AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Faberstown: Why It Occurs and How to Prevent It
Pause reading for a moment if your diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, then ring 0333 366 0103. In Faberstown, catching it before your engine runs usually leaves draining and a full flush on the spot. If you are reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it takes place and how to make sure it doesn't.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
Plenty of newer diesels on the roads around Faberstown and Redenham carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your motor. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Each tank has its own filler. Many of motors have a single flap for the two, whereas some move the AdBlue filler to your boot or under the bonnet. Topping up the diesel side at the petrol pump happens all the time. Someone who has to stop and think where it goes normally fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less often. The error lives in that gap.
Faberstown: how AdBlue in your diesel tank occurs
It is seldom carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a drive off Spray Leaze before work, or in the car park outside Queens Head heading home: that is where the rushed top-up takes place. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low the car warns you, and once it is empty, limp mode kicks in.
Then the car is new. A hire car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not, and your hand hits for the cap it would have used on the old one.
Lastly, the spout fits: a diesel filler or AdBlue one, it goes in just as easily, and after the pour starts, nothing halts it. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Faberstown or out in Ludgershall.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
A few seconds is all these take — so run through them before you pour anything, on a drive in Perham Down or a forecourt around Faberstown.
- Position misleads; the cap doesn't. AdBlue ones tend to be blue or carry the name "AdBlue" — diesel caps normally don't.
- The size. On plenty of vehicles the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- Look inside the fuel flap: plenty of vehicles have a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- Can't see it next to the diesel inlet? In that case look below the bonnet or in your boot — the owner's manual says where.
- Whoever had it before will know. Ask as you collect a rental or company car — at Andover's car park, perhaps — rather than when the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
On the day the warning appears — anywhere it is in Wiltshire — a routine to follow.
- Not in a rush on the side of Biddesden Lane, not on a slope, not with the motor running: park then switch off first.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it works.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave it on.
- Stop once the tank fills or the bottle is empty; before that, tip gently using the built-in spout.
- Before starting your car, shut the cap and look again that your diesel cap never came off.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Stage five is off limits.
Put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Faberstown already?
Don't start your motor: that's how the short order of things starts. On many diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so do not switch the vehicle on. Do not top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is sucked from.
Ask the attendants to help push the vehicle clear of the pump if you're at a forecourt — the Murco, the Esso or somewhere else. Your own driveway in Faberstown is where it should stay.
If the motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. The next junction is the place to come off if you are on the M4, under 15 miles from Faberstown. Distance matters — a short hop across Faberstown makes a smaller job than driving under 25 miles to Salisbury — so tell us about how far it went.
What takes place when our engineers get there in Faberstown
Anywhere the vehicle has stopped, be it outside Ludgershall Castle Primary School, near Ludgershall War Memorial or on your own drive, the van travels to it. Both the work and the price rest on three replies — which liquid, what amount, and if it has run — so our engineers ask. You hear that quote on the phone, before anyone sets off.
Draining the tank comes next, followed by a thorough flush of the system. Unlike petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and eats at some fuel-system metals, and none of that clears out unaided. That is why it counts more. The filter cleaned or, if needed, replaced; fresh diesel in; then a test of the vehicle. We don't go until it has been fired up and is running smoothly.
Using pumps fine on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs in which the engine hasn't run take about half an hour once we are there. No money in advance; you settle up on the day. At the end, a VAT invoice and the report from the engineer go to you for the insurer. Wrong-fuel cover is included in plenty of insurance policies — and so make use of the wait to look at yours.
About Faberstown itself
Faberstown is a suburban area in Wiltshire, situated inland at an elevation of 123 metres, approximately 15 miles from Salisbury. Faberstown lies near the villages of Ludgershall, Great Shoddesden, and Little Shoddesden, and is characterized by its predominantly semi-detached housing stock. Faberstown is also within commuting distance of London, being around 66 miles west of the capital. Faberstown has a population of around 1502 residents.
AdBlue drains about Faberstown, and Wiltshire beyond
Throughout SP postcodes, the vans that cover Faberstown — a residential suburb — work the surrounding spots too, Little Shoddesden and Great Shoddesden among them. The van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting SP11 9.
The vehicle does not need to move. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Shoulder of Mutton Copse, a side street near Ludgershall Cross: our technicians drain the vehicle where it sits. Tricky to pin down, like the back of St James? Close to a border? Asking beats guessing, so phone.
For Faberstown drivers, the short version
Pour no AdBlue till you have read the cap. AdBlue in the diesel tank regardless? Keep it off then ring 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, across Wiltshire.