Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Elstree: Why It Occurs
Stop here for a moment if your diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, and call 0333 366 0103. A drain and a full flush, done just where the vehicle sits in Elstree, is usually what it takes when caught before your motor runs. The remainder of this page covers why it happens and how to make sure it does not — handy if you're reading ahead of time.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel motor
Many current diesels on the roads round Elstree and Borehamwood carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your motor. Its own tank holds it, and from there it goes to your exhaust, where spraying treats the gas.
There is a filler on each tank. Plenty of vehicles have a single flap for both, whereas some put the AdBlue filler to your boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is filled at the petrol pump all the time. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less regularly, normally from a bottle, and normally by somebody who has to stop and think where it goes. It's in that gap that the slip lives.
How AdBlue in your diesel tank occurs around Elstree
Rarely is it carelessness: normally three things coincide.
Hurry follows from the warning. The vehicle warns you as AdBlue runs low, and a dry tank sends the vehicle into limp mode — so the top-up happens in a rush, before work on a drive off Watford Road, or heading home in the car park outside the victory.
Then, the hand goes for the cap it knew on the old motor — because a rental car, a new motor or a company car places the fillers somewhere your last one did not.
Third, the spout fits: diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it goes in just as readily, and once the pour starts, no part halts it. Edgware Bury or the middle of Elstree: it is the same few seconds either way.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Look at these before pouring, on a forecourt in Elstree or a driveway over in Elstree Park. Seconds, that's all.
- Check the cap rather than going by where it sits: AdBlue caps are commonly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones normally are not.
- The size. On plenty of motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- A label inside your fuel flap often says which fuel goes where, on many cars. Look for it.
- Cannot find it next to your diesel filler? In that case check beneath the bonnet or inside your boot — the owner's manual says where.
- 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 Elstree & Borehamwood.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever around Hertfordshire that is.
- Pull in somewhere level, motor off, with time in hand — never hurried on the side of Barnet Lane.
- Daft as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap does the trick — once you've located the filler and read the cap.
- The diesel cap remains on. When the two share a flap, make sure it's shut before lifting the bottle.
- Finish once the tank fills or the bottle runs dry; before that, pour gently using the own spout.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
Find during the second or third step that the bottle went in the diesel filler? That is where you stop. Never go on to step five.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, around Elstree?
The short order of things, starting with no starting your motor. The fuel pump runs on plenty of diesels the moment the ignition goes on — and so leave it off. Topping up with diesel won't dilute it: instead, AdBlue drops to the bottom of that tank, right where fuel is drawn from.
If you're at a forecourt, whether it's the Esso or the Asda, ask the staff to help push your car away from the pump. On your own drive in Elstree? So the car stays where it is.
If the motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. Come off the M1 — under a mile out of Elstree — at the first junction. A short hop across Elstree is a smaller job than a run towards St Albans, under 10 miles away, and so tell us about how far it went.
Elstree: what takes place when our technicians get there
Anywhere the car came to rest, whether by St Nicholas Elstree Church of England VA Primary School, near The Liberal Synagogue Elstree or on your own drive, our van comes to it. Which fluid got in, the quantity, and if it ran: our engineers ask since the replies decide both work and price. No one heads out until you've had the price over the phone.
Draining the tank comes next, followed by a thorough flush of the system. 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. Once the filter is cleaned — or renewed, if required — fresh diesel goes in, and then your vehicle gets tested. The engine is started next and checked to be sure it runs correctly, all before we leave.
Most jobs are finished in roughly half an hour after our technicians get there, as long as your motor hasn't run — and the pumps our technicians use are fine on a live forecourt and quiet after dark beside a house. Your insurer usually wants an engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and you get both at the end. Payment is on the day, with no money upfront. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Elstree and where it is
Elstree is a village in Hertfordshire, situated near several lakes and surrounded by rolling countryside. Elstree sits at an elevation of 133 metres, close to the outskirts of St Albans and approximately 12 miles from London. Elstree has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are particularly prevalent in the area. Elstree is also near several other communities, including Edgware Bury and Caldecote Hill.
AdBlue drains around Elstree and across Hertfordshire
As a village, Elstree has the same vans as nearby places — Deacons Hill, Caldecote Hill — right through WD postcodes and the surrounding area around them. Fastest of all: quote a WD6 3 postcode for our van.
There's no need to move the car. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Composers Park, a side street near St Nicholas: our technicians drain the vehicle where it stands. Guessing doesn't help behind Elstree Lawn Tennis Club, close to a border, or somewhere hard to describe; phone and check.
In short, for Elstree people
Read the cap before you tip. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, anywhere in Hertfordshire, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless — so leave the vehicle off then ring 0333 366 0103.