Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Horspath: Why It Happens
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? In that case put this page aside a moment, keep your ignition and engine off, and phone 0333 366 0103. A drain and a full flush, done right where the car sits around Horspath, is usually all it takes if found before your engine runs. Reading before the event? In that case the rest explains why it happens and what to prevent it happening at all.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel car
Many current diesels on the roads around Horspath and Shotover Hill carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to 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.
Every tank comes with a filler of its own. Other motors put the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; a lot more have both together under one flap. At the pump, your diesel side is topped up all the time. A driver who has to stop and work out where it goes normally tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less frequently. It is in that gap that the error happens.
Horspath: how AdBlue in your diesel tank takes place
Rarely is it carelessness: normally three things coincide.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the vehicle tells you, and if it runs out altogether, your vehicle drops into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a drive off The Green before work, or in the car park at The Chequers Inn on the way home.
The old car's cap is where the hand reaches — yet a hire car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers somewhere else. That's a second factor: a strange 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. Whether it happens in Cowley or the middle of Horspath, it's the same few seconds.
The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart
Whether a Horspath forecourt or a driveway over in Garsington, take a few seconds on these before anything goes in.
- Where it sits misleads; the cap does not. AdBlue caps are often blue or bear the name "AdBlue" — diesel caps usually do not.
- Many vehicles give AdBlue the smaller neck of the two.
- Look inside the fuel flap: plenty of motors have a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that is where your filler is if it's not by your diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- Picking up a hire or company car, say at the car park at Oxford? Ask the person who drove the vehicle last before leaving, not once the light goes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up
For the day the warning comes on — wherever it is in Oxfordshire — a routine to use.
- Not in a rush on the side of Manor Farm Road, not on a slope, not with the motor running: park then switch off properly.
- Find the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and speak the name "AdBlue" aloud while unscrewing it. It seems daft. It does the trick.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave it on.
- Slowly does it, through the bottle's own spout, until it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Before starting your car, shut the cap and look again that the diesel cap was never came off.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Don't go on to step five.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, around Horspath?
Brief order, then. Top of it: the motor stays off. Don't switch your ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Don't top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where your fuel is pulled from.
If you're at a forecourt, whether it's the Horspath Service Centre or the Tesco, ask the attendants to help roll your car away from the petrol pump. At home around Horspath? Then your car remains put.
If your motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. Leave the Wheatley Spur — under 3 miles out of Horspath — at the next junction. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Oxford, under 5 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Horspath.
What occurs when we turn up in Horspath
Wherever the vehicle has stopped, be it outside Horspath Church of England Primary School, beside St Giles or at home, the van comes to it. Both the work and our quote depend on three answers — what liquid, what amount, and if it has run — so our technicians ask. During the call itself, you hear the quote — before anything else.
Then your tank is cleared and the fuel system rinsed thoroughly. Unlike petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and eats at some fuel-system metals, and none of that clears away unaided. Hence it counts more. Your filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Before we leave, we fire it up and check that it is running correctly.
With pumps safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs where the engine hasn't run take about half an hour once we are there. Paying is on the day, not upfront, and you are given the paperwork your insurer asks for: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About Horspath
Horspath is a village in Oxfordshire, situated on the banks of the River Thames, with a mix of rural and suburban characteristics. Horspath sits at an elevation of 87 metres, close to the city of Oxford, and is surrounded by nearby places such as Cowley and Littleworth. Horspath has a population of around 1175 people, predominantly living in detached houses. Horspath is located near the historic Blenheim estate, and is within commuting distance of London, approximately 47.6 miles away.
AdBlue drains round Horspath, and Oxfordshire beyond
Being a village, Horspath has the same vans as nearby places — Littleworth, Blenheim — all the way across OX postcodes and the wider area beyond. Our van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting OX33 1.
Your car stays put. Wherever it sits — beside Horspath Village Hall, on a lay-by heading to Oxford Road Recreation Ground, at home — that's where it is drained. Tricky to pin down, like the back of Oxford Sports Park? Close to a border? Checking beats assuming, so phone.
In short, for Horspath people
Always, the cap; then, the pour. Even so AdBlue in the diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel can empty it where it stands, wherever in Oxfordshire: keep the vehicle off then ring 0333 366 0103.