Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Hinton: Why It Occurs
Stop reading for a moment if your diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, and phone 0333 366 0103. Caught before your motor runs, it is normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Hinton. Reading in advance? In that case what follows explains why it comes about and what to prevent it ever happening.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Plenty of newer diesels in Byfield, like those in Hinton, run on two liquids; the motor gets only your diesel. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is sprayed into the exhaust stream to clean it.
There's a filler on each tank. Some vehicles put the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; plenty of others place the two together behind one flap. Diesel gets filled on each forecourt call-out, week in, week out. The AdBlue side is filled far less regularly, normally from a bottle, and usually by someone who has to stop and think where it goes. That gap is where the error lives.
Hinton: how AdBlue in the diesel tank happens
Carelessness seldom explains it. What does is three things coming up at once.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a message from the car, and running dry means limp mode — so a hurried top-up, maybe before work off Hinton Road, perhaps at Woodford Halse Social Club on the way home after work.
The old car's cap is where the hand goes — yet a rental car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers somewhere else. That's the second thing: a new car.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, and so nothing stops the tip once it has started. It takes seconds, be it in Woodford Halse or bang in the centre of Hinton.
The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart
A couple of seconds is all these take — so run through them before you tip anything, on a driveway in Eydon or a forecourt in Hinton.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap usually is not. Read it rather than going by where it sits.
- Check the size: the smaller filler neck is, on many cars, the AdBlue one.
- Check inside your fuel flap: plenty of motors have a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If your filler is not by the diesel cap, it's in the 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 — when you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park at Banbury.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
The day the light goes on, anywhere in Northamptonshire, follow this routine.
- Switch off once parked — flat ground, motor off, and not rushed beside Phipps Road on the verge.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after finding the AdBlue filler and reading it. Daft, yes, but it works.
- Leave the diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Before starting the vehicle, shut the cap and look again that your diesel cap never came off.
Find during the second or third stage that the bottle went in the diesel tank? That is where you stop. Don't go on to step five.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, around Hinton?
Then the order of things is short. Do not start your motor. Keep your ignition off too, since on plenty of diesels switching it on alone runs your pump. Filling up with diesel won't dilute it: rather than mixing, AdBlue drops to the base of your tank, right where fuel is taken from.
Ask the attendants to help roll the vehicle away from the petrol pump if you're on a forecourt — the Texaco, the another forecourt nearby or somewhere else. Your own drive in Hinton is the place it should stay.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if the motor has already run. On the M40, under 10 miles from Hinton, that means the next exit. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Coventry, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Hinton.
When we turn up in Hinton, what happens?
Our van comes to your car wherever it has come to rest — your own drive, near St Mary the Virgin Church, or outside Woodford Halse Church of England Primary Academy. Both the work and the quote depend on three replies — which liquid, which quantity, and whether it's run — so we ask. That price comes on the call, before any van leaves.
After that: a drain, then a full flush of the entire 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. After the fuel filter has been flushed — or renewed, if needed — fresh diesel is added, and then your vehicle gets tested. After that our technicians start the car and confirm it runs properly before we go.
Unstarted cars usually need a half-hour visit from arrival. The equipment is fine on a live filling station, and quiet enough for a residential street after dark. Payment is on the day, not upfront, and you receive the paperwork your insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. While we travel, have a look at your insurance documents; many include cover for misfuelling.
About Hinton and where it is
Hinton is a village in Northamptonshire, situated on the riverside in the East Midlands region of England. Hinton sits at an elevation of 138 metres, with detached housing being the predominant type of accommodation in the area. Hinton is located near several other villages, including Woodford Halse, West Farndon, and Church End, and is approximately 20.6 miles from Coventry. Hinton has a population of around 2191 residents.
AdBlue drains around Hinton and across Northamptonshire
West Farndon and Church End are among the places near Hinton, a village, that the same teams cover, over NN postcodes. Give a postcode beginning NN11 3, and the van gets there fastest.
Shifting your car is not needed. Wherever it sits — near Dryden Hall, on a lay-by heading to Great Central Woodland, on a drive — that is where it is drained. Ring and ask rather than assuming if you are near a border, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of Woodford Halse Library.
Hinton drivers: the short version
Pour nothing until you've read the cap. Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, anywhere around Northamptonshire, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank anyway — and so leave the car off then ring 0333 366 0103.