Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Gillingham: Why It Happens
Leave the motor and ignition off then ring 0333 366 0103 now — reading can wait if AdBlue is already in your diesel tank. A drain plus a thorough flush, carried out just where the car stands in Gillingham, is normally what it takes when caught before your motor runs. The remainder of this page explains why it takes place and how to ensure it does not — handy if you're reading before it has happened.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel motor need its own filler?
Many modern diesels on the roads around Gillingham and Rainham carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your engine. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is sprayed into the exhaust stream to clean it.
Each tank has one filler of its own. Under one flap, side by side: that is the arrangement on many vehicles. On others, AdBlue's filler is under the bonnet or in the boot instead. Diesel gets filled on each forecourt visit, week in, week out. Rarely filled, AdBlue normally goes in out of a bottle, tipped by someone who has to stop and think which cap it needs. The slip lives in that gap.
How does AdBlue in the diesel tank occur around Gillingham?
Seldom is it carelessness: normally three things line up.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a message from the car, and letting it run out means limp mode — hence a hurried top-up, perhaps before work off South Avenue, or outside The Honourable Pilot on the way home after work.
Unfamiliar vehicles come second, too. Hire cars, new cars and company vehicles put their fillers in new places, and habit reaches for the cap it 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 pour once it has started. Twydall or the middle of Gillingham: it is the same few seconds in both.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Whether a Gillingham forecourt or a drive over in Hale, take a few seconds over these before any goes in.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is regularly blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap usually isn't. Read it instead of going by where it sits.
- The size. On many vehicles the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- Open the flap and look for a label — many vehicles show what goes in each filler right there.
- The handbook. If your filler isn't by your diesel cap, it's in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Whoever had it before will know. Ask when you collect a hire car or fleet car — at Rainham (Kent)'s car park, perhaps — not when the warning appears.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
For the day the light appears — anywhere it is across Kent — a routine to follow.
- Switch off after you park — level ground, motor stopped, and never in a rush beside Bowater Roundabout on the verge.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and say the word "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew it. It sounds silly. 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.
- Finish when your tank fills or the bottle runs dry; before that, pour slowly through its built-in spout.
- Shut the cap, and check once more — confirm the diesel filler remained shut throughout. After that, start the vehicle.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Step five stays off limits.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank in Gillingham?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start the engine. On plenty of diesels your ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so do not switch the car on. Diluting it with more diesel won't work, because AdBlue settles to the base rather than mixing — and that is where the fuel is pulled from.
The attendants at Tesco, Asda Express or any forecourt will normally lend a hand to push the car away when you ask. On your own drive around Gillingham? Then your car remains where it is.
Already run? Stop once it is safe, then switch off. On the M2, under 3 miles from Gillingham, that means the next junction. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Southend-on-Sea, under 15 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Gillingham.
What happens when we arrive around Gillingham
Anywhere the vehicle came to rest, whether by St Thomas of Canterbury RC Primary School, near Silver Blades Ice Rink or on your own drive, our van travels to it. What fluid went in, the amount, and whether it ran: our engineers ask because the answers decide both work and price. You hear that quote on the phone, before anyone sets off.
Then your tank is drained and the fuel system rinsed thoroughly. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not wash out on its own — which is why the flush counts more with AdBlue than with petrol. Once the fuel filter is cleaned — or replaced, if required — clean diesel is added, and then your car is tested. Before we leave, our engineers start it and make sure that it is running correctly.
Unstarted vehicles mostly mean a half-hour job from arrival. The kit is safe on a busy forecourt, and quiet enough for a residential street after dark. Your insurer usually wants an engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and you get both once this job is done. Payment comes on the day, with no money upfront. It is worth looking at your policy as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover comes with plenty of policies.
About Gillingham, for a moment
Gillingham is a significant urban centre situated in the county of Kent, forming part of a larger conurbation along the coast. It is located near several neighbouring towns, including Chatham and Rochester. Gillingham is a major settlement in the Medway area, boasting a substantial size and a notable presence in the region. The town's coastal setting adds to its character, making it a distinct part of the Kent landscape.
AdBlue drains across Kent, Gillingham included
Darland and Lower Twydall are among the places near Gillingham, a coastal town, that the same vans cover, throughout ME postcodes. The van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting ME8 6.
Your car stays where it is. Our engineers drain it where it is — a side street near Avenue Tennis, a lay-by on the way to Ambley Wood, a drive. Awkward to pin down, like the back of Holy Trinity Church? Close to a county line? Asking is better than guessing, and so phone.
In short, for Gillingham motorists
Tip no AdBlue until you have read the cap. AdBlue in the diesel tank after all? Leave it off then ring 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, throughout Kent.