AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Ham Marsh: How It Occurs and How to Prevent It
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? In that case set this page aside for now, leave the ignition and motor off, then phone 0333 366 0103. Normally, when your engine has not turned, it is drained and fully flushed where the vehicle is in Ham Marsh. If you are reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it happens and how to make sure it doesn't.
AdBlue in a diesel car: two tanks, two fillers
No single fluid but two: that's how plenty of modern diesels around Ham Marsh and Burys Bank carry, with diesel feeding the 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.
There's a filler on each tank. Under one flap, side by side: that's the layout on many cars. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler is beneath the bonnet or in the boot instead. Filling the diesel side at the petrol pump happens constantly. Someone who has to stop and work out where it goes normally fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less often. The error lives in that gap.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Ham Marsh: how it occurs
Carelessness seldom causes it. Instead is three things coming up together.
Haste follows from the warning. The vehicle tells you as AdBlue runs low, and a dry tank sends the vehicle into limp mode — so the top-up happens quickly, before work on a driveway off Hambridge Road, or heading home in the car park outside The Crucible.
The old car's filler is where the hand reaches — but a hire car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers elsewhere. That's the second thing: a new motor.
Third, the bottle goes in: a diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it goes in just as readily, and after the tip begins, nothing stops it. Whether it takes place in East Fields or the middle of Ham Marsh, it is the same few seconds.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Before you pour anything, whether on a driveway in Shaw or a forecourt in Ham Marsh, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Position misleads; the cap does not. AdBlue ones tend to be blue or carry the name "AdBlue" — diesel ones usually do not.
- The size. On plenty of motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- Check inside your fuel flap: many cars carry a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that's where your filler is if it is not by your diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- Ask the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — when you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park at Newbury Racecourse.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
On the day the light comes on — wherever it is in Berkshire — a routine to follow.
- Switch off once parked — level ground, motor off, and not in a rush beside B3241 at the roadside.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly and it works.
- The two behind one flap? So make sure the lid on the diesel filler is still closed ahead of raising the bottle.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Before you start the car, shut the cap and check again that your diesel cap never opened off.
Discover at the second or third stage that the bottle went in the diesel filler? That is where you stop. Leave out stage five entirely.
Ham Marsh: already put AdBlue in your diesel tank?
The short order of things, starting with no starting the motor. Don't switch the ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Don't top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where your fuel is drawn from.
The staff at BP, Sainsbury's or any forecourt will usually lend a hand to push the vehicle away if you ask. If you're on your own drive in Ham Marsh, leave the car where it is.
Already run? Stop once it is safe, then turn off. Ham Marsh sits under 5 miles from the M4; there, use the next junction. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Winchester, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Ham Marsh.
What occurs when we get there in Ham Marsh
We come to the car wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside Fir Tree Primary School and Nursery, close to Riverside Community Centre or on your own driveway. The answers decide this work and the quote, and so we ask what went in, about how much, and if it has run. You get that price on the phone, before anybody heads out.
Then the tank is cleared and your system rinsed thoroughly. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not wash out on its own — which is why the flush matters more here than with petrol. After your filter has been flushed — or replaced, where required — clean diesel goes in, and then the car gets tested. After that our engineers start the car and confirm it runs smoothly before leaving.
Unstarted cars usually need a half-hour job from the moment we arrive. The equipment is safe on a live filling station, and hushed enough for a residential street after dark. Paying is on the day, not upfront, and you receive the documents your insurer wants: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Ham Marsh
Ham Marsh is a suburban area located on the riverside in Berkshire, with a mix of flat housing and local amenities. Ham Marsh sits at an elevation of 74 metres, near the towns of Newbury and Greenham, and is approximately 23 miles from Winchester. Ham Marsh is part of the wider area surrounding Newbury, with nearby places including East Fields. Ham Marsh has a population of around 2227 people, living in a variety of flat housing types.
Ham Marsh and Berkshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Ham Marsh is a residential suburb, and the teams that cover it also work the places near it, Newbury and Greenham among them, across the RG postcode area. A postcode starting RG14 5 gets the van to you fastest.
The car stays where it is. The drain happens on the spot, whether a drive, a street near Newbury Christadelphians, or a layby on the way to Skyllings Park. Guessing won't help at the back of Northway Climbing Centre, on a border, or anywhere awkward to pin down; ring and ask.
The short version for Ham Marsh motorists
Before you tip, read the cap. Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, anywhere across Berkshire, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank anyway — and so leave the vehicle off then call 0333 366 0103.