AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Chadwell Heath: Why It Occurs and How to Prevent It
Pause reading for a moment if your diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, then call 0333 366 0103. Caught before the motor runs, it is generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is around Chadwell Heath. The remainder of this page explains why it happens and how to ensure it doesn't — useful if you are reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel car: two tanks, two fillers
No single liquid but two: that's what plenty of newer diesels near Chadwell Heath and Goodmayes run, with diesel feeding your engine. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is sprayed into the exhaust stream and cleans it.
Every tank comes with one filler of its own. Under one flap, side by side: that is the layout on many vehicles. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler is beneath the bonnet or in your boot instead. Topping up the diesel side at the pump happens all the time. A driver who has to stop and think where it goes usually tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less regularly. It is in that gap that the mistake happens.
Chadwell Heath: how AdBlue in the diesel tank takes place
It's hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a drive off Beresford Gardens before work, or in the car park at Tollgate Tavern heading home: that's where the hurried top-up takes place. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low your car warns you, and once it's empty, limp mode kicks in.
Next, the hand goes for the cap it knew on the old motor — since a hire car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers somewhere your last one didn't.
Lastly, the bottle goes in: a diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it slides in just as readily, and once the pour starts, nothing halts it. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Chadwell Heath or out in Becontree Heath.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you pour anything, whether on a driveway in Rush Green or a forecourt around Chadwell Heath, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Check the cap instead of going by where it sits: AdBlue caps are commonly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps usually are not.
- On many vehicles, the size tells: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- Check inside your fuel flap: plenty of cars have a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- The handbook says which it is if your filler isn't next to your diesel cap: your boot, or under the bonnet.
- Ask the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — when you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park at the nearest station.
Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up
Anywhere around Greater London the light comes on, here is a routine for that day.
- Not in a rush on the side of Mill Lane, not on a slope, not with your engine running: park and switch off first.
- Daft as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap does the trick — once you have found the filler and read it.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave the vehicle on.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Shut the cap, and look once more — confirm the diesel cap remained shut the whole time. After that, start your car.
Discover during the second or third stage that AdBlue went into the wrong tank? That's where you stop. Step five is off limits.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, around Chadwell Heath?
The short order of things, beginning with no starting your motor. Leave your ignition off as well, because on plenty of diesels switching it on by itself starts the pump. Diluting it with more diesel fails, since AdBlue settles to the bottom instead of mixing — and that is where your fuel is drawn from.
If you are at a forecourt, whether it's the JET or the Shell, ask the staff to help push the car clear of the pump. At home around Chadwell Heath? So the vehicle remains where it is.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if your engine has already run. Chadwell Heath lies under 5 miles from the M11; on it, take the first junction. A short hop across Chadwell Heath is a smaller job than a run towards London, under 15 miles away, so tell us roughly how far it went.
Chadwell Heath: what takes place when we get there
Our van comes to your car wherever it stopped — your own driveway, beside Robert Jayes Library, or outside Warren Junior School. Both the work and the quote depend on three replies — which liquid, what quantity, and whether it's run — so our engineers ask. Nobody heads out until you have had our quote by phone.
Next: draining, then a thorough flush of the whole system. Much more than with petrol, it counts here: crystals form, some metals are attacked, and none of it washes away unaided, no matter how long it sits. Testing comes last: before that, fresh diesel goes in, and the fuel filter is flushed or replaced if necessary. Before we leave, we start it and check that it is running smoothly.
Most jobs are finished in about half an hour once our technicians get there, as long as your motor hasn't run — and the pumps our engineers use are fine on a busy forecourt and quiet after dark beside a house. The insurer usually wants the engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and you get both at the end. Payment is on the day, with no money upfront. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Chadwell Heath
Chadwell Heath is a suburban area in Greater London, situated approximately 12 miles northeast of central London. Chadwell Heath has a relatively low elevation of around 25 metres above sea level and is characterised by its semi-detached housing stock. Chadwell Heath is located near other suburban areas such as Becontree Heath and Little Heath, and is home to a population of around 9986 people.
AdBlue drains round Chadwell Heath, and Greater London beyond
Chadwell Heath is a residential suburb, and the vans that cover it also work the places around it, Little Heath and Marks Gate among them, across the RM postcode area. Quickest of all: quote a RM6 6 postcode to our van.
The car stays put. Draining takes place on the spot, be it a driveway, a road near Chadwell Heath Community Centre, or a layby towards Cranfield Golf Academy Chadwell Heath (Driving Range). If you're near a border, or somewhere hard to explain like the back of Wisdom Community Centre, ring and ask rather than assuming.
The short version for Chadwell Heath drivers
Before you tip, read the cap. AdBlue in the diesel tank regardless? Leave the vehicle off then call 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, throughout Greater London.