Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Handside: Why It Occurs
Stop here for a moment if the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, and call 0333 366 0103. Around Handside, catching it before the motor turns normally means draining and a full flush on the spot. If you're reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it happens and how to make sure it does not.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel motor
Diesel goes to your motor — yet plenty of modern diesels seen around Handside and Sherrardspark hold a second liquid as well. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Different tanks, different fillers. On a lot of vehicles the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is topped up at the petrol pump all the time. Seldom filled, AdBlue usually comes from a bottle, poured by a driver who has to stop and think what filler to use. The slip lives in that gap.
How AdBlue in your diesel tank takes place around Handside
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a warning from your car, and letting it run dry leads to limp mode — so a hurried top-up, maybe before work off Turmore Dale, or at The Doctor's Tonic on the way home that evening.
Then, the hand goes for the cap it would have used on the old motor — because a rental car, a new motor or a company car places the fillers somewhere your last one didn't.
No part halts the tip 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 Handside or out in Welwyn Garden City.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Look at these first, at a forecourt in Handside or a drive over in Hatfield Hyde. Seconds, no more.
- Where it sits can mislead; the cap doesn't. AdBlue caps are often blue or carry the name "AdBlue" — diesel caps usually do not.
- The size. On many motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- A label inside your fuel flap frequently says which fuel goes where, on plenty of vehicles. Look for it.
- The handbook says which it lives if the filler is not next to your diesel cap: your boot, or under the bonnet.
- Collecting a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park at Welwyn Garden City? Check with whoever drove the vehicle last before you set off, not when the light goes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
On the day the light comes on — anywhere you are across Hertfordshire — a routine to follow.
- Turn off after you park — level ground, motor stopped, and not rushed beside Handside Lane at the roadside.
- Daft as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" aloud as you unscrew the cap works — after you've located your filler and read the cap.
- The diesel cap remains on. Where both sit under a flap, make sure it is shut before lifting the bottle.
- Finish once that tank is topped up or the bottle is empty; until then, pour gently using its own spout.
- Close the cap and check a second time. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the vehicle.
Discover at the second or third step that AdBlue went into the wrong filler? That's where you stop. Don't go on to step five.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Handside?
Then the order of things is short. Do not start the engine. On many diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so don't switch the vehicle on. Topping up with diesel won't dilute it: instead, AdBlue drops to the base of that tank, just where fuel is taken from.
Ask the attendants to help push the vehicle clear of the pump if you are on a forecourt — the Shell, the Esso or somewhere else. If you are on your own drive around Handside, leave the car where it sits.
Where your motor has been run already, pull over safely and turn it off. On the A1(M), under a mile from Handside, that means the next exit. Roughly how far did it go? Hopping across Handside is less work than a trip of under 10 miles towards St Albans, so say.
Our arrival in Handside, and what occurs next
Outside Applecroft School, close to The Barn Theatre or on your own drive: wherever your car has stopped, our technicians come to it. The replies settle this work and the quote, so our engineers ask what was put in, about how much, and if it has run. No one sets off until you have heard the quote over the phone.
After that: draining, then a full flush of the entire system. Much more than with petrol, it counts with AdBlue: the crystals form, some metals corrode, and nothing washes away on its own, however long it sits. The filter cleaned or, if it must be, replaced; clean diesel in; and then a check of the vehicle. The engine is fired up next and checked to make sure it runs properly, all before our engineers go.
If the engine hasn't run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we're there, using pumps that are safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house after dark. No money in advance; you settle up on the day. Afterwards, a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer go to you for your insurer. Wrong-fuel cover is part of plenty of insurance policies — so use the wait to check yours.
About Handside itself
Handside is a suburban area in Hertfordshire, situated approximately 6 miles from St Albans and 20 miles from London. Handside sits at an elevation of around 93 metres, in a gently sloping landscape near the River Lea. Handside is characterized by its predominantly semi-detached housing stock, with nearby places including Welwyn Garden City, Lemsford, and Peartree. Handside has a population of around 4646 residents, making it a modestly sized community.
AdBlue drains around Handside and across Hertfordshire
Lemsford and Peartree are among the towns near Handside, a residential suburb, that the same teams cover, throughout AL postcodes. Quickest of all: give a AL8 6 postcode to our van.
Your car stays put. Anywhere it stands — near Quaker Meeting House, on a lay-by en route to Welwyn Rugby Club, at home — that's where it gets drained. Tricky to pin down, like the back of Welwyn Garden City Synagogue? By a county line? Checking is better than guessing, and so phone.
For Handside people, the short version
Always, the cap; then, the tip. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, anywhere in Hertfordshire, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless — so leave the vehicle off then phone 0333 366 0103.