GoClear, the diesel exhaust fluid made by Tauranga-headquartered Ballance Agri-Nutrients at its Kapuni urea plant, has caught at least one motorist out.
The woman added GoClear - used in the Selective Catalytic Reduction process incorporated into modern heavy duty diesel engines - to the tank of her petrol engine car, which soon came to a halt down the road.
"She had a petrol car, but she thought she'd put GoClear in," said Jimmie Ormsby, director of Waitomo Petroleum in Hamilton.
Ballance Agri-Nutrients process and chemicals manager, Dr Terry Smith, said it was the only case he had heard of, and he was puzzled at how the woman had managed to get the fluid into her petrol tank, given the difference in nozzle sizes. New diesel vehicles have a separate tank and nozzle cap for the fluid, which also uses a different, larger nozzle.
Mr Ormsby said he had put up new signage to ensure that people understood how to use the product. And even though the company did not believe it was at fault, it had agreed to cover the cost of servicing the customer's vehicle and was keen to publicise the incident to ensure it was not repeated.