AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Bishops Waltham: How It Happens and How to Stop It
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave the engine and the ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103. Normally, if your engine hasn't run, it is drained and fully flushed where your car is in Bishops Waltham. Nothing happened yet? Below, the page explains the why it occurs and the ways to avoid it for good.
AdBlue in a diesel motor: two tanks, two fillers
Plenty of newer diesels on the roads round Bishops Waltham and Ashton carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the engine. Your exhaust, not the motor, is where AdBlue goes: sprayed into the gas to fresh it, from its own tank.
Every tank has a filler of its own. On a lot of motors the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is topped up at the pump all the time. Someone who has to stop and work out where it goes normally tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less regularly. It's in the gap that the error happens.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Bishops Waltham: how it happens
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a message from the vehicle, and running out leads to limp mode — hence a hurried top-up, perhaps before work off Brook Street, perhaps at Bunch of Grapes on the way home that evening.
Then, your hand goes for the cap it would have used on the old car — because a hire car, a new motor or a company car places the fillers where your last one didn't.
Third, the spout goes in: a diesel filler or AdBlue one, it slides in just as readily, and once the pour begins, nothing halts it. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Bishops Waltham or out in Northbrook.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
A couple of seconds is all these take — so run through them before you pour anything, on a drive in Dean or a forecourt in Bishops Waltham.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap usually is not. Read it rather than going by where it sits.
- On many cars, the size tells: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Many vehicles say there which fuel goes where.
- Can't find it next to the diesel inlet? In that case check beneath the bonnet or inside the boot — the owner's manual says which.
- The previous driver will know. Check when you collect a rental or company car — at Botley's car park, perhaps — not once the light appears.
Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever in Hampshire that is.
- Not in a rush on the side of Lower Lane, not on a slope, not with the motor running: park then switch off first.
- Daft as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap works — once you have found the filler and read it.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Stop once your tank fills or the bottle runs dry; before that, tip gently using its built-in spout.
- Close the cap and check a second time. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start your car.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Don't carry on to stage five.
Bishops Waltham: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Don't start the motor: that's how the short order of things starts. Do not switch your ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Topping up with diesel won't dilute it: rather than mixing, AdBlue drops to the bottom of the tank, right where fuel is taken from.
If you are at a forecourt, whether it's the Sainsbury's or the BP, ask the attendants to help roll the vehicle away from the pump. If you are on your own driveway in Bishops Waltham, leave the vehicle where it sits.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if your motor has already run. Come off the M27 — under 5 miles out of Bishops Waltham — at the next exit. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Winchester, under 10 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Bishops Waltham.
Our arrival in Bishops Waltham, and what takes place next
We come to your car wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside Bishop's Waltham Junior School, near The King's Church or on your own driveway. Our engineers ask what went in, about how much, and if it's run, since those replies decide the work and the quote. During the phone call itself, you hear the price — before anything else.
Then that tank is emptied and your system rinsed thoroughly. Much more than with petrol, it matters here: crystals form, certain metals are attacked, and none of that clears away on its own, no matter how long it is left. Testing is at the end: before that, fresh diesel is added, and your filter is flushed or replaced if necessary. After that our engineers start the engine and check it runs correctly before leaving.
If the engine hasn't run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we're there, using pumps that are safe on a working 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. It's worth looking at your policy as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover is included with many policies.
About Bishops Waltham
Bishops Waltham is a town situated on the banks of the River Hamble in Hampshire, with a mix of old and new buildings reflecting its long history. Bishops Waltham sits at an elevation of 37 metres, close to the nearby villages of Northbrook and Newtown. Bishops Waltham has a population of around 6957 people, predominantly living in detached houses. Bishops Waltham is located near the city of Winchester, about 8.5 miles away, and is around 60.5 miles from London.
AdBlue drains in Bishops Waltham and across Hampshire
Being a riverside town, Bishops Waltham shares its vans nearby places — Newtown, Hoe — right across SO postcodes and the wider area beyond. Quickest of all: give a SO32 1 postcode for the van.
Moving the vehicle is not needed. We drain it where it is — a side street near Bishops Waltham Christian Fellowship, a lay-by on the way to Claylands Local Nature Reserve, a driveway. Ring and ask rather than assuming if you are near a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of Saint Peter.
Bishops Waltham drivers: the short version
Tip no AdBlue until you have read the cap. AdBlue in the diesel tank after all? Leave the vehicle switched off and ring 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, across Hampshire.