Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Fullers Slade: Why It Happens
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? In that case set this page down for now, keep your ignition and motor off, then call 0333 366 0103. A drain and a thorough flush, done just where the car sits in Fullers Slade, is normally all it needs if caught before the motor runs. Here in advance? In that case what follows explains how it happens and what to prevent it ever happening.
AdBlue in a diesel motor, and its separate tank
No single liquid but two: that's what plenty of newer diesels around Fullers Slade and Greenleys run, with diesel feeding the motor. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into the exhaust stream to clean it.
Separate tanks, different fillers. On a lot of cars the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is fuelled at the pump all the time. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less commonly, usually from a bottle, and usually by a person who has to stop and think where it goes. That gap is where the mistake lives.
Fullers Slade: how AdBlue in the diesel tank occurs
Seldom is it carelessness: usually three things line up.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the car tells you, and if it runs out completely, the car goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a driveway off H2 Millers Way before work, or in the car park at Shoulder Of Mutton on the way home.
Unfamiliar vehicles are next, as well. Rentals, new cars and company motors place their fillers differently, and the hand goes for the cap it used on the old one.
A spout-topped bottle finds no resistance at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. And so the tip, after started, keeps on. Wolverton Mill South or the middle of Fullers Slade: it takes the same few seconds either way.
Telling the AdBlue filler from the diesel filler
Be it a Fullers Slade forecourt or a drive out in Wolverton Mill East, take a few seconds on these before anything is poured in.
- Colour and marking: an AdBlue cap is often blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap usually doesn't. Trust the cap, not where it sits.
- Plenty of motors give AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- Look inside the fuel flap: plenty of vehicles have a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- The handbook shows where it lives if the filler isn't next to your diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- Collecting a hire or company car, say at the car park at Wolverton? Check with the person who drove the car last before you set off, not once the light comes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
Anywhere around Buckinghamshire the light comes on, here is a routine for the day.
- Park and switch off. Not on a slope, not with the engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Carters Lane.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once finding the AdBlue filler and reading it. Daft, yes, but it works.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave the vehicle on.
- Slowly does it, through the bottle's own spout, until it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Before starting your car, close the cap and check a second time that your diesel cap never came off.
Find at the second or third stage that AdBlue went in the diesel filler? That is where you stop. Never go on to stage five.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, around Fullers Slade?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start your engine. The fuel pump runs on many diesels as soon as your ignition is switched on — and so leave it off. Diluting it with more diesel won't work, since AdBlue settles to the base instead of mixing — and that is where your fuel is drawn from.
The attendants at Esso, Essar or any forecourt will usually lend a hand to push the vehicle clear if asked. If you are on your own driveway around Fullers Slade, leave the vehicle where it stands.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if your engine has already run. The next exit is the place to leave when you are on the M1, under 5 miles from Fullers Slade. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Milton Keynes, under 5 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Fullers Slade.
Our arrival in Fullers Slade, and what takes place next
Anywhere your car has stopped, whether outside St Mary Magdalene Catholic Primary School, near MK Springers Gymnastics Club or at home, the van travels to it. Which liquid was put in, the quantity, and if it ran: our engineers ask since the replies decide the work and quote. You hear that quote by phone, before anybody sets off.
Then that tank is emptied and your system cleaned thoroughly. With AdBlue that matters 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 cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and your car is tested. Before we go, our engineers fire it up and make sure that it is running smoothly.
With pumps safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs where the engine hasn't run need roughly half an hour after our engineers arrive. The insurer usually wants the engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and you get both at the end. Payment is on the day, with no deposit. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Fullers Slade, for a moment
Fullers Slade is a suburban area in Buckinghamshire, situated near the River Great Ouse and close to the city of Milton Keynes. Fullers Slade has a mix of housing types, but is predominantly characterised by terraced homes, and is located at an elevation of around 90 metres. Fullers Slade is part of the larger Milton Keynes urban area, but retains its own distinct character as a residential community. Fullers Slade is also near several other local places, including Wolverton Mill South and Kiln Farm.
AdBlue drains across Buckinghamshire, Fullers Slade included
Fullers Slade is a residential suburb, and the teams that cover it also work the towns around it, Kiln Farm and Hodge Lea among them, across the MK postcode area. Our van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting MK11 3.
Moving your car is not needed. A drive, a lay-by on the way to WEA Local Park 4, a side street near Ramgarhia Sabha Gurdwara: our engineers drain the vehicle where it sits. If you're close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain like the back of Fairfields Sports Hub, ring and ask rather than assuming.
Fullers Slade people: the short version
Read the cap before you tip. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, anywhere across Buckinghamshire, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank regardless — so leave the vehicle off then ring 0333 366 0103.