Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in New Ground: Why It Occurs
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? In that case put this page aside for now, keep your ignition and motor off, then call 0333 366 0103. Around New Ground, catching it before the motor runs usually leaves draining and a thorough flush where it stands. The remainder of this page covers why it occurs and how to ensure it doesn't — handy if you are reading before it has happened.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
Many newer diesels around Wigginton, like those in New Ground, carry on two fluids; the engine gets just the diesel. Its own tank holds it, and from there it goes to the exhaust, and there spraying cleans the fumes.
Each tank has its own filler. Some vehicles put the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; a lot more have the two together under one flap. Diesel gets filled at each forecourt visit, week in, week out. Someone who has to stop and think where it goes normally tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less commonly. The mistake grows in the gap between them.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in New Ground: how it takes place
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
Haste follows from the warning. The car tells you as AdBlue runs low, and a dry tank puts the vehicle into limp mode — so the top-up gets done in a rush, before work on a driveway off A4251, or on the way home in the car park outside the pub in the village.
New-to-you motors are second, as well. Rentals, new vehicles and company cars place their fillers in new places, and habit reaches for the cap it used on the old one.
Lastly, the bottle fits: diesel filler or AdBlue one, it slides in as easily, and after the pour starts, nothing stops it. It takes a few seconds, be it in Cow Roast or bang in the centre of New Ground.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Be it a New Ground forecourt or a driveway over in Wigginton Bottom, spend a few seconds over these before any goes in.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is regularly blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap normally isn't. Read it rather than going by where it sits.
- On plenty of cars, the size tells: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- Check inside the fuel flap: many vehicles have a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- Can't see it beside the diesel filler? Then look beneath the bonnet or inside the boot — the handbook will say where.
- Ask the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — if you pick up a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park outside Tring.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
On the day the light appears — wherever you are in Hertfordshire — a simple routine to use.
- Switch off after you park — level ground, motor stopped, and not in a rush beside Tring Road on the verge.
- Find the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and say the word "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew it. It sounds silly. It works.
- The diesel cap remains on. When both sit under a flap, confirm it's closed before lifting the bottle.
- Stop once that tank fills or the bottle is empty; before that, pour slowly through the built-in spout.
- Close the cap and check a second time. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
Find at stage two or three that it has already gone into your diesel side? Then stop just there. Never carry on to stage five.
New Ground: already put AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Then the order of things is short. Do not start the engine. Leave your ignition off too, since on plenty of diesels switching it on alone runs your pump. Don't top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is pulled from.
Ask the attendants to help push your car away from the petrol pump if you're on a forecourt — the Texaco, the Shell or anywhere else. Your own driveway around New Ground is the place it stays.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if your engine has already run. New Ground lies under 10 miles from the M1; on it, use the next junction. A short hop across New Ground is a smaller job than a run towards St Albans, under 15 miles away, so tell us about how far it went.
New Ground: what happens when our technicians arrive
Outside St Bartholomew's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, Wigginton, near Newground Farm or on your own drive: wherever the vehicle has stopped, we come to it. Both the work and our quote depend on three answers — which fluid, which amount, and if it has run — so our technicians ask. The price is given on the call, ahead of any van leaving.
Your system is then rinsed thoroughly, once the 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, so it does not wash out on its own. Once the fuel filter has been cleaned — or replaced, if required — clean diesel goes in, and then your car gets tested. Your engine is fired up next and tested to confirm it runs properly, all before our technicians go.
Most jobs are finished in about half an hour once our engineers get there, provided your motor hasn't run — and the pumps our engineers use are safe on a busy forecourt yet quiet after dark outside a house. No money in advance; you settle up on the day. Afterwards, the VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for your insurer. Wrong-fuel cover is part of many insurance policies — so use the wait to look at yours.
About New Ground and where it is
New Ground is a small locality in Hertfordshire, situated on the riverside at an elevation of around 120 metres. New Ground lies near the villages of Cow Roast, Norcott Hill, and Dudswell, and is approximately 12 miles from St Albans. New Ground has a population of around 540 people, predominantly living in detached houses. New Ground is also within commuting distance of London, being about 28 miles from the city centre.
AdBlue drains in New Ground and across Hertfordshire
New Ground is a small village, and our vans that cover it also work the towns around it, Norcott Hill and Dudswell among them, across the HP postcode area. A postcode starting HP23 5 gets the van to you fastest.
Your car stays where it is. We drain it where it is — a side street near Berko Boot Fair, a lay-by on the way to Noman's Friend Wood, a driveway. If you are near a border, or somewhere hard to explain like the back of St Bartholomew's Church, ring and ask rather than assuming.
The short version for New Ground motorists
Read the cap before you pour. AdBlue in your diesel tank after all? Leave the car switched off and call 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, across Hertfordshire.