AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Alveston Down: Why It Occurs and How to Prevent It
Keep the motor and ignition off then call 0333 366 0103 now — the rest can wait if AdBlue is already in your diesel tank. Caught before the engine runs, it is normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Alveston Down. The rest of this page explains why it occurs and how to ensure it does not — handy if you are reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Diesel goes to your engine — but plenty of modern diesels seen around Alveston Down and Rudgeway carry another liquid too. AdBlue's own tank keeps it, and from there it goes to the exhaust, where spraying treats the fumes.
Each tank has its own filler. Many of vehicles have a single flap for the two, while others move the AdBlue filler to your boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is topped up at the petrol pump all the time. Rarely filled, AdBlue usually comes from a bottle, poured by a driver who has to stop and think what cap it needs. The slip lives in that gap.
How does AdBlue in the diesel tank happen in Alveston Down?
It is seldom carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a drive off Down Road before work, or in the car park at Ship Inn on the way home: that is where the rushed top-up happens. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low the car warns you, and once it is empty, limp mode follows.
Then the vehicle is new. A hire car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not, and your hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old one.
Lastly, the spout goes in: diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it goes in just as readily, and after the tip starts, no part halts it. Alveston or the heart of Alveston Down: it is the same few seconds either way.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Be it a Alveston Down forecourt or a drive out in Kington, take a few seconds on these before anything is poured in.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is regularly blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap normally isn't. Read it rather than going by where it sits.
- The size. On plenty of cars the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Many cars say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook shows which it lives when your filler is not next to the diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- Whoever had it before will know. Check as you pick up a hire car or fleet car — from Pilning's car park, perhaps — not when the warning appears.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
Anywhere across Gloucestershire the light comes on, this is a routine for the day.
- Switch off after you park — flat ground, engine off, and never rushed by Vattingstone Lane at the roadside.
- Silly as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew the cap does the trick — once you've found the filler and read it.
- Leave the diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
Discover during the second or third stage that AdBlue went in the wrong tank? That is where you stop. Don't go on to stage five.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, around Alveston Down?
Do not start the motor: that is where the short order of things begins. The fuel pump runs on plenty of diesels the moment your ignition goes on — so keep it off. Topping up with diesel will not thin it: rather than mixing, AdBlue drops to the bottom of that tank, just where fuel is taken from.
Ask the staff to help push the vehicle clear of the pump if you are at a forecourt — the Tesco, the Thornbury Motors or somewhere else. Your own drive in Alveston Down is the place it stays.
When the engine has run by now, pull over somewhere safe then turn it off. Alveston Down lies under 3 miles from the M5; there, take the next exit. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Bristol, under 10 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Alveston Down.
What occurs when our engineers get there in Alveston Down
Our van reaches the car anywhere it has come to rest — your own drive, near Charlie Froud and Ayman Booz Memorial, or by St Helen's Church of England Primary School. The replies determine this work and the quote, so our engineers ask what was put in, roughly how much, and if it's run. On the call itself, you hear our price — ahead of anything else.
Emptying your tank comes next, then a thorough flush of the system. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own — which is why that matters more with AdBlue than with petrol. The filter flushed or, if it must be, swapped; fresh diesel in; then a check of the car. Next our technicians fire it up and check it runs correctly before leaving.
Most jobs are finished in roughly half an hour after we arrive, provided your engine hasn't run — and the pumps we use are safe on a busy forecourt and quiet after dark outside a house. Paying is on the day, not upfront, and you are given the documents your insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. It's worth checking your insurance while we travel to you: misfuelling cover is included with plenty of policies.
About Alveston Down itself
Alveston Down is a suburban area located near the coast in Gloucestershire, with a mix of detached housing and rural scenery. Alveston Down sits at an elevation of 96 metres, overlooking the surrounding countryside and the Severn Estuary. Alveston Down is close to the nearby settlements of Alveston, Lower Hazel, and Old Down, and is within commuting distance of Bristol, which is approximately 10 miles away.
AdBlue drains around Alveston Down, and Gloucestershire beyond
Lower Hazel and Old Down are among the towns near Alveston Down, a residential suburb, that the same vans cover, over BS postcodes. Give a postcode that starts BS35 3, and our van arrives quickest.
Your car remains put. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Thornbury Cricket Club, a side street near Alveston Methodist Church: we drain the car where it stands. Ring and ask rather than assuming if you're near a boundary, or somewhere hard to describe, like the back of St Helen's Church.
Alveston Down motorists: the short version
Read the cap before you pour. Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, anywhere in Gloucestershire, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank all the same — and so leave the car off and call 0333 366 0103.