AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Brookside: Why It Occurs and How to Prevent It
Leave the motor and ignition off and phone 0333 366 0103 now — the rest can wait when AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. Caught before your engine runs, it's normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is in Brookside. The rest of this page explains why it takes place and how to make sure it doesn't — handy if you're reading ahead of time.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel car
Many newer diesels around Lower Seagry, like those in Brookside, run on two liquids; your motor gets just your diesel. Your exhaust, not the motor, is where AdBlue ends up: dosed into the fumes to fresh them, from its own tank.
There is a filler for every tank. Some cars put the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; plenty of others have both together under one flap. The diesel side is topped up at the petrol pump all the time. The AdBlue side is filled far less frequently, usually from a bottle, and normally by somebody who has to stop and think where it goes. Mistakes happen in that gap between the two.
How AdBlue in your diesel tank occurs in Brookside
Seldom is it carelessness: normally three things line up.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a warning from the car, and letting it run dry leads to limp mode — hence a hurried top-up, maybe before work off Seagry Road, perhaps at Wellesley Arms on the way home after work.
Next, your hand reaches for the cap it knew on the old motor — because a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car places the fillers where your last one didn't.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, so nothing stops the pour after it has started. Sutton Benger or the heart of Brookside: it takes the same few seconds either way.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
A few seconds is all these take — so run through them before you pour anything, on a driveway in Seagry Heath or a forecourt in Brookside.
- Where it sits can mislead; the cap doesn't. AdBlue ones are often blue or carry the name "AdBlue" — diesel caps normally do not.
- Look at the size: the smaller filler neck is, on many cars, the AdBlue one.
- A label inside the fuel flap often says which fuel goes where, on plenty of vehicles. Look for it.
- The handbook. If your filler is not by the diesel cap, it is in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Check with the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — if you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park outside Chippenham.
How to top up without AdBlue in the diesel tank
The day the light comes on, anywhere in Wiltshire, use this routine.
- Switch off after you park — flat ground, motor stopped, and never in a rush beside M4 on the verge.
- Daft as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew the cap works — after you've located your filler and read it.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave it on.
- Gently is best, through the bottle's own spout, till it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Before starting the vehicle, shut the cap and look again that the diesel cap was never came off.
Stop there if you find, at stage two or three, that you've already poured into the diesel side. Stage five is off limits.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Brookside already?
Then the order of things is short. Do not start your engine. The fuel pump starts on many diesels as soon as the ignition is switched on — and so keep it off. Do not top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where your fuel is drawn from.
Ask the attendants to help push the car away from the pump if you're at a forecourt — the the nearest petrol station, the BP or somewhere else. Your own drive around Brookside is the place it stays.
Where your engine has been run already, stop safely then switch it off. On the M4, under a mile from Brookside, that means the next exit. Mileage matters — a quick hop across Brookside makes a smaller job than driving under 25 miles towards Bath — so say about how far it went.
When our engineers arrive in Brookside, what takes place?
The van reaches the vehicle anywhere it stopped — your own driveway, near All Saints Church, or by Sutton Benger Church of England Primary School. Both the work and our quote rest on three replies — which liquid, what amount, and whether it's run — so we ask. You get that price on the phone, before anybody sets off.
The system is then cleaned thoroughly, after your tank is emptied. More than with petrol, it counts here: crystals form, some metals corrode, and none of it clears away unaided, however long it sits. After your filter has been flushed — or renewed, if needed — clean diesel goes in, and finally the car is tested. The engine is fired up next and tested to be sure it runs correctly, all before we go.
If your engine hasn't 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. The insurer will ask for the engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and both are yours at the end. Payment is on the day, with no money upfront. It is worth checking your insurance as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover is included with many policies.
About Brookside
Brookside is a small hamlet situated on the riverside in Wiltshire, with an elevation of 67 metres above sea level. Brookside lies near the city of Bath, approximately 15 miles to the west, and is surrounded by other small settlements such as Sutton Benger and Christian Malford. Brookside has a population of around 608 people, predominantly living in detached houses. Brookside is located in the South West region of England, about 83 miles west of London.
AdBlue drains about Brookside, and Wiltshire beyond
Over SN postcodes, our vans that cover Brookside — a rural hamlet — work the nearby locations too, Christian Malford and Upper Seagry included. A postcode starting SN15 4 gets our van to you fastest.
There's no need to move your car. Anywhere it sits — near Sutton Benger Village Hall, on a layby heading to The Shrubbery, on a drive — that's where it is drained. Ring and ask instead of assuming if you're close to a border, or somewhere hard to describe, like the back of Saint Mary the Virgin.
The short version for Brookside drivers
Read the cap before you tip. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank regardless, leave it off and phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it sits, anywhere around Wiltshire.