Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Kensington: Why It Happens
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? Then set this page aside for now, leave your ignition and motor off, then call 0333 366 0103. A drain and a thorough flush, done just where your vehicle sits around Kensington, is normally what it needs if caught before your engine runs. Reading in advance? In that case the rest covers why it happens and what to prevent it happening at all.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel car need its own filler?
Diesel feeds your motor — but many current diesels driven round Kensington and Stanley hold a second fluid as well. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to clean it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Each tank has one filler of its own. Under one flap, side by side: that is the layout on a lot of motors. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler sits under the bonnet or in the boot instead. The diesel side is filled at the petrol pump all the time. Rarely filled, AdBlue normally goes in from a bottle, tipped by a driver who has to stop and think what cap to use. It's in that gap that the mistake happens.
Kensington: how AdBlue in the diesel tank takes place
It's seldom carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low your 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 Holt Road before work, or in the car park at The New Holt on the way home.
Then your car is new. A hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not, and the hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old one.
A spouted bottle meets no obstacle at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. So the pour, after started, carries on. Whether it takes place in Elm Park or the middle of Kensington, it is the same few seconds.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you tip anything, whether on a driveway in Tuebrook or a forecourt around Kensington, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Blue and marking: an AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap normally does not. Go by the cap, not where it sits.
- On many cars, the size tells: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- A label inside the fuel flap often says which fuel goes where, on plenty of motors. Look for it.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that's where your filler sits if it is not by your diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- Picking up a hire or company car, say at the car park at Edge Hill? Ask the person who drove the car last before you set off, rather than when the light comes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
On the day the warning comes on — wherever you are in Merseyside — a routine to use.
- Park and switch off. Not on a slope, not with your engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Hannan Road.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and speak the name "AdBlue" aloud as unscrewing 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.
- Slowly does it, through the bottle's own spout, until it is full or the bottle runs out.
- Close the cap, and check once more — confirm your diesel cap remained shut the whole time. After that, start the car.
Spot at stage two or three that it's already gone into your diesel side? Then stop right there. Don't go on to step five.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, around Kensington?
The short order of things, starting with no starting the motor. Keep your ignition off as well, because on plenty of diesels it by itself runs the pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where your fuel is drawn from — so do not top up with diesel to thin it.
The staff at Shell, Texaco or another forecourt will normally help to push your car away when asked. On your own drive in Kensington? So the vehicle stays where it is.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if your engine has already run. Kensington sits under 3 miles from the M62; there, take the first exit. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Liverpool, under 3 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Kensington.
Our arrival in Kensington, and what takes place next
Wherever your car came to rest, be it outside Kensington Primary School, beside Cottenham Baptist Church or on your own drive, the van travels to it. Which fluid got in, the quantity, and whether it ran: our technicians ask because those replies decide the work and quote. That price is given over the phone, ahead of any van leaving.
Draining your tank comes next, followed by a full flush of the fuel system. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not wash out on its own — which is why the flush matters more with AdBlue than with petrol. Once the fuel filter has been cleaned — or replaced, if required — fresh diesel goes in, and then your vehicle is tested. Then we fire it up and make sure it runs properly before we go.
If the motor hasn't run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we're there, using pumps that are safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Wrong-fuel cover is part of many insurance policies — so use the wait to check yours.
About Kensington and where it is
Kensington is a suburban area in Merseyside, situated near the coast and approximately 1.3 miles from Liverpool city centre. Kensington sits at an elevation of around 66 metres, with terraced housing being the predominant type of accommodation in the area. Kensington is close to nearby places such as Elm Park, Edge Hill, and Everton, and is home to a population of around 15674 people. Kensington is also located at a significant distance from London, at around 177.2 miles away.
AdBlue drains around Kensington and across Merseyside
Over L postcodes, the vans that cover Kensington — a residential suburb — work the nearby places too, Everton and Edge Hill included. Our van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting L7 2.
The car does not need to shift. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Kensington Park, a side street near Elm Pentecostal Church: our engineers drain the car where it sits. Awkward to explain, like the back of Kensington Library? Close to a county line? Checking beats assuming, and so ring.
Kensington drivers: the short version
First, the cap; then, the tip. Even so AdBlue in your diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel can empty it where it is, anywhere across Merseyside: switch the vehicle off and ring 0333 366 0103.