Why It Happens and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Hazler
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? In that case put this page aside a moment, keep the ignition and motor off, and ring 0333 366 0103. In Hazler, finding it before the motor runs normally leaves a drain and a thorough flush where it stands. The rest of this page explains why it takes place and how to make sure it doesn't — handy if you are reading before it has happened.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
Plenty of modern diesels on the roads about Hazler and Cunnery carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your 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.
Each tank has a filler of its own. Under one flap, next to each other: that's the arrangement on many vehicles. On others, AdBlue's filler is beneath the bonnet or in your boot instead. Topping up your diesel side at the petrol pump happens constantly. The AdBlue side is filled far less commonly, normally from a bottle, and normally by someone who has to stop and think where it goes. It's in the gap that the mistake happens.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Hazler: how it takes place
Rarely is it carelessness: normally three things coincide.
On a drive off Caradoc Drive before work, or in the car park at Kings Arms on the way home: that is where the rushed top-up takes place. Why the rush? As AdBlue runs low the vehicle warns you, and once it is empty, limp mode follows.
Then, the hand reaches for the cap it knew on the old car — because a hire car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers somewhere your last one didn't.
No part stops the tip after it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. Battle Field or the heart of Hazler: it is the same few seconds either way.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Whether a Hazler forecourt or a drive out in Ashbrook, spend a couple of seconds over these before anything is poured in.
- Colour and lettering: an AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap normally does not. Go by the cap, not its position.
- The size. On many cars the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- Lift the filler flap and check for a label — plenty of motors mark what belongs in which inlet just there.
- Can't find it next to your diesel filler? Then look below the bonnet or inside your boot — the owner's manual says where.
- Collecting a hire or company car, say at the car park at Church Stretton? Check with the person who drove the vehicle last before leaving, rather than when the light goes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in the diesel tank
The day the light comes on, wherever around Shropshire, follow this routine.
- Not in a rush on the side of The Meadows, not on a slope, not with your engine running: park then switch off properly.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and say the word "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew it. It sounds silly. It works.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Stop once that tank is topped up or the bottle runs dry; until then, pour gently through the built-in spout.
- Close the cap and check once more. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start your car.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Step five is off limits.
Hazler: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Don't start your engine: that is how the short order of things starts. The fuel pump starts on many diesels the moment the ignition goes on — and so leave it off. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where your fuel is pulled from — so don't top up with diesel to dilute it.
If you're at a forecourt, whether it's the Applegreen or the another forecourt nearby, ask the staff to help push your car clear of the petrol pump. Your own drive in Hazler is the place it should stay.
Already started? Stop when it is sensible, then turn off. On the M54, under 15 miles from Hazler, that means the next exit. About how far did it go? Hopping across Hazler is smaller a job than a trip of under 50 miles to Wolverhampton, so say.
Our arrival in Hazler, and what takes place next
We come to the vehicle wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside St Lawrence CofE Primary School, near St Milburga or on your own drive. Those answers decide the work and the price, so our engineers ask what was put in, about how much, and if it has run. You get that price on the phone, before anyone sets off.
Draining the tank comes next, then a full flush of the fuel system. With AdBlue that counts more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own. Filter flushed or, where it must be, replaced; clean diesel in; then a check of the vehicle. Before leaving, our technicians fire it up and check that it's running smoothly.
Most jobs are done in roughly half an hour once our technicians arrive, as long as your engine has not run — and the pumps we use are fine on a busy forecourt yet quiet at night outside a house. Your insurer usually wants the engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and you get both at the end. Payment is on the day, with no deposit. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About Hazler and where it is
Hazler is a suburban area situated on the riverside in Shropshire, with a mix of detached housing and a population of around 1298 residents. Hazler sits at an elevation of 224 metres, overlooking the surrounding countryside and nearby places such as Battle Field and Church Stretton. Hazler is located near the town of Church Stretton and is approximately 28 miles from Wolverhampton, making it a relatively rural suburb. Hazler's proximity to Worldsend also adds to its scenic value.
AdBlue drains round Hazler, and Shropshire beyond
As a residential suburb, Hazler has the same vans as surrounding places — Church Stretton, Worldsend — right through SY postcodes and the surrounding area around them. Give a postcode beginning SY6 7, and our van gets there quickest.
Your car stays where it is. A driveway, a lay-by on the way to Sandford Avenue Park, a side street close to Church Stretton Methodist Church: our engineers drain the car where it stands. Tricky to explain, like the back of Church Stretton Town Council? By a county line? Asking is better than guessing, and so ring.
For Hazler motorists, the short version
Before you pour, read the cap. AdBlue in the diesel tank after all? Leave the car switched off then ring 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, throughout Shropshire.