Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Marsh Lane: Why It Happens
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? Then set this page aside for now, keep your ignition and engine off, then ring 0333 366 0103. Normally, if the motor has not turned, it's drained and thoroughly flushed where the vehicle is in Marsh Lane. Reading in advance? In that case what follows explains how it happens and how to prevent it ever happening.
AdBlue in a diesel motor, and its separate tank
Not one fluid but two: that's how many modern diesels around Marsh Lane and Little Drybrook carry, with diesel feeding your engine. Your exhaust, not your motor, is where AdBlue ends up: sprayed into the gas to fresh it, from a separate tank.
Each tank has its own filler. Some cars keep the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; plenty more place the two together under one flap. The diesel side is fuelled at the pump all the time. The AdBlue side is topped up far less often, normally from a bottle, and normally by a person who has to stop and think where it goes. Mistakes happen in the gap between them.
How does AdBlue in the diesel tank happen in Marsh Lane?
It is rarely carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a drive off Marsh Way before work, or in the car park outside Club House heading home: that's where the hurried top-up happens. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low the vehicle tells you, and if it is empty, limp mode kicks in.
The old car's filler is where your hand goes — but a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car keeps the fillers elsewhere. That is a second thing: a new car.
A spouted bottle finds no resistance at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. So the pour, once begun, carries on. It takes a few seconds, whether in Sling or bang in the heart of Marsh Lane.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Be it a Marsh Lane forecourt or a drive over in Milkwall, take a couple of seconds over these before anything goes in.
- Position misleads; the cap does not. AdBlue caps tend to be blue or bear the word "AdBlue" — diesel ones normally do not.
- Check the size: the smaller neck is, on plenty of motors, the AdBlue one.
- Lift the flap and look for a label — many cars mark what goes in each filler right there.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that's where your filler sits if it's not by your diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- Ask the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — if you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park at Lydney.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
Anywhere in Gloucestershire the light comes on, this is a routine for that day.
- Park and switch off. Not on a slope, not with the motor running, and not in a rush on the side of Clements End Road.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it works.
- Both behind a single flap? So make sure the lid on your diesel side is still shut before lifting the bottle.
- Finish when the tank is topped up or the bottle runs dry; until then, tip gently using the built-in spout.
- Before you start the car, shut the cap and look a second time that the diesel cap never opened off.
Find at stage two or three that it's already gone into your diesel side? So stop just there. Never go on to stage five.
Marsh Lane: already put AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Brief list, then. First: the engine remains off. Do not switch your ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. 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 drawn from.
If you're on a forecourt, whether it is the Texaco or the Central Garage, ask the staff to help roll the vehicle clear of the pump. At home in Marsh Lane? Then your car stays where it is.
If the motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. On the M5, under 15 miles from Marsh Lane, that means the next junction. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Gloucester, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Marsh Lane.
Marsh Lane: what occurs when we turn up
Anywhere the car has stopped, whether by Ellwood Primary School, beside Dark Hill or on your own drive, the van travels to it. Which liquid got in, the amount, and if it ran: our engineers ask since the replies set the work and price. That price is given over the phone, ahead of any van leaving.
Then the tank is drained and the fuel system purged 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. After the filter is flushed — or replaced, if needed — fresh diesel is added, and finally your car gets tested. Before leaving, we fire it up and make sure that it's running properly.
Unstarted vehicles usually need a half-hour visit after arrival. The equipment is safe on a live filling station, and hushed enough for a residential street late at night. 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 many insurance policies — and so use the wait to look at yours.
About Marsh Lane itself
Marsh Lane is a small village in Gloucestershire, situated inland at an elevation of 171 metres, with semi-detached housing being the predominant type. Marsh Lane lies near the villages of Sling, Ellwood, and Clements End, and is approximately 16 miles from Gloucester. Marsh Lane has a population of around 895 residents, and is located in the South West region of England, about 107 miles west of London.
AdBlue drains around Marsh Lane and across Gloucestershire
Marsh Lane is a rural village, and our vans that cover it also work the towns near it, Ellwood and Clements End among them, across the GL postcode area. A postcode starting GL16 7 gets our van to you fastest.
The vehicle stays where it is. The drain happens on the spot, whether a drive, a road by Clearwell Caves, or a layby on the way to Stock Wood. Tricky to pin down, like the back of Puzzlewood? By a county line? Checking beats guessing, and so phone.
The short version for Marsh Lane people
Read the cap before you tip. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank anyway, leave it off and call 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, anywhere in Gloucestershire.