Greenhill: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Prevent It?
Leave your motor and ignition off and ring 0333 366 0103 first — the rest can wait when AdBlue is already in your diesel tank. A drain and a full flush, carried out right where your vehicle stands in Greenhill, is usually all it takes when caught before your motor runs. Not happened yet? Below, the rest of the page covers the reasons it occurs and the how to avoid it for good.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel car
Plenty of modern diesels around Bullockstone, as well as Greenhill, carry on two liquids; your motor gets only your diesel. AdBlue's own tank keeps it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, and there a spray cleans the gas.
Different tanks, different fillers. Under one flap, next to each other: that's the layout on a lot of vehicles. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler sits under the bonnet or in your boot instead. Diesel goes in on each forecourt visit, again and again. Seldom topped up, AdBlue usually comes out of a bottle, tipped by a driver who has to stop and think what cap it needs. Mistakes happen in the gap between the two.
Greenhill: how AdBlue in your diesel tank happens
It is seldom carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the car tells you, and if it runs out completely, your vehicle goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a drive off Poplar Drive before work, or in the car park outside The Heron on the way home.
Next, the hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old vehicle — since a hire car, a new car or a company car places the fillers where your last one did not.
Third, the bottle goes in: diesel filler or AdBlue one, it slides in just as easily, and once the pour starts, no part halts it. It's seconds, be it in Hampton or bang in the heart of Greenhill.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you tip anything, whether on a drive in Herne Bay or a forecourt around Greenhill, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Blue and lettering: an AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap usually doesn't. Trust the cap, not where it sits.
- The size. On plenty of vehicles the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Many vehicles say there which fuel goes where.
- Can't see it beside your diesel filler? In that case check beneath the bonnet or inside your boot — the owner's manual will say which.
- Check with the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — if you pick up a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park at Herne Bay.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
For the day the warning appears — anywhere you are in Kent — a simple routine to use.
- Pull in somewhere level, engine off, with time in hand — not rushing on the side of Greenhill Road (East).
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it works.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Shut the cap, and look once more — confirm the diesel filler remained closed throughout. After that, start your car.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you've already poured into the diesel side. Never go on to step five.
Greenhill: already put AdBlue in your diesel tank?
The short order of things, starting with not starting the motor. The fuel pump runs on many diesels as soon as your ignition goes on — and so keep it off. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is pulled from — so do not top up with diesel to thin it.
At a forecourt — Texaco, Esso or another — the attendants will usually help push your car clear, if you ask. Your own drive in Greenhill is the place it should stay.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if your engine has already run. Greenhill lies under 10 miles from the M2; on it, take the next exit. A short hop across Greenhill is a smaller job than a run towards Canterbury, under 10 miles away, and so tell us roughly how far it went.
Greenhill: what takes place when our technicians arrive
We come to your car wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside Hampton Primary School, near St Peter or on your own driveway. Our engineers ask what was put in, about how much, and whether it has run, since the replies settle the work and our price. No one heads out until you have heard the price over the phone.
Then that tank is emptied and the fuel system rinsed 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. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Before we go, we fire it up and make sure that it is running correctly.
Unstarted vehicles mostly mean a half-hour job from the moment we arrive. The kit is safe on a busy forecourt, and quiet enough for a driveway after dark. Paying is on the day, not upfront, and you are given the paperwork an insurer asks for: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Misfuelling cover is included in many insurance policies — and so use the wait to check yours.
About Greenhill itself
Greenhill is a small village on the coast of Kent, situated near the city of Canterbury and overlooking the English Channel. Greenhill has a population of around 3239 people and is characterised by its semi-detached housing stock. Greenhill sits at a low elevation of approximately 15 metres above sea level, close to nearby places such as Hampton and Eddington. Greenhill is also within commuting distance of London, being around 54 miles from the capital.
Greenhill and Kent: AdBlue drains across the area
As a coastal village, Greenhill has the same vans as surrounding areas — Eddington, Studd Hill — right across CT postcodes and the wider area around them. The van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting CT6 7.
No need to move the car. Our technicians drain it where it is — a side street close to St Andrews Church, a lay-by on the way to Oxenden Square, a driveway. Awkward to explain, like the back of St Andrews Christian Centre? Close to a county line? Asking beats assuming, and so ring.
For Greenhill drivers, the short version
Always, the cap; after that, the pour. Still AdBlue in the diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel will empty it wherever it is, wherever in Kent: switch the car off and call 0333 366 0103.