Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Hartham: Why It Occurs
Pause here a minute if the diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, then call 0333 366 0103. Around Hartham, finding it before the motor runs normally means draining and a thorough flush on the spot. The rest of this page covers why it takes place and how to make sure it does not — useful if you're reading before it has happened.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
Plenty of newer diesels on the roads around Hartham and Waterford carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your motor. AdBlue's own tank holds it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, and there a spray treats the fumes.
Each tank has its own filler. Under one flap, side by side: that's the arrangement on a lot of cars. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler sits beneath the bonnet or in your boot instead. Diesel gets filled at each filling station visit, again and again. Far less often, the AdBlue side is topped up — normally from a bottle, by someone working out where it goes. Mistakes happen in the gap between the two.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Hartham: how it happens
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the car tells you, and if it runs out completely, your vehicle goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a drive off Mansfield Gardens before work, or in the car park at Bengeo Working Men's Club on the way home.
New-to-you cars come second, too. Hire cars, new motors and company vehicles place their fillers differently, and habit goes for the cap it used on the old one.
A spout-topped bottle finds no resistance at a diesel filler any more than at an AdBlue one. So the pour, once started, carries on. Whether it happens in Bengeo or the middle of Hartham, it is the same few seconds.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Check these first, at a forecourt around Hartham or a driveway out in Pine Hurst. A few seconds, that's all.
- Position can mislead; the cap does not. AdBlue ones tend to be blue or bear the name "AdBlue" — diesel ones normally don't.
- 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. Check for it.
- The handbook. If your filler is not by the diesel cap, it is in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Check with 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 Hertford East.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
When the light goes on, anywhere across Hertfordshire, use this routine.
- Not in a rush on the side of Owens View, not on a slope, not with the engine running: park and switch off first.
- Daft as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew the cap does the trick — after you have located your filler and read it.
- Leave the diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Slowly is best, through the bottle's own spout, till it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check a second time. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the vehicle.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Never go on to step five.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Hartham?
Then the order of things is short. Do not start your motor. Keep the ignition off too, because on many diesels switching it on by itself starts your fuel pump. Topping up with diesel won't thin it: instead, AdBlue drops to the bottom of your tank, just where fuel is taken from.
The staff at Esso, BP or any forecourt will normally lend a hand pushing your car away when asked. Leave it where it is if you're on your own driveway in Hartham.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if your engine has already run. Hartham sits under 10 miles from the A1(M); on it, use the first junction. About how far did it go? Crossing Hartham is less a job than a run of under 15 miles to St Albans, so tell us.
When our engineers get there in Hartham, what occurs?
Wherever the car came to rest, whether by Bengeo Primary School, beside Holy Trinity Bengeo or at home, our van travels to it. Our technicians ask what went in, roughly how much, and if it's run, because the replies determine the work and the price. The price comes over the phone, ahead of any van leaving.
Then your tank is drained and the fuel system rinsed thoroughly. With AdBlue that matters more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not wash out on its own. The filter cleaned or, where needed, replaced; clean diesel in; then a test of the car. Then we start the engine and confirm it runs smoothly before leaving.
Most jobs are finished in roughly half an hour after we get there, provided the motor has not run — and the pumps our technicians use are fine on a live forecourt and quiet after dark outside a house. No money in advance; you settle up on the day. Afterwards, the VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for your insurer. While we travel, have a look at your insurance documents; many include cover for misfuelling.
About Hartham
Hartham is a locality situated on the riverside in Hertfordshire, with an elevation of 72 metres and a mix of semi-detached housing. Hartham lies near the city of St Albans, approximately 11.7 miles away, and is also close to other nearby places such as Bengeo and Hertford. Hartham has a population of around 2954 residents and is located about 20.6 miles from London. Hartham is part of the wider Eastern region of England, with the River Lea flowing nearby.
AdBlue drains across Hertfordshire, Hartham included
As a small village, Hartham shares its vans surrounding places — Hertford, Broadoak End — right through SG postcodes and the surrounding area around them. A postcode starting SG14 3 gets the van to you fastest.
No need to move the car. Wherever it stands — near Bengeo Parish Church Hall, in a lay-by heading to The Warren, on a drive — that's where it is cleared. If you are near a border, or somewhere hard to describe like the back of Hartham Leisure Centre, ring and ask instead of guessing.
For Hartham drivers, the short version
Read the cap before you pour. AdBlue in the diesel tank after all? Keep it off and phone 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, throughout Hertfordshire.