Why It Occurs and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Kensington
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? In that case put this page aside a moment, leave your ignition and engine off, and call 0333 366 0103. Caught before the motor runs, it's generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is in Kensington. The rest of this page covers why it happens and how to make sure it doesn't — handy if you are reading ahead of time.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel car
Diesel feeds your motor — but plenty of current diesels seen around Kensington and West Kensington carry a second liquid too. AdBlue goes to your exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
There is a filler on every tank. On a lot of vehicles the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is filled at the petrol pump all the time. Far less frequently, the AdBlue side gets topped up — mostly from a bottle, by someone working out where it goes. It is in that gap that the error happens.
How AdBlue in your diesel tank happens in Kensington
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a warning from the car, and letting it run dry means limp mode — hence a hurried top-up, perhaps before work off Kensington High Street, perhaps at The Britannia on the way home after work.
Then, the hand goes for the cap it knew on the old car — because a hire car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not.
Lastly, the spout goes in: diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it goes in just as easily, and once the tip starts, nothing halts it. It takes a few seconds, be it out in Holland Park or right in the centre of Kensington.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Check these before pouring, on a forecourt in Kensington or a drive over in Knightsbridge. A few seconds, no more.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap normally isn't. Read it instead of going by where it sits.
- Check the size: the smaller filler neck is, on plenty of motors, the AdBlue one.
- Open the filler flap and check for a label — plenty of motors show what belongs in which inlet just there.
- Can't find it next to the diesel inlet? In that case look beneath the bonnet or in the boot — the handbook says which.
- Whoever had it before knows. Check when you pick up a rental or fleet car — at Kensington Olympia's car park, perhaps — rather than when the warning appears.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
Wherever around Greater London the light comes on, this is a routine for that day.
- Stop on level, motor off, with time in hand — never hurried on the side of Adam and Eve Mews.
- Daft as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew the cap works — once you have located the filler and read it.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave the car on.
- Stop when your tank fills or the bottle runs dry; until then, tip slowly through its built-in spout.
- Before you start the car, shut the cap and check a second time that your diesel cap never opened off.
Discover at the second or third stage that AdBlue went in the diesel tank? That is where you stop. Do not go on to stage five.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, in Kensington?
Brief list, then. First: your motor remains unstarted. On many diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so don't switch the vehicle on. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where your fuel is drawn from — so don't top up with diesel to thin it.
The staff at Eco, Shell or another forecourt will usually help to push your car away when asked. Your own drive around Kensington is the place it should stay.
When your motor has run already, pull over somewhere safe and turn it off. On the M4, under 5 miles from Kensington, that means the next exit. Mileage counts — a short hop across Kensington is a smaller job than heading under 3 miles to Westminster — so say about how far it went.
What occurs when we turn up in Kensington
By St Mary Abbots CofE Primary School, close to High Street Kensington Farmers' Market or on your own driveway: wherever your car has stopped, our engineers come to it. Our technicians ask what got in, about how much, and if it's run, because those replies determine the work and our price. On the call itself, you are told the quote — before anything else.
Your system is then rinsed thoroughly, once your tank is drained. More than with petrol, it matters here: crystals build up, certain metals corrode, and nothing clears out on its own, however long it sits. After your filter has been flushed — or replaced, where required — clean diesel is added, and then your car is tested. We do not leave until it has been fired up and is running correctly.
If your motor has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there, using pumps that are fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night. No money upfront; you settle up on the day. At the end, a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer are handed to you for the insurer. It is worth checking your insurance while we travel to you: misfuelling cover is included with many policies.
About Kensington
Kensington is a densely populated locality in central London, situated approximately 2.9 miles west of Westminster. Kensington sits at a relatively low elevation of around 20 metres, and its population of around 9877 people predominantly reside in flats. Kensington is surrounded by other notable areas, including Holland Park, Earls Court, and South Kensington, and is a significant part of the wider London urban landscape.
AdBlue drains about Kensington, and Greater London beyond
Being a neighbourhood, Kensington shares its vans surrounding areas — Earls Court, South Kensington — all the way across W postcodes and the wider area around them. Our van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting W8 7.
Your car remains put. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Iverna Court Garden, a side street near Kensington Central Library: our engineers drain the car where it is. Assuming won't help behind St Sarkis Armenian Church, close to a boundary, or somewhere awkward to describe; phone and check.
The short version for Kensington motorists
Before you pour, read the cap. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, anywhere in Greater London, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank regardless — and so leave the vehicle off and ring 0333 366 0103.