Why It Occurs and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Bedwell
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? In that case set this page down a moment, leave your ignition and motor off, then ring 0333 366 0103. A drain and a thorough flush, carried out just where your car stands around Bedwell, is normally what it needs when found before the engine runs. Nothing happened yet? Below, the rest of the page explains the why it happens and the how to avoid it altogether.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel motor need its own filler?
Not one liquid but two: that's what many newer diesels around Bedwell and Chells run, with diesel for your motor. AdBlue's own tank holds it, and from there it goes to the exhaust, and there a spray cleans the gas.
Each tank has its own filler. Under one flap, side by side: that's the layout on many vehicles. On others, AdBlue's filler sits under the bonnet or in the boot instead. At the petrol pump, the diesel side is topped up constantly. Far less regularly, the AdBlue side gets topped up — mostly from a bottle, by someone working out where it goes. It's in that gap that the error happens.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Bedwell: how it occurs
Seldom is it carelessness: normally three things coincide.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a warning from your car, and letting it run out means limp mode — hence a hurried top-up, maybe before work off Exchange Road, or outside Poachers on the way home after work.
New-to-you cars come next, as well. Rentals, new vehicles and company motors put their fillers in new places, and the hand goes for the cap used on the old one.
A spout-topped bottle meets no obstacle at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. So the tip, once started, carries on. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Bedwell or out in Stevenage.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you pour anything, whether on a drive in Old Town or a forecourt around Bedwell, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is often blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap normally is not. Read it instead of going by where it sits.
- On many vehicles, size tells: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Plenty of cars say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If your filler isn't by your diesel cap, it is in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The person who drove it last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park outside Stevenage, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
Anywhere in Hertfordshire the light comes on, this is a routine for the day.
- Park and switch off. Not on a slope, not with the motor running, and not in a rush on the side of Harper Court.
- Silly as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap works — after you have located 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.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Before starting the vehicle, shut the cap and check a second time that the diesel cap was never opened off.
Spot at step two or three that it has already gone into your diesel side? Then stop right there. Step five stays out.
Bedwell: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Brief list, then. First: your motor remains off. On plenty of diesels your ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so don't switch it on. Thinning it with extra diesel won't work, since AdBlue settles to the base rather than mixing — and that's where the fuel is sucked from.
The staff at Shell, Asda or any forecourt will normally lend a hand pushing the car clear if you ask. Leave it where it is if you are on your own drive around Bedwell.
If the motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. Come off the A1(M) — under 3 miles out of Bedwell — at the next exit. Roughly how far did it go? Hopping across Bedwell is less a job than a trip of under 15 miles towards St Albans, so say.
Our arrival around Bedwell, and what occurs next
By Broom Barns Primary School, near Bedwell Community Centre or on your own drive: wherever the car has stopped, our engineers come to it. Our engineers ask what got in, about how much, and if it's run, since those answers decide the work and our quote. That quote is given on the call, ahead of any van leaving.
Then that tank is cleared and the system purged thoroughly. With AdBlue that matters 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. After the filter has been flushed — or renewed, if needed — clean diesel is added, and then your vehicle is tested. The engine is started next and checked to make sure it runs properly, all before our technicians go.
Most jobs are finished in about half an hour after our engineers arrive, as long as your engine has not run — and the pumps our engineers 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 paperwork an insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Misfuelling cover is part of many insurance policies — and so use the wait to look at yours.
About Bedwell and where it is
Bedwell is a suburban area in Hertfordshire, situated on the riverside with an elevation of around 113 metres. Bedwell lies approximately 27 miles north of London and 12 miles east of St Albans, within commuting distance of both cities. Bedwell is characterized by its predominantly terraced housing stock, reflecting its development as a residential area. Bedwell is close to nearby places such as Stevenage, Pin Green, and Shephall, and has a population of around 7613 people.
AdBlue drains across Hertfordshire, Bedwell included
Over SG postcodes, the teams covering Bedwell — a residential suburb — work the surrounding places too, Shephall and Pin Green included. Give a postcode that starts SG1 1, and the van arrives fastest.
Shifting the car is not necessary. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Bedwell Park, a side street near Salvation Army: our technicians drain it where it is. Tricky to explain, like the back of St George and St Andrew? Close to a border? Checking is better than assuming, and so phone.
In short, for Bedwell motorists
Before you pour, read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank all the same, leave the vehicle off and call 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel clears it where it stands, anywhere across Hertfordshire.