Why It Happens and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Knightsbridge
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? Then set this page down a moment, keep the ignition and motor off, then call 0333 366 0103. A drain and a full flush, carried out just where your vehicle stands in Knightsbridge, is normally what it takes when found before the engine runs. The remainder of this page covers why it occurs and how to make sure it doesn't — useful if you're reading before it has happened.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel car need its own filler?
Plenty of newer diesels on the roads around Knightsbridge and Chelsea carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the engine. Kept in a tank of its own, AdBlue is sprayed into your exhaust stream and cleans it.
Each tank has a filler of its own. Under one flap, side by side: that's the layout on many vehicles. On others, AdBlue's filler is beneath the bonnet or in your boot instead. At the pump, your diesel side is topped up constantly. The AdBlue side is topped up far less frequently, usually from a bottle, and normally by a person who has to stop and think where it goes. The slip lives in that gap.
How AdBlue in the diesel tank takes place around Knightsbridge
Rarely is it carelessness: usually three things line up.
On a driveway off Exhibition Road before work, or in the car park at Eastside on the way home: that's where the rushed top-up takes place. Why the rush? As AdBlue gets low your car warns you, and if it is gone, limp mode follows.
New-to-you motors come next, as well. Rentals, new motors and company vehicles place their fillers differently, and the hand reaches for the cap used on the old one.
Lastly, the spout fits: diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it slides in just as easily, and once the pour begins, no part halts it. It's seconds, whether out in Brompton or bang in the centre of Knightsbridge.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you pour anything, whether on a driveway in Bayswater or a forecourt in Knightsbridge, check these. They take a few seconds.
- Check the cap rather than going by where it sits: AdBlue caps are often blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps normally are not.
- On plenty of vehicles, size tells: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- Check inside your fuel flap: many cars carry a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If your filler isn't by the diesel cap, it is in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Check with 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 London Paddington.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
On the day the light comes on — anywhere you are around Greater London — a simple routine to use.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with your motor running, and not in a rush on the side of Montrose Court.
- Find the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and say the word "AdBlue" aloud while unscrewing it. It seems silly. It does the trick.
- The two under one flap? So make sure the lid on your diesel side stays shut ahead of raising the bottle.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Only then, start your car: close the cap, check a second time, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened.
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 your diesel tank already, around Knightsbridge?
The short order of things, starting with not starting the motor. The fuel pump starts on plenty of diesels the moment your ignition goes on — and so leave it off. Don't top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is sucked from.
Ask the attendants to help push the car clear of the petrol pump if you are at a forecourt — the Shell, the Gulf or somewhere else. Your own driveway in Knightsbridge is where it should stay.
Already started? Pull over when it's sensible, then switch off. Knightsbridge lies under 5 miles from the M4; there, use the first junction. Roughly how far did it go? Hopping across Knightsbridge is less work than a trip of under 3 miles to Westminster, and so say.
Our arrival around Knightsbridge, and what occurs next
Our van comes to the vehicle wherever it has come to rest — your own drive, near Ethos Gym, or by Our Lady of Victories RC Primary School. Which liquid got in, the quantity, and whether it ran: our engineers ask because the answers set the work and quote. The price is given on the call, before any van leaves.
Then that tank is cleared and the fuel system flushed thoroughly. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it doesn't wash out on its own — which is why that counts more with AdBlue than with petrol. Testing comes last: before that, clean diesel is added, and your filter is flushed or changed as needed. The motor is fired up next and tested to confirm it runs smoothly, all before our engineers leave.
Most jobs are finished in about half an hour once our technicians get there, as long as your engine has not run — and the pumps our technicians use are fine on a live forecourt yet quiet at night beside a house. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Misfuelling cover is included in plenty of insurance policies — and so make use of the wait to look at yours.
About Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge is a suburban area in central London, situated near the Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park, at an elevation of around 23 metres. Knightsbridge is bounded by neighbouring areas such as Brompton, South Kensington, and Kensington, and is located approximately 2.1 miles from Westminster. Knightsbridge is predominantly composed of flat dwellings, accommodating a population of around 7420 residents. Knightsbridge is characterized by its proximity to several of London's major attractions and open spaces.
AdBlue drains in Knightsbridge and across Greater London
Knightsbridge is a residential suburb, and the vans that cover it also work the places near it, South Kensington and Kensington among them, across the SW postcode area. Our van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting SW7 2.
There's no need to shift your car. Our technicians drain it where it is — a side street close to Alumni Visitor Centre, a lay-by on the way to Prince's Gardens, a drive. Guessing doesn't help behind Shackleton, close to a boundary, or somewhere awkward to pin down; ring and ask.
For Knightsbridge drivers, the short version
Before you tip, read the cap. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, anywhere in Greater London, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank regardless — so leave it off and ring 0333 366 0103.