AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Brokenford: How It Happens and How to Stop It
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave your motor and the ignition off then ring 0333 366 0103. In Brokenford, finding it before your engine runs normally leaves draining and a thorough flush on the spot. If you're reading before it has happened, the rest of this page is about why it takes place and how to make sure it doesn't.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Plenty of modern diesels in Redbridge, as well as Brokenford, run on two liquids; the motor takes just your diesel. AdBlue's own tank keeps it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, and there spraying treats the fumes.
There's a filler on every tank. Plenty of vehicles share a single flap for the two, whereas others move the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. At the pump, the diesel side gets filled constantly. A driver who has to stop and work out where it goes normally fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less regularly. That gap is where the slip lives.
Brokenford: how AdBlue in the diesel tank occurs
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
Haste comes from the warning. The vehicle warns you as AdBlue runs low, and a dry tank puts it into limp mode — so the top-up happens in a rush, before work on a driveway off Treeside Avenue, or on the way home in the car park at Peg and Parrot.
The old car's cap is where your hand goes — yet a rental car, a new motor or a company car keeps the fillers elsewhere. That is the second thing: a strange vehicle.
A spouted bottle finds no resistance at a diesel filler any more than at an AdBlue one. So the tip, once begun, keeps on. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Brokenford or out in Totton.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Be it a Brokenford forecourt or a driveway out in Hounsdown, spend a few seconds over these before any is poured in.
- Where it sits can mislead; the cap does not. AdBlue caps tend to be blue or carry the word "AdBlue" — diesel caps normally do not.
- On many vehicles, the size gives it away: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Plenty of cars say there which fuel goes where.
- Can't see it beside your diesel inlet? Then look beneath the bonnet or inside your boot — the owner's manual says where.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park at Totton, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
Anywhere around Hampshire the light comes on, here is a routine for that day.
- Not in a rush on the side of Junction Road, not on a slope, not with your motor running: park then switch off properly.
- Daft as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" aloud as you unscrew the cap does the trick — once you've located your filler and read the cap.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap, then look again — making sure your diesel filler remained closed the whole time. Only then, start the car.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Skip stage five entirely.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank around Brokenford?
The short order of things, beginning with no starting your motor. The fuel pump starts on plenty of diesels the moment your ignition is switched on — and so keep it off. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where your fuel is drawn from — so do not top up with diesel to dilute it.
If you're at a forecourt, whether it's the Esso or the Shell, ask the staff to help roll your car clear of the pump. At home in Brokenford? So the car remains where it is.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if the motor has already run. Brokenford sits under a mile from the Nursling Spur Motorway; on it, use the next junction. A short hop across Brokenford is a smaller job than a run towards Southampton, under 5 miles away, so tell us about how far it went.
When our engineers get there in Brokenford, what happens?
The van reaches your car anywhere it has come to rest — your own driveway, beside Totton Spiritualist Church, or outside Eling Infant School and Nursery. Those answers decide the work and our price, so our engineers ask what was put in, roughly how much, and whether it has run. Nobody heads out before you've had the quote by phone.
Then the tank is emptied and your system flushed thoroughly. With AdBlue that counts more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own. The filter cleaned or, where it must be, replaced; clean diesel in; and then a check of the vehicle. Your engine is fired up next and checked to confirm it runs correctly, all before we go.
If the motor has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we're there, using pumps that are fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house after dark. No money upfront; you settle up on the day. Afterwards, the VAT invoice and a report from the engineer go to you for the insurer. Wrong-fuel cover is included in plenty of insurance policies — so use the wait to check yours.
About Brokenford
Brokenford is a suburban area located near the coast in Hampshire, with its elevation at around 5 metres above sea level. Brokenford sits close to the city of Southampton, approximately 3.6 miles away, and is near other places such as Totton, Eling, and Rushington. Brokenford has a population of around 4709 people and predominantly consists of semi-detached housing. Brokenford is also situated within commuting distance to London, being around 71.6 miles away.
AdBlue drains in Brokenford and across Hampshire
Brokenford is a residential suburb, and the vans that cover it also work the towns near it, Eling and Rushington among them, across the SO postcode area. A postcode starting SO40 9 gets our van to you fastest.
There's no need to shift your car. A driveway, a lay-by on the way to Spear Bed, a side street near St Theresa of Child Jesus Church: we drain the vehicle where it stands. Awkward to explain, like the back of Totton Christian Centre? Close to a border? Asking beats assuming, and so phone.
The short version for Brokenford motorists
Read the cap before you tip. Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, anywhere in Hampshire, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank all the same — so leave the car off then phone 0333 366 0103.