quote, and so our engineers ask what got in, about how much, and whether it's run. During the phone call itself, you are told the price — ahead of anything else.
Draining your tank comes next, then a full flush of your system. Much more than with petrol, it counts here: the crystals form, some metals are attacked, and none of it clears away on its own, however long it is left. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and your car is tested. We do not go until it has been fired up and is running properly.
If the motor 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 after dark. Your insurer usually wants the engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and you get both once this job is done. Payment is on the day, with no deposit. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Wordwell itself
Wordwell is a small hamlet in Suffolk, situated inland at an elevation of 31 metres, and is located near the villages of Brockley Corner, West Stow, and Culford. Wordwell has a population of around 559 people, and its housing stock is predominantly made up of detached homes. Wordwell is positioned approximately 18.6 miles from the city of Ely and around 65.6 miles from London.
AdBlue drains in Wordwell and across Suffolk
West Stow and Culford are among the places near Wordwell, a rural hamlet, that the same vans cover, over IP postcodes. Quickest of all: give a IP28 6 postcode for our van.
The vehicle remains put. Our technicians drain it where it is — a side street near West Stow Village Sign, a lay-by on the way to North Wood, a driveway. Ring and ask instead of assuming if you are close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of Culford Hall.
The short version for Wordwell motorists
First, the cap; then, the pour. Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, anywhere in Suffolk, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank anyway — so leave the car off then call 0333 366 0103.