Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Deadwater: Why It Occurs
Keep your motor and ignition off then call 0333 366 0103 now — reading can wait if AdBlue is already in your diesel tank. Caught before your engine runs, it's usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is in Deadwater. Nothing happened yet? Below, the page covers the why it happens and the ways to avoid it for good.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
No single fluid but two: that is how plenty of modern diesels near Deadwater and Hollywater run, with diesel for the motor. Your exhaust, not your engine, is where AdBlue goes: sprayed into the fumes to fresh them, from its own tank.
Each tank has its own filler. 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. The diesel side is filled at the petrol pump all the time. Much less regularly, the AdBlue side is topped up — normally from a bottle, by someone thinking about where it goes. Mistakes happen in that gap between them.
Deadwater: how AdBlue in your diesel tank takes place
Carelessness seldom explains it. What does is three things coming up at once.
Haste follows 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 quickly, before work on a drive off Mill Chase Road, or heading home in the car park at The Royal Exchange.
The old car's cap is where your hand goes — but a rental car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers elsewhere. That's a second thing: a new motor.
A spout-topped bottle finds no obstacle at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. So the tip, once started, keeps on. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Deadwater or out in Lindford.
Telling the AdBlue filler from your diesel filler
A couple of seconds is all these take — so run through them before you tip anything, on a driveway in Headley or a forecourt in Deadwater.
- Position misleads; the cap does not. AdBlue caps are often blue or carry the word "AdBlue" — diesel caps usually do not.
- Look at the size: the smaller filler neck is, on many cars, the AdBlue one.
- Look inside your fuel flap: plenty of motors have a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that is where your filler is if it's not by the diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- Ask 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 at Liphook.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever around Hampshire that is.
- Pull in somewhere level, engine off, with time to spare — never hurried on the side of Hollywater Road.
- Daft as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew the cap works — once you have located the filler and read it.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave the car on.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Before starting your car, shut the cap and look a second time that the diesel cap was never came off.
Discover during the second or third stage that the bottle went into the wrong tank? That is where you stop. Never go on to step five.
Deadwater: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start your motor. On plenty of diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so don't switch the car on. Do not top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where your fuel is drawn from.
The attendants at Esso, Shell or any forecourt will usually help to push the car clear if asked. Your own drive in Deadwater is where it stays.
When your motor has run by now, pull over safely and turn the vehicle off. On the M3, under 15 miles from Deadwater, that means the next junction. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Chichester, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Deadwater.
Our arrival in Deadwater, and what occurs next
The van reaches the vehicle anywhere it stopped — your own driveway, beside Lindford Methodist Church, or by Weyford Nursery and Primary Academy. Our engineers ask what got in, about how much, and if it has run, since the replies settle this work and the price. The price comes on the call, ahead of any van leaving.
Then the tank is cleared and your system rinsed thoroughly. More than with petrol, it matters with AdBlue: crystals build up, certain metals corrode, and nothing washes away unaided, however long it is left. The filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Next our engineers start it and confirm it runs properly before we go.
Most jobs are done in roughly half an hour after our technicians get there, as long as the motor has not run — and the pumps our technicians use are safe on a live forecourt and quiet after dark beside a house. No money upfront; you settle up on the day. At the end, a VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for your insurer. Misfuelling cover is part of plenty of insurance policies — so use the wait to check yours.
About Deadwater
Deadwater is a suburban area situated on the riverside in Hampshire, with a mix of terraced housing and a population of around 3800 residents. Deadwater sits at an elevation of 73 metres, close to the nearby towns of Lindford and Bordon, and is located approximately 19 miles from Chichester. Deadwater forms part of the larger residential area surrounding the town of Bordon, with easy access to the surrounding countryside. Deadwater is also within commuting distance to London, being around 41 miles from the capital.
AdBlue drains across Hampshire, Deadwater included
Being a residential suburb, Deadwater has the same vans as nearby places — Bordon, Standford — right across GU postcodes and the surrounding area beyond. Our van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting GU35 0.
The car does not need to shift. The drain takes place on the spot, whether a driveway, a road by St Mark's Sacred Church, or a layby on the way to Mill Chase Recreation Ground. Guessing doesn't help at the back of Forest Community Centre, on a border, or somewhere awkward to pin down; phone and ask.
Deadwater drivers: the short version
Before you pour, read the cap. Still AdBlue in your diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel can drain it where it is, anywhere across Hampshire: switch it off then call 0333 366 0103.