AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Limehouse: Why It Occurs and How to Prevent It
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? In that case put this page aside a moment, keep your ignition and motor off, then call 0333 366 0103. Around Limehouse, finding it before the engine turns normally means draining and a full flush where it stands. If you're reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it happens and how to make sure it doesn't.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel car need its own filler?
Plenty of modern diesels on the roads about Limehouse and Bow Common carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the motor. The exhaust, not the engine, is where AdBlue ends up: dosed into the gas to fresh it, from its own tank.
Each tank has a filler of its own. Under one flap, side by side: that's the arrangement on many vehicles. On others, AdBlue's filler sits beneath the bonnet or in the boot instead. The diesel side is topped up at the pump all the time. Someone who has to stop and work out where it goes usually fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less frequently. The mistake grows in that gap between them.
How AdBlue in your diesel tank happens in Limehouse
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a message from your car, and letting it run out means limp mode — so a hurried top-up, maybe before work off Rhodeswell Road, or outside Prince Regent on the way home after work.
Unfamiliar cars come second, as well. Rentals, new motors and company motors place their fillers in new places, and the hand reaches for the cap used on the old one.
No part stops the pour after it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. It's seconds, be it in Frank Whipple Estate or right in the heart of Limehouse.
The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart
Before you pour anything, whether on a driveway in Mile End or a forecourt around Limehouse, check these. They take a few seconds.
- Position misleads; the cap does not. AdBlue caps tend to be blue or carry the word "AdBlue" — diesel caps usually do not.
- The size. On plenty of motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- A label inside the fuel flap often says which fuel goes where, on plenty of motors. Look for it.
- Cannot see it next to the diesel filler? In that case look below the bonnet or inside your boot — the handbook will say which.
- The previous driver will know. Ask when you collect a hire car or company car — from the nearest station's car park, say — rather than once the light appears.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
For the day the light appears — anywhere it is across Greater London — a routine to follow.
- Not in a rush on the side of Salmon Lane, not on a slope, not with your engine running: park then switch off first.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once finding the AdBlue filler and reading it. Silly, yes, yet it works.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave the car on.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap, then check once more — making sure the diesel filler stayed closed the whole time. Only then, start the car.
Discover at the second or third stage that AdBlue went in the wrong tank? That is where you stop. Never go on to step five.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank around Limehouse?
The short order of things, beginning with not starting the engine. Don't switch the ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Thinning it with more diesel fails, since AdBlue settles to the base instead of mixing — and that is where your fuel is sucked from.
At a forecourt — Texaco, JET or any other — the staff will normally help roll the vehicle clear, if you ask. Leave it where it is if you are on your own drive in Limehouse.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if the engine has already run. Come off the M11 — under 10 miles out of Limehouse — at the first exit. Roughly how far did it go? Hopping across Limehouse is less a job than a trip of under 3 miles to London, so say.
Our arrival around Limehouse, and what happens next
The van reaches your car anywhere it has come to rest — your own drive, near Locksley Estate Mosque, or outside Sir William Burrough Primary School. Both the work and the quote depend on three replies — which liquid, which amount, and if it's run — so our technicians ask. During the phone call itself, you are told our price — before anything else.
The system is then rinsed thoroughly, after the tank is drained. Much more than with petrol, it counts here: crystals form, some metals corrode, and none of that clears out on its own, however long it is left. After the filter has been flushed — or replaced, if needed — fresh diesel goes in, and then the vehicle is tested. Before we go, our technicians start the engine and make sure that it is running correctly.
Unrun cars mostly need a half-hour job after arrival. The equipment is safe on a busy filling station, and hushed enough for a residential street after dark. Your insurer usually wants an engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and both are yours at the end. Payment comes on the day, with no money upfront. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Limehouse itself
Limehouse is a suburban area in East London, situated on the north bank of the River Thames at an elevation of around 13 metres. Limehouse is characterized by its predominantly flat-type housing and is located close to other nearby places such as the Frank Whipple Estate and Coalmakers Wharf. Limehouse has a population of approximately 27627 residents and is near the historic area of Ratcliff. Limehouse is also just 2.5 miles from the city of London, making it a popular residential choice.
AdBlue drains around Limehouse, and Greater London beyond
Coalmakers Wharf and Ratcliff are among the towns around Limehouse, a residential suburb, that the same vans cover, over E postcodes. Quote a postcode beginning E14 7, and the van gets there quickest.
The vehicle stays where it is. Our engineers drain it where it is — a side street near Swan Girl, a lay-by on the way to Ashpark House Nature Garden, a driveway. Ring and ask instead of guessing if you are close to a border, or somewhere hard to describe, like the back of Salmon Lane Evangelical Church.
For Limehouse drivers, the short version
Always, the cap; after that, the tip. Still AdBlue in your diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel will drain it where it is, anywhere around Greater London: keep the car off then call 0333 366 0103.