Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Hammerfield: Why It Occurs
Stop reading a minute if the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, then ring 0333 366 0103. Around Hammerfield, catching it before the engine turns usually leaves draining and a thorough flush on the spot. Reading before the event? Then what follows explains how it comes about and how to stop it ever happening.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel car need its own filler?
Many modern diesels on the roads round Hammerfield and Green End carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the motor. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into your exhaust gas to clean it.
Each tank comes with a filler of its own. Other vehicles put the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; a lot of others have both together behind one flap. Topping up your diesel side at the petrol pump happens all the time. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less frequently, usually from a bottle, and usually by somebody who has to stop and think where it goes. It's in the gap that the error lives.
How AdBlue in your diesel tank occurs in Hammerfield
Rarely is it carelessness: usually three things coincide.
On a driveway off Pinewood Gardens before work, or in the car park outside The hop tap heading home: that is where the rushed top-up happens. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low the vehicle warns you, and if it is empty, limp mode kicks in.
Then the vehicle is new. A hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not, and the hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old one.
No part halts the tip after it has started, because a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. It's seconds, be it in Counters End or bang in the heart of Hammerfield.
Telling the AdBlue filler from the diesel filler
Before you pour anything, whether on a driveway in Paradise or a forecourt in Hammerfield, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Read the cap rather than going by position: AdBlue caps are often blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones usually are not.
- Plenty of motors give AdBlue the smaller neck of the two.
- Look inside your fuel flap: many vehicles have a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that is where the filler sits if it is not by your diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park outside Hemel Hempstead, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
When the light comes on, anywhere around Hertfordshire, follow this routine.
- Not in a rush on the side of Lockers Park Lane, not on a slope, not with the engine running: park and switch off properly.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it works.
- The diesel cap stays on. When the two share a flap, confirm it's shut before the bottle comes up.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Only after that, start the vehicle: close the cap, check again, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened.
Spot at step two or three that it has already gone into the diesel side? So stop right there. Don't go on to stage five.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank in Hammerfield?
Short list, then. Top of it: the motor remains unstarted. The fuel pump starts on many diesels the moment the ignition is switched on — and so leave it off. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is sucked from — so do not top up with diesel to dilute it.
The staff at Shell, Texaco or another forecourt will usually lend a hand pushing the car away if asked. On your own drive around Hammerfield? So the vehicle remains where it is.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if your engine has already run. The next exit means where to come off if you are on the M1, under 3 miles from Hammerfield. Distance counts — a short hop across Hammerfield is a smaller job than driving under 10 miles towards St Albans — so say roughly how far it went.
Hammerfield: what takes place when our engineers arrive
Our technicians come to the car wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside Gade Valley Primary School, near St Francis of Assisi or on your own drive. What liquid was put in, the quantity, and whether it ran: our technicians ask because the replies set the work and quote. During the phone call itself, you hear our quote — before anything else.
The fuel system is then flushed thoroughly, after your tank is drained. 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 matters more with AdBlue than with petrol. A test is last: before that, clean diesel is added, and the filter is cleaned or replaced if necessary. We do not go until it has been fired up and is running smoothly.
Most jobs are done in about half an hour after our engineers get there, as long as your motor has not run — and the pumps we use are safe on a live forecourt yet quiet after dark beside a house. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. It is worth looking at your policy as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover is included with plenty of policies.
About Hammerfield
Hammerfield is a suburban area situated near the River Gade in Hertfordshire, with a mix of detached housing and local amenities. Hammerfield sits at an elevation of 126 metres, overlooking the surrounding countryside and the nearby towns of Hemel Hempstead and St Albans. Hammerfield is located close to the M1 motorway and is approximately 22.9 miles from London, making it a commuter-friendly location. Hammerfield has a population of around 5737 residents, with many families and professionals calling the area home.
AdBlue drains across Hertfordshire, Hammerfield included
Hemel Hempstead and Boxmoor are among the towns around Hammerfield, a residential suburb, that the same vans cover, over HP postcodes. Fastest of all: give a HP1 1 postcode for our van.
Shifting your car is not needed. A driveway, a lay-by on the way to Gravel Hill Spring, a side street close to The Forum: our engineers drain the car where it stands. Awkward to pin down, like the back of Hemel Hempstead Main Library? Close to a county line? Asking beats assuming, so phone.
In short, for Hammerfield motorists
First, the cap; then, the pour. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, anywhere in Hertfordshire, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank regardless — so leave it off and call 0333 366 0103.