AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Middle Park: How It Occurs and How to Stop It
Stop reading a minute when your diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, then call 0333 366 0103. A drain and a thorough flush, carried out right where your vehicle sits in Middle Park, is normally all it takes when found before the engine runs. The rest of this page covers why it happens and how to make sure it doesn't — handy if you are reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel motor: two tanks, two fillers
Many modern diesels in Chinbrook, like those in Middle Park, run on two liquids; your engine takes only the diesel. AdBlue goes to your exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to clean it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Each tank has a filler of its own. Under one flap, next to each other: that is the layout on many motors. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler sits under the bonnet or in your boot instead. Diesel gets filled on every filling station visit, week in, week out. Someone who has to stop and work out where it goes normally tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less frequently. The mistake grows in the gap between them.
How does AdBlue in your diesel tank occur in Middle Park?
It's rarely carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a driveway off Middle Park Avenue before work, or in the car park outside White Hart heading home: that's where the hurried top-up happens. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue runs low the vehicle tells you, and once it's empty, limp mode follows.
Then, the hand reaches for the cap it knew on the old car — because a hire car, a new motor or a company car places the fillers where your last one did not.
Nothing halts the tip once 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 a few seconds, be it in Horn Park or right in the heart of Middle Park.
The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart
Whether a Middle Park forecourt or a drive over in Mottingham, spend a few seconds over these before anything is poured in.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap usually is not. Read it instead of going by where it sits.
- Plenty of motors fit AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- Open the filler flap and check for a label — many vehicles show which belongs in each filler right there.
- The handbook. If your filler isn't by the diesel cap, it's in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park outside Mottingham, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever in Greater London that is.
- Pull in somewhere level, motor off, with time to spare — not rushing on the side of Kingsground.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and say the word "AdBlue" aloud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft. 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.
- Stop once your tank fills or the bottle is empty; before that, pour gently through the built-in spout.
- Only then, start the vehicle: close the cap, check again, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened.
Stop there if you find, at stage two or three, that you have already poured into the diesel side. Stage five is off limits.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Middle Park already?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start your motor. Leave the ignition off as well, since on plenty of diesels switching it on alone starts your pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where your fuel is pulled from — so do not top up with diesel to thin it.
On a forecourt — BP, Esso Express or another — the staff will normally help push the car clear, if you ask. On your own drive around Middle Park? Then your car remains where it is.
Already run? Stop when it's sensible, then turn off. The next exit is where to leave if you're on the M20, under 10 miles from Middle Park. Mileage counts — a quick hop across Middle Park makes a smaller job than driving under 10 miles to London — so say about how far it went.
Our arrival in Middle Park, and what occurs next
Anywhere your car came to rest, be it by Middle Park Primary School, beside Vista Field Outreach Centre or at home, our van comes to it. What fluid was put in, the quantity, and whether it ran: our engineers ask because the replies decide both work and quote. You get that quote on the phone, before anyone sets off.
The system is then purged thoroughly, after that tank is drained. With AdBlue that counts more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it doesn't wash out on its own. A test is last: before that, fresh diesel is added, and your filter is flushed or replaced as needed. The engine is started next and tested to be sure it runs properly, all before we head off.
With pumps fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough for use outside a house at night, most jobs in which the motor has not run take about half an hour after we arrive. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. It is worth checking your insurance while we travel to you: misfuelling cover comes with many policies.
About Middle Park
Middle Park is a suburban area in south east London, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 44 metres. Middle Park is located near several other local areas, including Horn Park, Eltham, and Well Hall. Middle Park is characterized by its predominant housing type, which is flats, and it is home to a population of approximately 4801 residents. Middle Park is also relatively close to central London, being around 8.4 miles away.
AdBlue drains across Greater London, Middle Park included
Eltham and Well Hall are among the places around Middle Park, a residential suburb, that the same vans cover, over SE postcodes. The van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting SE9 5.
No need to move the vehicle. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Harmony Wood, a side street near Newmarket Green Traing and Outreach Unit: we drain the car where it is. Assuming won't help behind Middle Park Community Centre, on a border, or anywhere hard to describe; phone and ask.
The short version for Middle Park motorists
Read the cap before you tip. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, anywhere around Greater London, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless — so leave the vehicle off then ring 0333 366 0103.