AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Drayton: How It Occurs and How to Avoid It
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? In that case put this page down for now, keep your ignition and engine off, then phone 0333 366 0103. Caught before the engine runs, it's normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Drayton. Not happened yet? Further down, the rest of the page explains the why it happens and the how to avoid it for good.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel motor
Not one fluid but two: that is how plenty of modern diesels near Drayton and Caldecott run, with diesel feeding the engine. AdBlue goes to your exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to clean it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
There's a filler on each tank. Some cars put the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; plenty of others place the two side by side under one flap. At the pump, your diesel side is topped up constantly. The AdBlue side is filled far less often, usually from a bottle, and usually by someone who has to stop and think where it goes. The mistake grows in the gap between the two.
How AdBlue in the diesel tank happens in Drayton
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
On a driveway off Gravel Lane before work, or in the car park outside Wheatsheaf on the way home: that's where the hurried top-up happens. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low the car tells you, and once it's empty, limp mode follows.
Then your car is new. A hire car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers where your last one didn't, and your hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old one.
Third, the spout fits: diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it slides in just as readily, and once the tip begins, no part stops it. Whether it happens in Milton or the middle of Drayton, it is the same few seconds.
Telling the AdBlue filler from the diesel filler
A couple of seconds is all the checks take — so check them before you tip anything, on a driveway in Milton Heights or a forecourt in Drayton.
- Position misleads; the cap does not. AdBlue ones tend to be blue or carry the name "AdBlue" — diesel ones normally do not.
- On plenty of motors, size tells: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- Open the flap and look for a label — many motors mark what belongs in which filler just there.
- The handbook. If your filler isn't by your diesel cap, it is in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Picking up a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park outside Appleford? Check with the person who drove the vehicle last before leaving, rather than once the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
For the day the warning appears — anywhere it is across Oxfordshire — a routine to use.
- Stop on level, motor off, with time in hand — not rushing on the side of Marcham Road.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it works.
- The two under one flap? Then confirm the cap on the diesel filler is still shut before raising the bottle.
- Stop once your tank is topped up or the bottle runs dry; until then, pour gently using the built-in spout.
- Only then, start the vehicle: close the cap, check a second time, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Do not go on to stage five.
Put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Drayton already?
Brief order, then. First: the motor remains off. On plenty of diesels your ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so do not switch the vehicle on. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where your fuel is pulled from — so do not top up with diesel to thin it.
If you're at a forecourt, whether it is the Sutton Courtenay Tyres or the Tesco, ask the attendants to help roll the car away from the petrol pump. On your own drive around Drayton? So your car remains put.
If the engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. Come off the M40 — under 15 miles out of Drayton — at the next exit. A short hop across Drayton is a smaller job than a run towards Oxford, under 10 miles away, and so tell us about how far it went.
Our arrival in Drayton, and what happens next
Wherever the car has stopped, whether by Drayton Community Primary School, beside Drayton Baptist Church or at home, our van comes to it. Both the work and the quote depend on three replies — which liquid, what amount, and if it's run — so our technicians ask. During the call itself, you are told the price — ahead of anything else.
The system is then cleaned thoroughly, once the tank is cleared. With AdBlue that counts more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not wash out on its own. Your filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and your car is tested. The motor is fired up next and checked to make sure it runs properly, all before we go.
Most jobs are done in roughly half an hour after our engineers arrive, as long as your motor hasn't run — and the pumps we use are safe on a live forecourt and quiet after dark outside a house. Your insurer usually wants the engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and you get both once the job is done. Payment comes on the day, with no deposit. Before we get there, take a look at your policy; many carry cover for misfuelling.
About Drayton and where it is
Drayton is a village in Oxfordshire, situated inland at an elevation of 63 metres, approximately 7.8 miles from Oxford and 51.8 miles from London. Drayton is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock and is surrounded by nearby places such as Milton, Steventon, and Sutton Courtenay. Drayton has a population of around 2398 residents, making it a small but distinct community in the South East region.
Drayton and Oxfordshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Over OX postcodes, the teams covering Drayton — a rural village — work the nearby locations too, Sutton Courtenay and Steventon included. Our van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting OX14 4.
The vehicle does not need to shift. We drain it where it is — a side street near Saint Peter, a lay-by on the way to Millennium Green, a driveway. Assuming doesn't help behind Drayton Village Hall, close to a boundary, or somewhere awkward to pin down; phone and ask.
In short, for Drayton people
First, the cap; after that, the pour. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, anywhere across Oxfordshire, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank anyway — and so leave the vehicle off then phone 0333 366 0103.