Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Eldene: Why It Happens
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? Then set this page down a moment, keep the ignition and motor off, and phone 0333 366 0103. Around Eldene, catching it before your engine runs normally leaves a drain and a full flush on the spot. If you are reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it happens and how to make sure it doesn't.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel car
Many current diesels on the roads around Eldene and Park North carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the engine. Kept in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into the exhaust gas and cleans it.
Every tank has a filler of its own. On a lot of vehicles the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is topped up at the petrol pump all the time. Seldom filled, AdBlue normally goes in from a bottle, poured by a driver who has to stop and think which cap it needs. The mistake lives in that gap.
How does AdBlue in the diesel tank happen in Eldene?
Carelessness rarely explains it. Instead is three things coming up together.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low your car tells you, and if it runs out altogether, the vehicle goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a drive off Lawrence Close before work, or in the car park outside The Stripey Badger on the way home.
Unfamiliar vehicles are next, too. Hire cars, new vehicles and company vehicles place their fillers differently, and habit goes for the cap used on the old one.
Third, the spout fits: a diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it slides in as readily, and once the tip begins, no part halts it. It takes a few seconds, be it out in Liden or right in the heart of Eldene.
The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart
Whether a Eldene forecourt or a driveway out in Covingham, spend a few seconds over these before anything is poured in.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap usually is not. Read it instead of going by where it sits.
- On many motors, the size tells: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- Look inside the fuel flap: plenty of vehicles carry a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that is where the filler sits if it's not by the diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- Whoever had it before will know. Check as you collect a rental or fleet car — at Swindon's car park, say — rather than when the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
The day the light goes on, anywhere around Wiltshire, use this routine.
- Pull in on level, motor off, with time to spare — not hurried on the side of Karslake Close.
- Silly as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew the cap does the trick — after you have found your 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.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Before you start the vehicle, close the cap and check again that your diesel cap never opened off.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Don't go on to step five.
Eldene: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Don't start the engine: that's how the short order of things starts. The fuel pump starts on many diesels as soon as the ignition goes on — and so keep it off. Do not top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is sucked from.
If you are on a forecourt, whether it is the BP or the Shell, ask the attendants to help roll the vehicle away from the petrol pump. On your own drive around Eldene? So the car remains where it is.
Where your motor has run already, pull over somewhere safe then turn it off. Eldene sits under 3 miles from the M4; there, use the first junction. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Oxford, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Eldene.
Eldene: what takes place when our engineers arrive
By Eldene Nursery and Primary School, close to Park Library or on your own driveway: wherever the vehicle has stopped, we come to it. Both the work and our quote depend on three answers — what liquid, which amount, and whether it has run — so our technicians ask. On the call itself, you are told our price — ahead of anything else.
Draining your tank comes next, then a thorough flush of your system. With AdBlue that counts more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not wash out on its own. Filter flushed or, if needed, swapped; fresh diesel in; and then a check of your car. The engine is fired up next and tested to be sure it runs smoothly, all before we head off.
Most jobs are done in about half an hour after our engineers get there, provided your motor hasn't run — and the pumps we use are safe on a busy forecourt and quiet after dark beside a house. No money in advance; you settle up that day. Afterwards, a VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for the insurer. While we travel, take a look at your policy; many carry cover for misfuelling.
About Eldene itself
Eldene is a suburban area in Wiltshire, situated near the banks of the River Cole, with Liden and Dorcan to the north and Coate to the south. Eldene sits at an elevation of around 105 metres, within the wider landscape of the North Wessex Downs. Eldene has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are particularly prevalent in the area. Eldene is located near major transport links, with Oxford approximately 25 miles away and London about 70 miles to the east.
Eldene and Wiltshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Dorcan and Coate are among the towns around Eldene, a residential suburb, that the same vans cover, throughout SN postcodes. Fastest of all: give a SN3 3 postcode to the van.
There's no need to shift your car. The drain takes place right there, whether a drive, a street by St John's Church, or a layby on the way to Cavendish Green Play Area. If you are near a border, or somewhere hard to explain like the back of Park South Community Centre, ring and ask instead of assuming.
Eldene motorists: the short version
First, the cap; after that, the pour. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank all the same, leave the vehicle off then call 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it waits, anywhere in Wiltshire.