How It Happens and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Aldersbrook
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? In that case put this page down for now, leave the ignition and engine off, then call 0333 366 0103. In Aldersbrook, finding it before your motor runs usually means draining and a thorough flush where it stands. If you're reading before it has happened, the rest of this page is about why it takes place and how to make sure it doesn't.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
Many newer diesels in Forest Gate, as well as Aldersbrook, run on two fluids; the engine gets just the diesel. Kept in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into the exhaust gas and cleans it.
Separate tanks, separate fillers. On a lot of vehicles the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. Filling the diesel side at the petrol pump happens all the time. The AdBlue side is filled far less frequently, normally from a bottle, and normally by a person who has to stop and think where it goes. That gap is where the error lives.
Aldersbrook: how AdBlue in your diesel tank happens
Rarely is it carelessness: usually three things coincide.
On a driveway off Lake House Road before work, or in the car park at The Rookwood Village heading home: that is where the rushed top-up takes place. Why the rush? As AdBlue runs low the car warns you, and if it is gone, limp mode kicks in.
New-to-you vehicles are next, too. Rentals, new cars and company vehicles put their fillers differently, and the hand goes for the cap used on the old one.
A spouted bottle finds no obstacle at a diesel filler any more than at an AdBlue one. And so the tip, once begun, keeps on. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Aldersbrook or out in Cann Hall.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
A few seconds is all these take — so check them before you tip anything, on a driveway in Wanstead or a forecourt around Aldersbrook.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap usually isn't. Read it instead of going by where it sits.
- On many motors, the size tells: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- Lift the filler flap and look for a label — many cars mark which belongs in which inlet just there.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that's where the filler is if it is not by your diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- Picking up a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park outside Leytonstone High Road? Check with whoever drove the car last before leaving, rather than once the light goes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
For the day the warning appears — anywhere you are around Greater London — a simple routine to use.
- Pull in somewhere level, engine off, with time to spare — not hurried on the side of Windsor Road.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after you find the AdBlue filler and read it. Daft, yes, yet it does the trick.
- Leave the diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Shut the cap, and check once more — making sure your diesel filler stayed closed the whole time. After that, start your car.
Spot at stage two or three that it's already gone into the diesel side? Then stop right there. Stage five stays out.
Aldersbrook: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Do not start the motor: that's where the short order of things starts. On many diesels your ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so do not switch the car on. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where the fuel is sucked from — so do not top up with diesel to dilute it.
The attendants at Esso, JET or another forecourt will usually help pushing the vehicle clear when asked. If you're on your own drive in Aldersbrook, leave the vehicle where it sits.
Where the motor has run already, stop somewhere safe then switch the car off. On the M11, under 3 miles from Aldersbrook, that means the next exit. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards London, under 10 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Aldersbrook.
When our engineers turn up around Aldersbrook, what takes place?
The van reaches your car anywhere it stopped — your own driveway, beside Aldersbrook Lawn Tennis Club, or outside Aldersbrook Primary School. Which liquid got in, the quantity, and if it ran: our technicians ask because the answers set the work and price. You hear that quote by phone, before anybody heads out.
Emptying the tank comes next, followed by a full flush of the fuel system. Much more than with petrol, it matters here: crystals build up, some metals are attacked, and none of it washes out on its own, however long it is left. The filter cleaned or, where needed, replaced; clean diesel in; then a test of the vehicle. Your engine is fired up next and checked to be sure it runs correctly, all before we head off.
Using pumps safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough for use outside a house at night, most jobs in which your motor has not run take about half an hour once our technicians arrive. The insurer usually wants an engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and you get both once the job is done. Payment comes on the day, with no money upfront. Before we get there, take a look at your policy; many include cover for misfuelling.
About Aldersbrook
Aldersbrook is a suburban area in east London, situated approximately 7.6 miles from central London and 6 miles from the city centre. Aldersbrook is characterised by its predominantly flat-type housing and is located near several open spaces, including Wanstead Flats. Aldersbrook sits at an elevation of around 21 metres, in a densely populated part of the capital, close to neighbouring areas such as Cann Hall and Leytonstone.
Aldersbrook and Greater London: AdBlue drains across the area
Aldersbrook is a residential suburb, and the vans that cover it also work the towns around it, Wanstead Flats and Leytonstone among them, across the E postcode area. Fastest of all: give a E11 3 postcode to our van.
The car doesn't need to move. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Wanstead Flats, a side street near Aldersbrook Hall: our engineers drain it where it sits. If you are close to a border, or somewhere hard to explain like the back of St Gabriel's Church, ring and ask rather than assuming.
For Aldersbrook motorists, the short version
Tip nothing till you have read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank anyway, leave the car off and ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel clears it where it stands, anywhere in Greater London.