Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Hampton Wick: Why It Occurs
Leave the engine and ignition off and ring 0333 366 0103 now — the rest can wait when AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. In Hampton Wick, catching it before your engine runs normally means a drain and a thorough flush on the spot. The rest of this page explains why it takes place and how to ensure it doesn't — useful if you're reading ahead of time.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel car need its own filler?
Plenty of current diesels on the roads around Hampton Wick and Teddington carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the engine. AdBlue's own tank keeps it, and from there it is sent to the exhaust, and there spraying cleans the gas.
Every tank comes with one filler of its own. Many of cars share a single flap for the two, whereas others move the AdBlue filler to your boot or under the bonnet. At the petrol pump, your diesel side gets filled all the time. A driver who has to stop and work out where it goes normally fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less frequently. That gap is where the mistake lives.
Hampton Wick: how AdBlue in your diesel tank takes place
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
On a driveway off Park Road before work, or in the car park outside The Foresters Arms heading home: that is where the hurried top-up happens. Why the rush? As AdBlue runs low your car warns you, and once it's gone, limp mode follows.
Next, the hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old motor — since a rental car, a new motor or a company car places the fillers somewhere your last one did not.
No part halts the pour once it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Hampton Wick or out in Kingston upon Thames.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Whether a Hampton Wick forecourt or a driveway out in Kingston Hill, take a few seconds on these before any is poured in.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is often blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap normally is not. Read it instead of going by where it sits.
- Look at the size: the smaller filler neck is, on many motors, the AdBlue one.
- Look inside your fuel flap: plenty of vehicles have a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If the filler isn't by your diesel cap, it is in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Ask the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — if you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park at the nearest station.
Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever across Greater London that is.
- Not in a rush on the side of Bennet Close, not on a slope, not with the engine running: park and switch off properly.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and speak the name "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew it. It sounds silly. It works.
- Leave the diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Slowly does it, through the bottle's own spout, until it's full or the bottle runs out.
- Close the cap, then check again — making sure the diesel cap stayed closed throughout. After that, start the vehicle.
Find at the second or third step that the bottle went into the wrong tank? That's where you stop. Don't go on to step five.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Hampton Wick?
Do not start your engine: that's where the short order of things begins. Do not switch your ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Filling up with diesel will not thin it: rather than mixing, AdBlue sinks to the base of your tank, right where fuel is taken from.
At a forecourt — Shell, BP or another — the attendants will normally help roll your car away, when you ask. Your own drive in Hampton Wick is where it stays.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if the motor has already run. Leave the M3 — under 5 miles out of Hampton Wick — at the next exit. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Westminster, under 15 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Hampton Wick.
Our arrival in Hampton Wick, and what takes place next
By St John the Baptist Church of England Junior School, close to Hampton Wick Library or on your own drive: wherever the vehicle has stopped, we come to it. Those answers determine this work and our quote, so our technicians ask what was put in, about how much, and whether it has run. During the phone call itself, you hear the quote — ahead of anything else.
Next: draining, then a full flush of the entire system. More than with petrol, it counts with AdBlue: crystals form, certain metals are attacked, and none of it washes away unaided, however long it sits. The fuel filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Before we go, our engineers start it and make sure that it's running smoothly.
Unstarted cars usually need a half-hour job after arrival. The equipment is safe on a busy filling station, and hushed enough for a driveway after dark. Nothing upfront; you settle up that day. Afterwards, a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer are handed to you for your insurer. It's worth looking at your insurance as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover comes with many policies.
About Hampton Wick, for a moment
Hampton Wick is a suburban area in southwest London, situated on the River Thames opposite Hampton Court Palace. Hampton Wick has a low elevation of around 10 metres above sea level and is located near the towns of Kingston upon Thames and Norbiton. Hampton Wick is characterized by its predominantly flat-type housing and its proximity to central London, being approximately 10 miles from Westminster. Hampton Wick offers residents a mix of local amenities and easy access to nearby urban centres.
AdBlue drains round Hampton Wick, and Greater London beyond
Hampton Court and Norbiton are among the places around Hampton Wick, a residential suburb, that the same teams cover, throughout KT postcodes. A postcode starting KT1 4 gets our van to you fastest.
Moving your car isn't necessary. Wherever it stands — near Timothy Bennet (Cobblers Walk) memorial, in a layby en route to Hampton Wick Royal Cricket Club, at home — that is where it gets cleared. Assuming won't help at the back of St John the Baptist Church, on a border, or anywhere awkward to describe; phone and check.
Hampton Wick drivers: the short version
Before you tip, read the cap. AdBlue in the diesel tank regardless? Leave it off then phone 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, across Greater London.