AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Lechlade-on-Thames: How It Occurs and How to Prevent It
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? Then set this page down for now, leave the ignition and motor off, and call 0333 366 0103. A drain and a thorough flush, done right where the car stands in Lechlade-on-Thames, is normally all it takes when caught before the motor runs. Reading in advance? Then what follows explains how it happens and what to stop it ever happening.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel motor
Diesel goes to the motor — yet many current diesels seen about Lechlade-on-Thames and Little Faringdon hold a second fluid too. Your exhaust, not your engine, is where AdBlue goes: sprayed into the fumes to fresh them, from its own tank.
There's a filler on each tank. On a lot of cars the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is topped up at the pump all the time. Far less frequently, the AdBlue side is filled — normally from a bottle, by someone thinking about where it goes. The slip lives in that gap.
How AdBlue in your diesel tank occurs in Lechlade-on-Thames
Carelessness rarely causes it. What does is three things lining up together.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the vehicle tells you, and if it runs out completely, the car goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a drive off Thames Street before work, or in the car park at The Swan on the way home.
The old car's cap is where the hand goes — yet a hire car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers elsewhere. That is the second factor: a strange vehicle.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, so nothing stops the tip once it has started. It's seconds, be it out in Little London or right in the heart of Lechlade-on-Thames.
The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart
Before you tip anything, whether on a driveway in Buscot or a forecourt in Lechlade-on-Thames, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Blue and lettering: an AdBlue cap is regularly blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap normally doesn't. Trust the cap, not its position.
- The size. On plenty of cars the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- Look inside your fuel flap: many motors have a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If your filler isn't by the diesel cap, it's in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Collecting a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park at Swindon? Check with whoever drove it last before leaving, not when the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever around Gloucestershire that is.
- Not in a rush on the side of Bell Lane, not on a slope, not with the motor running: park and switch off properly.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once finding the AdBlue filler and reading it. Daft, yes, but it works.
- Leave the diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check once more. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the vehicle.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you've already poured into your diesel side. Step five is out.
Lechlade-on-Thames: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start your motor. Keep your ignition off too, because on plenty of diesels it alone starts the fuel pump. Thinning it with more diesel won't work, because AdBlue settles to the bottom rather than blending — and that's where your fuel is sucked from.
Ask the staff to help roll the vehicle clear of the pump if you are on a forecourt — the Texaco, the Shell or somewhere else. Leave it where it is if you are on your own driveway around Lechlade-on-Thames.
When your engine has been run already, stop safely and switch the car off. The next exit is where to come off if you are on the M4, under 15 miles from Lechlade-on-Thames. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Oxford, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Lechlade-on-Thames.
When we arrive around Lechlade-on-Thames, what takes place?
Anywhere the car came to rest, be it by St Lawrence Church of England Primary School, beside Lechlade Community Library & Visitor Information Centre or on your own drive, the van comes to it. Both the work and the quote rest on three replies — which fluid, what amount, and whether it has run — so our technicians ask. That quote is given over the phone, ahead of any van leaving.
Emptying the tank comes next, followed by a full flush of your 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. After the filter has been cleaned — or renewed, where needed — clean diesel goes in, and then the car is tested. We don't go until it has been fired up and is running correctly.
If the engine hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there, using pumps that are fine on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night. Your insurer will ask for an engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and you get both at the end. Payment comes on the day, with no money upfront. Misfuelling cover is part of plenty of insurance policies — so use the wait to check yours.
About Lechlade-on-Thames
Lechlade-on-Thames is a small town situated on the southern bank of the River Thames in Gloucestershire, with a population of around 2995 people. Lechlade-on-Thames has a mix of housing types, but is predominantly characterised by detached homes. Lechlade-on-Thames is located near to several smaller settlements, including Little London, Inglesham, and Buscot Wick, and is approximately 19 miles from the city of Oxford. Lechlade-on-Thames sits at an elevation of 79 metres above sea level, in a scenic riverside setting.
Lechlade-on-Thames and Gloucestershire: AdBlue drains across the area
Lechlade-on-Thames is a riverside town, and the vans that cover it also work the places around it, Inglesham and Buscot Wick among them, across the GL postcode area. A postcode starting GL7 3 gets the van to you fastest.
No need to shift the vehicle. The drain happens right there, be it a driveway, a road by St Lawrence, or a lay-by towards Church House, Lechlade. Tricky to pin down, like the back of Lechlade Baptist Church? Close to a border? Asking beats assuming, so phone.
The short version for Lechlade-on-Thames drivers
Before you tip, read the cap. AdBlue in your diesel tank after all? Keep it off then ring 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, throughout Gloucestershire.