Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Kings Acre: Why It Happens
Keep the engine and ignition off and ring 0333 366 0103 now — the rest can wait when AdBlue is already in your diesel tank. In Kings Acre, finding it before the engine runs normally leaves a drain and a full flush on the spot. The rest of this page explains why it takes place and how to ensure it does not — useful if you are reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
Plenty of newer diesels around Stretton Sugwas, as well as Kings Acre, carry on two liquids; your engine gets just your diesel. AdBlue's own tank holds it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, where a spray cleans the fumes.
Every tank has one filler of its own. On a lot of vehicles the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. At the pump, your diesel side is topped up constantly. A driver who has to stop and think where it goes usually tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less commonly. That gap is where the slip lives.
Kings Acre: how AdBlue in your diesel tank takes place
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a warning from the car, and running dry leads to limp mode — so a hurried top-up, perhaps before work off Breinton Lee, perhaps outside Bay Horse Inn on the way home that evening.
The old car's cap is where the hand goes — but a hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers somewhere else. That's a second thing: an unfamiliar car.
No part halts the tip after it has started, because a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. Huntington or the middle of Kings Acre: it is the same few seconds in both.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Look at these first, on a forecourt in Kings Acre or a driveway over in Lower Breinton. A few seconds, no more.
- Check the cap rather than going by position: AdBlue caps are frequently blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps usually aren't.
- Look at the size: the smaller neck is, on many vehicles, the AdBlue one.
- Open the filler flap and look for a label — many vehicles show what goes in each inlet right there.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that is where your filler is if it is not by your diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- Whoever had it before will know. Ask when you collect a rental or fleet car — at Hereford's car park, perhaps — not when the warning comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
Wherever across Herefordshire the light comes on, this is a routine for the day.
- Not in a rush on the side of Conifer Walk, not on a slope, not with your motor running: park then switch off properly.
- Daft as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap works — once you have located the filler and read it.
- Both under a single flap? So confirm the lid on your diesel filler is still closed before raising the bottle.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Only after that, start the vehicle: close the cap, check a second time, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened.
Discover during the second or third stage that AdBlue went in the wrong tank? That's where you stop. Do not go on to step five.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Kings Acre already?
What follows is a short order of things, starting with not starting the motor. Keep the ignition off too, because on many diesels switching it on alone runs your fuel pump. Thinning it with more diesel won't work, since AdBlue sinks to the base instead of blending — and that is where the fuel is drawn from.
Ask the attendants to help roll the vehicle clear of the petrol pump if you're at a forecourt — the Shell, the Asda Express or anywhere else. Your own driveway around Kings Acre is the place it should stay.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if the engine has already run. Come off the M50 — under 15 miles out of Kings Acre — at the first exit. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Hereford, under 3 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Kings Acre.
When we turn up in Kings Acre, what happens?
By Stretton Sugwas CofE Academy, close to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or on your own driveway: wherever the car has stopped, our technicians come to it. Which liquid got in, the quantity, and whether it ran: our engineers ask since the replies decide both work and price. The price comes on the call, ahead of any van leaving.
Then that tank is cleared and the fuel system rinsed thoroughly. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own — which is why the flush matters more with AdBlue than with petrol. After the filter has been flushed — or renewed, where needed — clean diesel goes in, and then your car is tested. The motor is started next and tested to make sure it runs properly, all before our engineers leave.
Unstarted vehicles mostly need a half-hour visit after the moment we arrive. The kit is safe on a busy filling station, and quiet enough for a driveway late at night. No money in advance; you settle up on the day. Afterwards, a VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for the insurer. Wrong-fuel cover is part of many insurance policies — so make use of the wait to look at yours.
About Kings Acre itself
Kings Acre is a small village in Herefordshire, situated approximately 2.4 miles from the city of Hereford. Kings Acre lies in a low-lying area at an elevation of around 70 metres, surrounded by nearby places such as Huntington and Upper Breighton. Kings Acre has a population of around 537 people, predominantly living in detached houses.
Kings Acre and Herefordshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Being a rural village, Kings Acre has the same vans as nearby areas — Upper Breinton, Swainshill — right through HR postcodes and the wider area around them. Our van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting HR4 0.
Shifting your car isn't necessary. A driveway, a lay-by on the way to Wyevale Wood, a side street near Breinton Village Hall: our technicians drain the vehicle where it is. Awkward to pin down, like the back of Memorial Cross? By a border? Asking beats assuming, and so phone.
The short version for Kings Acre drivers
Pour nothing till you've read the cap. AdBlue in your diesel tank regardless? Leave the vehicle switched off then ring 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, throughout Herefordshire.