Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Bedhampton: Why It Occurs
Keep your motor and ignition off then call 0333 366 0103 first — the rest can wait if AdBlue is already in your diesel tank. A drain and a thorough flush, done just where the car sits in Bedhampton, is usually what it takes if caught before your motor runs. Not happened yet? Further down, the page covers the reasons it takes place and the how to prevent it altogether.
AdBlue in a diesel car: two tanks, two fillers
Not one liquid but two: that is what plenty of newer diesels near Bedhampton and Leigh Park carry, with diesel feeding your motor. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Every tank has a filler of its own. On a lot of cars the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. Topping up the diesel side at the petrol pump goes on constantly. Someone who has to stop and think where it goes normally tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less frequently. That gap is where the error lives.
Bedhampton: how AdBlue in your diesel tank happens
Rarely is it carelessness: usually three things coincide.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low your car tells you, and if it runs out completely, the vehicle goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a driveway off Michael Crook Close before work, or in the car park at The Swan on the way home.
New-to-you motors are next, too. Rentals, new motors and company vehicles place their fillers in new places, and the hand goes for the cap it used on the old one.
A spout-topped bottle finds no resistance at a diesel filler any more than at an AdBlue one. And so the tip, after begun, carries on. Havant or the heart of Bedhampton: it is the same few seconds either way.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you pour anything, whether on a driveway in Farlington or a forecourt in Bedhampton, check these. They take a few seconds.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is regularly blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap usually isn't. Read it instead of going by where it sits.
- The size. On many vehicles the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- A label inside the fuel flap often says which fuel goes where, on plenty of motors. Check for it.
- The handbook shows which it lives when your filler isn't next to the diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- Collecting a hire or company car, say at the car park at the nearest station? Ask whoever drove the vehicle last before you set off, rather than when the light goes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
Anywhere around Hampshire the light comes on, this is a routine for the day.
- Switch off after you park — flat ground, engine off, and not in a rush by Hulbert Road at the roadside.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once finding the AdBlue filler and read it. Silly, perhaps, yet it works.
- The diesel cap remains on. When the two sit under a flap, make sure it's shut before the bottle comes up.
- Slowly is best, through the bottle's own spout, until it's full or the bottle runs out.
- Before you start the vehicle, close the cap and check again that your diesel cap never opened off.
Find at the second or third step that AdBlue went into the diesel filler? That is where you stop. Never carry on to step five.
Bedhampton: already put AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Brief list, then. Top of it: your engine remains unstarted. The fuel pump starts on plenty of diesels the moment the ignition goes on — so leave it off. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is sucked from — so don't top up with diesel to dilute it.
The attendants at BP, Asda or another forecourt will normally lend a hand pushing the car clear if asked. Leave it where it is if you're on your own drive around Bedhampton.
If the engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. Bedhampton lies under a mile from the Waterlooville Bypass; on it, take the next exit. Distance counts — a short hop across Bedhampton makes a smaller job than driving under 10 miles to Portsmouth — so tell us about how far it went.
When our technicians get there in Bedhampton, what occurs?
By St Thomas More's Catholic Primary School, Havant, near Bedhampton Methodist Church or on your own driveway: wherever your car has stopped, our technicians come to it. What fluid went in, the amount, and whether it ran: our engineers ask since the answers decide the work and price. During the call itself, you are told our price — ahead of anything else.
Next: a drain, then a full flush of the whole system. Much more than with petrol, it matters here: crystals form, some metals are attacked, and none of that washes away unaided, no matter how long it is left. After the fuel filter has been flushed — or renewed, where required — clean diesel goes in, and then the car is tested. Before leaving, we start it and make sure that it's running smoothly.
Most jobs are done in roughly half an hour after our engineers get there, as long as the engine has not run — and the pumps we use are safe on a busy forecourt yet quiet after dark outside a house. Nothing upfront; you settle up on the day. At the end, the VAT invoice and a report from the engineer go to you for your insurer. It's worth looking at your policy as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover comes with many policies.
About Bedhampton
Bedhampton is a suburban area in southern Hampshire, situated near the coast and approximately 5.8 miles north of Portsmouth. Bedhampton lies at an elevation of around 17 metres, and its semi-detached housing stock is typical of many similar areas in the region. Bedhampton is close to nearby places such as Havant and Stockheath, and is within commuting distance of London, which is around 58.7 miles to the north. Bedhampton has a population of around 6512 people, according to recent estimates.
Bedhampton and Hampshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Throughout PO postcodes, the teams covering Bedhampton — a residential suburb — work the nearby locations too, Brockhampton and Stockheath included. A postcode starting PO9 3 gets the van to you fastest.
No need to shift your car. A driveway, a lay-by on the way to Bidbury Mead Recreation Ground, a side street close to St Nicholas Church: we drain the car where it is. If you are near a border, or somewhere hard to explain like the back of The Parish Church of Saint Thomas, ring and ask rather than assuming.
For Bedhampton people, the short version
Read the cap before you tip. AdBlue in the diesel tank regardless? Leave it off and call 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, throughout Hampshire.