AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Bentley: How It Happens and How to Prevent It
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? Then put this page aside a moment, leave your ignition and motor off, then call 0333 366 0103. Caught before the engine runs, it's normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is in Bentley. If you're reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it takes place and how to make sure it does not.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel vehicle need its own filler?
Plenty of newer diesels on the roads around Bentley and Chapel Green carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the engine. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into the exhaust gas and cleans it.
Separate tanks, separate fillers. Other vehicles put the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; a lot of others place the two together under one flap. At the petrol pump, the diesel side gets filled constantly. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less commonly, normally from a bottle, and normally by someone who has to stop and think where it goes. It is in the gap that the mistake lives.
AdBlue in your diesel tank around Bentley: how it happens
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
On a drive off Mountbatten Road before work, or in the car park outside The Parkbrook heading home: that is where the rushed top-up takes place. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low your car tells you, and once it's gone, limp mode kicks in.
Then, your hand goes for the cap it knew on the old car — because a hire car, a new vehicle or a company car places the fillers somewhere your last one didn't.
No part halts the tip once it has started, because a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Bentley or out in County Bridge.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Look at these first, on a forecourt in Bentley or a driveway out in Darlaston Green. A few seconds, that's all.
- Check the cap rather than going by position: AdBlue caps are regularly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps usually are not.
- On plenty of vehicles, size gives it away: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- Open the flap and look for a label — plenty of cars show which belongs in each inlet just there.
- The handbook. If your filler is not by your diesel cap, it is in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Whoever had it before will know. Ask as you pick up a rental or company car — at Darlaston's car park, perhaps — rather than when the light appears.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
When the light goes on, wherever in West Midlands, follow this routine.
- Switch off after you park — level ground, motor stopped, and not in a rush beside Queen Elizabeth Avenue at the roadside.
- Find the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and speak the word "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew it. It seems daft. It works.
- Leave the diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Stop once that tank is topped up or the bottle runs dry; until then, tip gently through the own spout.
- Shut the cap, then check again — confirm your diesel cap remained closed throughout. Only then, start the vehicle.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you've already poured into the diesel side. Skip stage five entirely.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Bentley already?
What follows is a short order of things, starting with no starting your engine. The fuel pump starts on plenty of diesels the moment the ignition is switched on — and so leave it off. Topping up with diesel won't dilute it: instead, AdBlue sinks to the bottom of the tank, just where the fuel is drawn from.
Ask the staff to help push the car away from the pump if you're at a forecourt — the the nearest petrol station, the Asda or somewhere else. On your own drive around Bentley? So your car stays put.
If the engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. Bentley lies under a mile from the M6; there, take the next junction. Roughly how far did it go? Crossing Bentley is less a job than a trip of under 5 miles to Wolverhampton, and so say.
When our engineers turn up around Bentley, what happens?
By King Charles Primary School, near Emmanuel Church or on your own driveway: wherever the car has stopped, we come to it. The replies determine the work and the price, so our technicians ask what went in, roughly how much, and whether it's run. The quote comes on the call, before any van leaves.
The fuel system is then cleaned thoroughly, once your tank is emptied. 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. Testing is last: before that, fresh diesel goes in, and the fuel filter is cleaned or changed if necessary. We don't leave until it has been fired up and is running correctly.
Unrun vehicles usually mean a half-hour visit from arrival. The equipment is safe on a busy filling station, and hushed enough for a residential street after dark. Nothing in advance; you settle up that day. At the end, a VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for the insurer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About Bentley, briefly
Bentley is a suburban area in the West Midlands, situated near the River Tame and close to the city of Wolverhampton. Bentley has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are the most common, and its population is around 5751 residents. Bentley is located near several other local areas, including County Bridge, Shepwell Green, and The Flatts, and is about 4.5 miles from Wolverhampton city centre. Bentley sits at an elevation of 145 metres above sea level, in a riverside setting that provides scenic views and outdoor recreational opportunities.
AdBlue drains across West Midlands, Bentley included
As a residential suburb, Bentley shares its vans nearby areas — Shepwell Green, The Flatts — right across WS postcodes and the surrounding area beyond. A postcode starting WS2 0 gets the van to you fastest.
There's no need to shift the vehicle. We drain it where it is — a side street close to Bentley Cairn, a lay-by on the way to Black Country Millennium Forest, a driveway. Awkward to pin down, like the back of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Close to a county line? Asking beats assuming, so phone.
In short, for Bentley drivers
Pour no AdBlue until you have read the cap. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, anywhere in West Midlands, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank regardless — so leave the car off and ring 0333 366 0103.