AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Amersham on the Hill: Why It Happens and How to Avoid It
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? Then put this page down for now, keep the ignition and motor off, then ring 0333 366 0103. A drain plus a thorough flush, done right where the vehicle stands around Amersham on the Hill, is usually what it takes when caught before the engine runs. Not happened yet? Below, the page explains the why it takes place and the how to avoid it for good.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel motor
Plenty of newer diesels on the roads round Amersham on the Hill and Bury End carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the motor. Its own tank holds it, and from there it goes to the exhaust, and there spraying treats the fumes.
Each tank has its own filler. On a lot of cars the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. Diesel gets filled on each forecourt call-out, again and again. Rarely topped up, AdBlue usually comes from a bottle, poured by someone who has to stop and think what filler it needs. It's in the gap that the error lives.
How does AdBlue in your diesel tank take place in Amersham on the Hill?
Carelessness seldom explains it. Instead is three things lining up at once.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a message from the vehicle, and running out leads to limp mode — hence a hurried top-up, maybe before work off Woodside Close, or outside Boot and Slipper on the way home that evening.
Next, the hand reaches for the cap it knew on the old car — because a hire car, a new car or a company car places the fillers somewhere your last one didn't.
No part halts the tip after it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. Amersham or the middle of Amersham on the Hill: it takes the same few seconds either way.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
A few seconds is all the checks take — so run through them before you pour anything, on a driveway in Mantles Green or a forecourt around Amersham on the Hill.
- Read the cap rather than going by position: AdBlue caps are frequently blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps normally aren't.
- On plenty of cars, the size tells: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- Lift the filler flap and check for a label — many motors mark what belongs in which inlet just there.
- The handbook. If the filler is not by the diesel cap, it is in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The previous driver will know. Ask as you pick up a hire car or fleet car — from Amersham's car park, say — rather than once the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
For the day the light appears — anywhere it is across Buckinghamshire — a routine to use.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with the engine running, and not in a rush on the side of King George V Road.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once finding the AdBlue filler and read it. Silly, perhaps, but it does the trick.
- The diesel cap stays on. Where the two share a flap, confirm it's shut before the bottle comes up.
- Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Only after that, start your car: close the cap, check again, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened.
Stop there if you find, at stage two or three, that you have already poured into the diesel side. Don't go on to stage five.
Amersham on the Hill: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Don't start the motor: that is where the short order of things begins. The fuel pump starts on many diesels the moment the ignition goes on — and so leave it off. Diluting it with extra diesel fails, since AdBlue settles to the base rather than mixing — and that is where the fuel is pulled from.
Ask the staff to help push the car away from the pump if you're at a forecourt — the Shell, the Tesco or anywhere else. If you are on your own driveway around Amersham on the Hill, leave the car where it sits.
Already started? Stop when it's safe, then turn off. Leave the M25 — under 5 miles out of Amersham on the Hill — at the next junction. Distance matters — a quick hop across Amersham on the Hill makes a smaller job than driving under 15 miles to St Albans — so say about how far it went.
Amersham on the Hill: what occurs when our technicians turn up
Anywhere your car has stopped, whether outside Woodside Junior School, near Kaleidoscope of Butterflies or at home, the van travels to it. Both the work and the price depend on three replies — which fluid, which quantity, and whether it has run — so our technicians ask. On the call itself, you hear our quote — before dispatch.
Draining the tank comes next, followed by a full flush of the fuel system. With AdBlue that counts more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not wash out on its own. Filter flushed or, where it must be, replaced; fresh diesel in; and then a test of your car. Your engine is started next and checked to make sure it runs properly, all before our engineers head off.
If your motor hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there, using pumps that are safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Wrong-fuel cover is part of many insurance policies — and so use the wait to check yours.
About Amersham on the Hill, briefly
Amersham on the Hill is a suburban area in Buckinghamshire, situated inland at an elevation of 153 metres. Amersham on the Hill lies approximately 23.5 miles northwest of London and 12.5 miles southwest of St Albans. Amersham on the Hill is characterised by its predominantly detached housing stock and is located near the towns of Amersham and Chesham. Amersham on the Hill has a population of around 4874 residents.
AdBlue drains around Amersham on the Hill and across Buckinghamshire
As a residential suburb, Amersham on the Hill shares its vans surrounding places — Amersham Common, Chesham Bois — right across HP postcodes and the surrounding area around them. A postcode starting HP6 5 gets the van to you fastest.
The vehicle remains put. The drain takes place on the spot, whether a drive, a street near Amersham Community Centre, or a layby on the way to Elm Close Conservation Area. Guessing doesn't help at the back of Amersham Library, on a border, or anywhere hard to describe; ring and check.
For Amersham on the Hill motorists, the short version
Before you tip, read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank all the same, leave it off and ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it sits, anywhere across Buckinghamshire.