Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Harrietsham: Why It Occurs
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? In that case put this page down a moment, keep your ignition and motor off, then ring 0333 366 0103. A drain plus a thorough flush, carried out just where the car stands around Harrietsham, is normally all it needs when caught before the engine runs. Nothing happened yet? Below, the page covers the why it takes place and the how to prevent it for good.
AdBlue in a diesel motor: two tanks, two fillers
No single liquid but two: that is what plenty of modern diesels around Harrietsham and Sandway carry, with diesel feeding the engine. AdBlue goes to your exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Separate tanks, separate fillers. On a lot of cars the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. Filling your diesel side at the petrol pump goes on constantly. Someone who has to stop and work out where it goes normally tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less commonly. The mistake grows in the gap between them.
How AdBlue in your diesel tank happens in Harrietsham
Carelessness rarely causes it. Instead is three things lining up at once.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the car tells you, and if it runs out completely, the vehicle goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a drive off Ashford Road before work, or in the car park outside The Roebuck on the way home.
Then, your hand goes for the cap it would have used on the old car — since a hire car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers somewhere your last one didn't.
A spouted bottle meets no resistance at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. So the pour, after started, carries on. It's seconds, be it out in Chegworth or bang in the heart of Harrietsham.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Be it a Harrietsham forecourt or a driveway out in Fairbourne Heath, spend a couple of seconds on these before any goes in.
- Position can mislead; the cap does not. AdBlue ones are often blue or bear the name "AdBlue" — diesel caps usually do not.
- Look at the size: the smaller filler neck is, on plenty of cars, the AdBlue one.
- A label inside your fuel flap frequently says which fuel goes where, on many cars. Check for it.
- Cannot see it next to your diesel inlet? In that case check beneath the bonnet or in your boot — the handbook says which.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park at the nearest station, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
When the light goes on, wherever in Kent, follow this routine.
- Not in a rush on the side of West Street, not on a slope, not with your engine running: park and switch off first.
- Silly as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew the cap does the trick — after you have located the filler and read it.
- Both under a single flap? Then make sure the cap on the diesel filler is still shut before lifting the bottle.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap, then check once more — making sure your diesel cap stayed shut the whole time. Only then, start the vehicle.
Discover at the second or third stage that the bottle went into the wrong tank? That is where you stop. Never go on to stage five.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Harrietsham?
What follows is a short order of things, starting with no starting your motor. Keep the ignition off as well, since on many diesels switching it on by itself runs the pump. Do not top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where the fuel is sucked from.
Ask the staff to help roll the car away from the pump if you are at a forecourt — the BP, the Esso or anywhere else. Your own driveway in Harrietsham is the place it should stay.
When your motor has been run already, pull over somewhere safe then turn it off. The next exit is the place to leave when you're on the M20, under a mile from Harrietsham. About how far did it go? Crossing Harrietsham is less a job than a run of under 25 miles towards Canterbury, so tell us.
Harrietsham: what takes place when our technicians get there
The van reaches the vehicle anywhere it stopped — your own drive, near Catholic Church of the Good Shepherd, or outside Harrietsham Church of England Primary School. Our engineers ask what got in, roughly how much, and if it has run, since the replies decide this work and the quote. On the phone call itself, you are told the price — before anything else.
Emptying that tank comes next, then a full flush of the system. More than with petrol, it matters here: the crystals build up, certain metals corrode, and none of that clears out unaided, however long it sits. The filter flushed or, where it must be, replaced; clean diesel in; and then a check of the car. After that our technicians start it and confirm it runs properly before leaving.
Using pumps fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs in which the motor hasn't run need roughly half an hour once our engineers arrive. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. It is worth checking your policy as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover comes with plenty of policies.
About Harrietsham itself
Harrietsham is a village in Kent, situated on the banks of the River Medway at an elevation of around 88 metres. Harrietsham lies near the villages of Chegworth and Platts Heath, and is connected to the nearby city of Canterbury. Harrietsham has a mix of housing types, with semi-detached homes being the most common. Harrietsham is located approximately 39 miles from London, making it a commuter village with easy access to the capital.
AdBlue drains in Harrietsham and across Kent
Harrietsham is a village, and our teams that cover it also work the places near it, Horsalls and Platts Heath among them, across the ME postcode area. Quickest of all: quote a ME17 1 postcode to our van.
The vehicle remains where it is. Draining happens right there, be it a drive, a road near War Memorial, or a layby towards Booth Field. Assuming doesn't help at the back of St John The Baptist, close to a border, or anywhere awkward to pin down; ring and ask.
Harrietsham drivers: the short version
Pour nothing till you have read the cap. AdBlue in your diesel tank regardless? Keep it off and phone 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, across Kent.