AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Charminster: Why It Happens and How to Stop It
Stop here for a moment if the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, then call 0333 366 0103. Usually, if the motor has not run, it's drained and thoroughly rinsed where the car is in Charminster. If you're reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it happens and how to make sure it does not.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel motor need its own filler?
Diesel feeds your motor — yet many modern diesels driven around Charminster and Muscliff hold a second fluid as well. Its own tank keeps it, and from there it goes to your exhaust, and there spraying treats the fumes.
Separate tanks, different fillers. On a lot of cars the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. At the pump, the diesel side gets filled all the time. Rarely filled, AdBlue normally goes in from a bottle, poured by someone who must stop and think which cap it needs. That gap is where the slip lives.
How does AdBlue in your diesel tank occur around Charminster?
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
Haste comes from the warning. The vehicle tells you as AdBlue runs low, and a dry tank sends the vehicle into limp mode — so the top-up gets done quickly, before work on a driveway off Charminster Avenue, or on the way home in the car park outside The Fiveways.
The old car's cap is where the hand reaches — yet a rental car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers somewhere else. That's the second factor: an unfamiliar car.
A spout-topped bottle finds no obstacle at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. So the pour, once started, carries on. It takes a few seconds, be it out in Moordown or bang in the heart of Charminster.
The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart
Whether a Charminster forecourt or a driveway out in Mill Throop, spend a few seconds on these before any is poured in.
- Read the cap instead of going by position: AdBlue caps are commonly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps usually aren't.
- Plenty of vehicles give AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- Open the filler flap and check for a label — many vehicles mark which belongs in each filler right there.
- The handbook. If your filler isn't by the diesel cap, it's in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The person who drove it last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park at Bournemouth, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever across Dorset that is.
- Switch off once parked — level ground, engine off, and not rushed beside Strouden Road at the roadside.
- Find the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and say the word "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew it. It sounds silly. It does the trick.
- The diesel cap stays on. Where the two share a flap, make sure it's closed before lifting the bottle.
- Gently does it, through the bottle's own spout, till it's full or the bottle runs out.
- Before you start the car, close the cap and check a second time that the diesel cap never opened off.
Stop there if you find, at stage two or three, that you've already poured into the diesel side. Never go on to stage five.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Charminster?
The short order of things, beginning with no starting the engine. On many diesels your ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so don't switch the car on. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where the fuel is pulled from — so do not top up with diesel to dilute it.
If you're at a forecourt, whether it's the Esso or the Asda Express, ask the attendants to help push the vehicle clear of the pump. If you're on your own driveway around Charminster, leave it where it stands.
If your engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. Come off the M27 — under 25 miles out of Charminster — at the first junction. Distance matters — a short hop across Charminster is a smaller job than heading under 25 miles towards Salisbury — so tell us about how far it went.
Our arrival in Charminster, and what takes place next
Outside St. Walburga's Catholic Primary School, close to Trinity United Reformed Church or on your own driveway: wherever the car has stopped, we come to it. Those replies determine the work and our price, and so our technicians ask what got in, about how much, and whether it's run. During the phone call itself, you are told our quote — ahead of dispatch.
After that: draining, then a thorough flush of the whole system. With AdBlue that matters 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. Filter flushed or, where needed, swapped; fresh diesel in; then a check of the car. Before leaving, we fire it up and make sure that it's running correctly.
Unrun vehicles mostly need a half-hour job after arrival. The equipment is safe on a live filling station, and hushed enough for a residential street late at night. The insurer usually wants the engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and both are yours at the end. Payment comes on the day, with no money upfront. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About Charminster
Charminster is a suburban area in Dorset, situated near the coast and approximately 37 metres above sea level. Charminster lies within the larger Bournemouth conurbation, close to nearby places such as Moordown, Strouden, and Winton. Charminster is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock, reflecting the area's residential nature. Charminster is also relatively close to the city of Salisbury, which is about 22.6 miles away.
AdBlue drains round Charminster, and Dorset beyond
Strouden and Winton are among the towns around Charminster, a residential suburb, that the same vans cover, over BH postcodes. Give a postcode beginning BH9 1, and the van arrives fastest.
Moving your car is not needed. Draining happens right there, be it a driveway, a street near Charminster Library, or a layby towards Moordown Recreation Ground. Guessing doesn't help at the back of Charminster Chapel, on a boundary, or anywhere awkward to pin down; ring and ask.
The short version for Charminster drivers
Read the cap before you tip. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, anywhere across Dorset, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank anyway — so leave it off then ring 0333 366 0103.