Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Earley: Why It Happens
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? Then put this page down a moment, leave the ignition and motor off, then ring 0333 366 0103. A drain plus a thorough flush, done right where your car stands in Earley, is normally what it takes if caught before the motor runs. The rest of this page covers why it happens and how to ensure it does not — useful if you're reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
Not one liquid but two: that is how many newer diesels around Earley and The Mount carry, with diesel feeding your engine. Your exhaust, not the motor, is where AdBlue ends up: dosed into the gas to fresh it, from a separate tank.
There's a filler for every tank. Under one flap, next to each other: that is the layout on many motors. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler is under the bonnet or in the boot instead. Filling your diesel side at the petrol pump happens all the time. Seldom topped up, AdBlue usually comes from a bottle, poured by someone who must stop and think what cap it needs. It's in that gap that the mistake happens.
Earley: how AdBlue in your diesel tank takes place
Rarely is it carelessness: normally three things line up.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a warning from the vehicle, and running dry means limp mode — so a rushed top-up, perhaps before work off Wilderness Road, or at The Three Tuns on the way home after work.
Then the vehicle is strange. A hire car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not, and the hand gets to for the cap it would have used on the old one.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, and so nothing stops the tip after it has started. It's a few seconds, be it out in The Parade or right in the heart of Earley.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Before you tip anything, whether on a driveway in Whitley or a forecourt in Earley, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is regularly blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap normally isn't. Read it instead of going by position.
- Many cars fit AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- Check inside the fuel flap: plenty of cars carry a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that is where your filler sits if it is 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 — when you pick up a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park at the nearest station.
How to top up without AdBlue in the diesel tank
The day the light comes on, anywhere around Berkshire, follow this routine.
- Pull in on level, motor off, with time to spare — never hurried on the side of Wilderness Court.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it does the trick.
- The diesel cap stays on. Where both 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.
- Shut the cap, and look once more — confirm your diesel filler stayed closed throughout. Only then, start your car.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Stage five is out.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Earley?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start your motor. Don't switch your ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Thinning it with extra diesel fails, since AdBlue sinks to the bottom instead of blending — and that is where the fuel is sucked from.
The attendants at BP, Shell or any forecourt will usually lend a hand pushing the car clear if asked. Leave it where it is if you're on your own drive in Earley.
When the motor has run already, stop safely then turn the vehicle off. On the M4, under 3 miles from Earley, that means the next junction. Mileage counts — a quick hop across Earley is a smaller job than heading under 50 miles to Oxford — so tell us about how far it went.
When we get there around Earley, what takes place?
By Aldryngton Primary School, close to Whiteknights Indoor Bowling Club or on your own drive: wherever the car has stopped, our technicians come to it. We ask what went in, about how much, and whether it has run, since those answers settle the work and our price. The price comes on the call, ahead of any van leaving.
The system is then rinsed thoroughly, once that tank is cleared. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own — which is why the flush counts more with AdBlue than with petrol. Once your filter has been cleaned — or replaced, if needed — clean diesel goes in, and finally your vehicle is tested. The engine is started next and checked to be sure it runs smoothly, all before we go.
If your motor hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there, using pumps that are safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night. Payment is on the day, not upfront, and you receive the documents an insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. While we travel, have a look at your insurance documents; many carry cover for misfuelling.
About Earley, briefly
Earley is a suburban area in Berkshire, situated lakeside and approximately 70 metres above sea level. Earley lies near the university town of Reading and is close to nearby places such as The Parade, Whiteknights, and Lower Earley. Earley has a population of around 5538 people and is characterised by predominantly semi-detached housing. Earley is also within commuting distance of major cities, including Oxford and London.
AdBlue drains round Earley, and Berkshire beyond
Earley is a residential suburb, and our vans that cover it also work the towns near it, Whiteknights and Lower Earley among them, across the RG postcode area. Quickest of all: quote a RG6 7 postcode to our van.
There's no need to shift your car. Our technicians drain it where it is — a side street close to Folly, a lay-by on the way to The Wilderness, a driveway. If you are close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to describe like the back of Our Lady of Peace Roman Catholic Church, ring and ask instead of assuming.
The short version for Earley motorists
Always, the cap; then, the pour. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank all the same, leave the vehicle off and call 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it waits, anywhere across Berkshire.