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AdBlue in your diesel tank? The fillers sit inches apart. It happens.
The smart move is to call a misfuel engineer at FuelFixer before the urea starts to crystallise.
Call now0333 366 1243Answered 24 hours · engineer to you in about 46 minutes · cars, vans, HGVs and plant
fuelFIXER
We are The Misfuel Engineers.
Right now, do these three things
1Do not turn the keyNot even to move the vehicle. AdBlue does not burn and does not lubricate. The moment the pump pulls it through, it is travelling towards the injectors.
2Leave the cap off nothing and note the amountIf you know roughly how much went in, remember it. If the engine did run, note for how long. Both change how the engineer plans the drain.
3Call The Misfuel EngineersFree advice on the phone, a firm price before we set off, and an engineer to you in about 46 minutes.
Why AdBlue is its own kind of problem
AdBlue is not a fuel. It is roughly a third urea and two thirds deionised water, designed to be dosed into the exhaust, never into the tank. In a diesel fuel system it behaves nothing like a misfuel of petrol.
- It does not burn and does not lubricate. A diesel high-pressure pump is lubricated by the fuel passing through it. AdBlue offers neither combustion nor protection.
- It crystallises as it dries. Once the water content evaporates the urea forms hard deposits in the tank, lines, filter, pump and injectors. Crystallised urea is far harder to remove than liquid.
- It is corrosive to the wrong metals. Urea solution attacks aluminium, copper and some steels used in fuel systems. Time in contact is the variable you can still control.
- Diesel in the AdBlue tank is the same call. That contaminates the SCR dosing system instead. Do not start it, and tell us which way round it went.
The questions everyone asks
I have put AdBlue in my diesel tank, what should I do?
Do not start the engine and do not turn the key. AdBlue is a urea solution, not a fuel, and it is corrosive to the metals in a diesel fuel system. Call Fuel Fixer on 0333 366 1243. A mobile engineer drains the tank, flushes the lines and filter, and refills with clean diesel, usually at the roadside.
Is AdBlue in a diesel tank worse than petrol in a diesel?
It is a different and often more serious problem. Petrol thins the lubrication a diesel pump relies on. AdBlue does not lubricate or burn at all, and as the water content evaporates the urea crystallises inside the tank, lines, pump and injectors. Crystallised urea is very difficult to remove once it has formed, which is why speed matters more here than with almost any other misfuel.
Why is it so easy to put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
On a great many cars and vans the AdBlue filler sits directly beside the diesel filler under the same flap, sometimes only inches apart and often with a similar cap. It is one of the most common misfuels we attend and it happens to careful drivers, including professional ones.
I put diesel in the AdBlue tank instead. Is that a problem?
Yes, and it needs the same urgency. Diesel in the AdBlue tank contaminates the SCR dosing system, and running the vehicle will push diesel through the dosing module towards the injector and the catalyst. Do not start it. We drain and flush the AdBlue tank as a separate job.
How much AdBlue in a diesel tank is too much?
Any amount is a problem. AdBlue and diesel do not mix, so even a small quantity sits in the system and begins to crystallise as it dries. There is no safe amount to dilute and drive on, and topping up with diesel does not remove it.
Do you come to lorries, vans and fleets?
Yes. AdBlue misfuels are common on HGVs, vans, coaches, agricultural machinery and fleet vehicles. We attend the roadside, a yard, a depot or a forecourt anywhere in the UK, and a VAT invoice and engineer report are provided for fleet and insurance records.
Everything else, we will tell you on the phone.
That is what the free consultation is for. No forms, no waiting, no obligation.
Call now0333 366 1243