Adblue in diesel tank. To start or not to start?

I’m a dickhead.

90l diesel tank, 3/4 full of Shell V-power (thought I’d treat the engine).

Stuck the Adblue nozzle in and pulled it only to realise I had it in the diesel tank. According to the display 0.12l of Adblue went in.

Mechanic here in Italy says fill the diesel tank and carry on.

Everywhere online says drain and clean the diesel tank.

What to do?

Engine is a 2021 2.3l Fiat Multijet with 28,000km on it.

Fill it with diesel and drive on.

120ml of adblue , I would crack on and drive it.

It does separate though and I believe it’s denser than deisel so it sinks to the bottom.

If you’re really worried you could disconnect a fuel line upstream of the filter and spray a few litres into a fuel can .

This should be low pressure so it’s not going to cut through the can.

Engine is a 2021 2.3l Fiat Multijet with 28,000km on it.

Drive on, it’s near the end of its life anyway 🙂

Drive 13 circles anticlockwise then 13 circles clockwise.

All will be good

Tank of diesel = € plus a bit of hassle

New engine = €€€ plus a tad more hassle

Do you feel lucky?

Maybe a local farmer will buy the contaminated fuel off you for their tractor and lessen the pain!

It does separate though and I believe it’s denser than deisel so it sinks to the bottom.

Not if you drive like a **** and keep it shaken up.

Mechanic here in Italy says fill the diesel tank and carry on.

I say mechanic…. The pump attendant.

My old mechanic in Germany said to drop the tank, have it cleaned and replace the filters.

Stupid me. Been onto the German AA equivalent and they’re going to get back in touch.

The 60% water will be the issue and most iterations of that 2.3 engine builds have a fuel filter with a water separator ( usually identifiable with a plug coming off the bottom for the water sensor)

120ml in  full tank

If the Water seperator fills up (which it wont with 70ml of water)- itll turn on the water in fuel light and you drain the fuel filter from the tap on the bottom.

@trail_rat

Can you explain what that means for me as if I’m five years old.

It’s no worse than water in diesel which is a common problem due to condensation in the tank. I don’t know about your vehicle but there might be a purge valve on the filter or somewhere. You can buy a water dispersant to pour in the diesel – any marine engine suppliers local ? 😉

If I’m being really pesimistic then 1/ the adblu will get through in high enough amounts to stop the engine. 2/ the high pressure pump won’t like it, though I doubt it’s as bad as petrol because petrol will wash the lubricating diesel off surfaces but water/adblu won’t.

First Google result gets me:

https://bardahl.fr/fr-fr/nos-produits/automobile/additifs/moteur-diesel/dispersant-d-eau-essence-diesel

your engine model often has ways of coping with water in diesel – thats about all you need to know – itll show a light if your water separator is filled up in which case you drain at the fuel filter till clean diesel comes out.

The water content of Adblue isn’t the big issue, the highly corrosive nature of it is.

A hundred ml is likely to get caught by the fuel filter, but it may eradicate the lift pump before it all gets caught.

The water content of Adblue isn’t the big issue, the highly corrosive nature of it is.

That’s what Total Energy say, mc. It’s a question of how seriously to take all these warnings. There’s always “could”, “may”, “there’s a risk” in their warnings and never will.

The advice so far I disagree with is “fill the tank”, the last thing you want is the stuff being around for longer than necessary and more diesel to empty if you have to – water and diesel won’t mix so adding more diesel won’t dilute it. If you do take the decision to drive on and keep purging the filter and/or add a dispersant then it be through the system in less time and distance if there’s less in the tank.

I’d phone my insurance company who are also my rescue insurance and take it from there.

Is it corrosive in the absence of oxygen though?

Can you explain what that means for me as if I’m five years old.

The fuel filter will look something like this:

http://www.dieselsite.com/productimages/descpics/ff60.jpg

Fuel/water gets pumped through into the outside, through the filter and onto the pump/injectors/engine.  Water collects in the bowl part because it’s heavy, and once it reaches a level it triggers a warning, you go out and open the tap and drain the water out.

For clarity this one is a glass bowl so you can see the water, sometimes it just looks like the oil filter cartriges.

The advice so far I disagree with is “fill the tank”, the last thing you want is the stuff being around for longer than necessary and more diesel to empty if you have to – water and diesel won’t mix so adding more diesel won’t dilute it. If you do take the decision to drive on and keep purging the filter and/or add a dispersant then it be through the system in less time and distance if there’s less in the tank.

TBH I’d be surprised if that little water in a big tank + I’d guess urea will act as a surfactant + the detergents in diesel, if it didn’t just disperse into the fuel and pass through the engine without an issue anyway.

It was nothing like that on my Ducato, thisisnotaspoon, that looks like an after-market accessory. IIRC the purge on mine looked like a brake bleed valve on the top of the filter. That was on a very old model Ducato but I’d like to bet new ones are similar.

Probably not this one but something like it:

https://www.oscaro.com/filtre-a-carburant-ufi-filters-spa-24-one-0b-6201549-9-p#

With the registration number of the vehicle on a german parts site Alpin should get a picture of the exact reference.

Edit: you’ll have to turn on the ignition to start the fuel pump. Could be messy 😉

Someone at work put what I assume was a 10l can of adblue into a lorry diesel tank. I think they are 80 or 100l tanks, small for a lorry, but similar to a car.

It got recovered without starting to the garage. Garage warned not to start it. So they started it to drive 20 metres into the workshop.  It broke down immediately and caused them a lot of problems.  Not sure what got replaced but it is very corrosive so if it separates to the bottom of the tank there is a chance your fuel pick up will pick up a high ratio of adblue.  120ml, give or take about the same amount again due too being such a small sample for the pump to measure. Probably be fine but how will you know until it splutters and leaves adblue in your fuel pump/injectors…

PS Most cars prime the fuel system as soon as you unlock the car, so i wouldn’t leave it sitting for ages if you’ve locked and unlocked it since.

IIRC the purge on mine looked like a brake bleed valve on the top of the filter.

On modern ducatos from the last 2 decades if equipped it’ll look like the below with a black or white knob on the bottom. Water comes out the bottom when you open it.

Thanks for the responses, guys….

Took the “sensible” option. Given the van isn’t just a campervan, but also our home I figured we should play it safe rather than risk being stranded in the middle of nowhere up a mountain or have it suddenly klonk out on the motorway.

It’s not been started so hopefully we’ve avoided any trouble beyond the tank and filter.

Been dropped off in the middle of Florence, but strangely couldn’t find the workshop the ADAC/Italian AA allocated us. So tomorrow starts with me trying to find where the workshop is whilst the GF goes to have a business lunch at some fancy place on the banks of the river Arno over looking Ponte Vecchio…… Although I kinda deserve it.

I think you’ve made the right choice Alpin, I’d have done the same. The last case I heard about ended up costing about £6k to fix on a new Renault Master, they ended up replacing most of the fuel system.

So the saga continues in typical Italian style…..

The reason we couldn’t find the workshop last night is because it’s been closed for years. Why it’s still registered in the system of the Italian Automobile Club I don’t know….

Been in touch with the ADAC and they’re sending another truck to pick me up and take me to a Fiat or other partner workshop.

@chrispoffer cheers.

At spoke to another mechanic on the road where we are and they said the same…. Don’t move, don’t start it otherwise it could be very expensive.

thisisnotaspoonFree Member
Is it corrosive in the absence of oxygen though?

Just on this point, there will be oxygen present in the fuel by virtue of the biodiesel present.

ref water in diesel and UREA

The legal limit for water in diesel is 200mg/kg, or 0.02%.  – 90L @ .12L contamination will be 120mg/kg / 90L (76kgs)= 1.5mg/kg  – Diesel will have water in it – typically between 50-150mg (though some is shit), but by and large you will likely be well under those limits so the additional 1.5mg/kg is negligible.   Informal guideline is anything below 5% (50’000mg/kg) and you are likely to be fine, but there are a lot other factors.  UREA forms crystals when the solution “dry’s” or it it gets cold and these drop out – but you’re in Italy so that won’t happen.  De-ionised water  (part of Adblue) is corrosive to fuel common rail components -but at those levels it’s neither here nor there.

Normally with stuff like this I’d be “meh it’ll be reet” but in this case it’s effectively your full time home so I would do a full drain and refill / take it to a garage as you are doing.

You would be better getting a mobile fuel drain van come to you and will get it sorted quickly?

I’m impressed you can buy Adblue at the pump!

I’m impressed you can buy Adblue at the pump!

Not uncommon, quite a few fuel stations on major arterial routes have one (or two) usually at the truck side though.

quite a few fuel stations on major arterial routes have one (or two) usually at the truck side though.

Yup… Exactly this.

Went to this particular station extra because they had a pump.

Ducato had a (supposedly) 19 litre Adblue tank. Annoyed me that I could only get one full 10l canister in there and didn’t want a half full canister sloshing around in the back.

The irony is, at the pump I was only able to get 11 litres into the tank and if I had used a canister then I’m 100% sure I wouldn’t have made this mistake!

Not uncommon, quite a few fuel stations on major arterial routes have one (or two) usually at the truck side though

Is that true for the UK too? I’ve filled mine from the little bottle things and it usually vomits as much as it ingests… Cue suspicious white stains all down the car and not much Adblue added… I’ve started to get them to fill it at service but that’s reeaaaaly expensive.

@boblo – Make a hole in the container on the opposite end to the nozzle while you are pouring. That way the air can get in and no vomit or mess. Obviously works better if you use the whole bottle and don’t plan to store the rest of the container in your boot 😉

Is that true for the UK too?

I’ve seen them, but not needed to use one in the uk, ever.

I’ve filled mine from the little bottle things and it usually vomits as much as it ingests…

Hold the bottle sideways so the air can get into the bottle, or stab a hole in the bottom of the container to let the air in. Unfortunately, many of the filler pipes on adblue tanks are quite convoluted, so i can’t help you with that. My last 2 V60s have just glugged it all up (when i put the bottle sideways!)

(Shouldn’t write posts and then go hang the washing up before posting should i!)

I’m not allowed anything sharp. Y’know, since the incident… 🤪

Thanks for the tip. And if I fill up from the pump, do I need to stab that as well?

Sorry for the hijack @alpin. If it’s any consolation,  I spent 10mins trying to get unleady in my diesel and being confused as to why the pipe wouldn’t (thankfully) fit. I’m not normally such a twit.

Is that true for the UK too?

There’s one at our local Shell in town, very convenient

There’s one at our local Shell in town

Ooo, where do you live. Hope its reasonably close… 🙃

We have at pump AdBlue at all the filling points at our local BP

All I will add is that I add Wynn’s Crystal Protect to my AdBlue.

I have never been worried about sticking it in the wrong hole, but I am now.

I’m not even in the UK but still had this bookmarked from the last time I was in the island(s). Think someone off here posted the link.

https://www.yara.co.uk/chemical-and-environmental-solutions/adblue-for-vehicles/adblue-for-commercial-vehicles/where-can-i-buy-adblue/

There’s loads of AdBlue pumps on forecourts in the UK – just not at supermarkets. The first time I needed to refill my tank back in 2019 I used one of those plastic tubs, like above managed to get it all over the car and my shoes. And didn’t actually fill the tank cos the container was less than the 15l the tank held. Managed to find three service stations within 10 miles of me that have pumps on their forecourts so have never used anything else since. Admittedly I now have a leccy car but my better half still has a dirty diesel that needs AdBlue. Much cleaner and at least you know it’s been filled.

On our cars the AdBlue filler is just next to the diesel one so it’s easy to get right. I think on some vans it’s at the other side (certainly Renault Masters) so easier to get wrong if you’re on autopilot.