AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Oad Street: Why It Occurs and How to Stop It
Pause reading a minute if the diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, and call 0333 366 0103. Normally, when your engine hasn't turned, it's emptied and fully purged where your car is in Oad Street. Not happened yet? Further down, the rest of the page explains the reasons it occurs and the ways to prevent it for good.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel car need its own filler?
Diesel goes to your motor — but plenty of current diesels seen round Oad Street and Chestnut Street hold a second liquid as well. Its own tank holds it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, where spraying cleans the fumes.
Every tank has a filler of its own. Some cars keep the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; a lot more place the two side by side behind one flap. Filling your diesel side at the pump happens all the time. Much less regularly, the AdBlue side gets filled — normally from a bottle, by a person thinking about where it goes. That gap is where the slip lives.
Oad Street: how AdBlue in the diesel tank occurs
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the car 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 driveway off Munsgore Lane before work, or in the car park at The Maypole on the way home.
The old car's filler is where your hand goes — but a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car keeps the fillers somewhere else. That's the second thing: a strange motor.
Lastly, the spout goes in: diesel filler or AdBlue one, it goes in just as readily, and after the pour starts, no part stops it. It takes seconds, whether in Stiff Street or right in the centre of Oad Street.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Check these first, at a forecourt in Oad Street or a drive over in Borden Hill. A few seconds, no more.
- Read the cap instead of going by position: AdBlue caps are often blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps usually aren't.
- The size. On plenty of cars the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Many motors say there which fuel goes where.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that's where your filler is if it's not by the diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- Check with 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 at Newington.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever around Kent that is.
- Pull in somewhere level, engine off, with time in hand — not rushing on the side of M2.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it does the trick.
- Leave the diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Stop when that tank fills or the bottle runs dry; until then, tip gently using the built-in spout.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
Find during the second or third step that AdBlue went in the diesel tank? That is where you stop. Never go on to stage five.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Oad Street?
Don't start the motor: that is where the short order of things starts. The fuel pump starts on many diesels as soon as the ignition goes on — and so keep it off. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where your fuel is pulled from — so don't top up with diesel to thin it.
If you are on a forecourt, whether it's the Texaco or the another forecourt nearby, ask the staff to help push the car clear of the pump. If you're on your own driveway around Oad Street, leave it where it sits.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if the engine has already run. Oad Street sits under a mile from the M2; on it, take the first junction. A short hop across Oad Street is a smaller job than a run towards Southend-on-Sea, under 15 miles away, and so tell us roughly how far it went.
When our engineers turn up around Oad Street, what takes place?
Wherever the vehicle came to rest, whether by Borden Church of England Primary School, near Borden Church or at home, the van comes to it. What liquid was put in, the quantity, and whether it ran: we ask since those answers decide the work and quote. You hear that price on the phone, before anybody sets off.
After that: draining, then a full flush of the entire system. Much more than with petrol, it counts with AdBlue: the crystals build up, certain metals corrode, and nothing washes away on its own, however long it sits. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the car is tested. We don't leave until it has been started and is running correctly.
Most jobs are finished in roughly half an hour once our engineers arrive, provided your motor hasn't run — and the pumps we use are safe on a live forecourt yet quiet at night outside a house. No money upfront; you settle up that day. At the end, the VAT invoice and the report from the engineer go to you for your insurer. It's worth looking at your policy as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover comes with plenty of policies.
About Oad Street, for a moment
Oad Street is a small hamlet in Kent, situated inland at an elevation of around 75 metres. Oad Street lies near several other small settlements, including Stiff Street, Danaway, and Hearts Delight, and is approximately 14.7 miles from Southend-on-Sea. Oad Street is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock and is home to around 612 residents. Oad Street is also relatively close to London, at a distance of 37.1 miles.
Oad Street and Kent: AdBlue drains across the area
Being a rural hamlet, Oad Street has the same vans as nearby areas — Danaway, Hearts Delight — all the way through ME postcodes and the wider area beyond. A postcode starting ME9 8 gets our van to you fastest.
The car doesn't need to shift. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Frid Wood, a side street close to Bredgar Church: we drain the car where it is. Tricky to explain, like the back of Bredgar Village Hall? By a county line? Asking beats assuming, so phone.
The short version for Oad Street people
Read the cap before you pour. AdBlue in the diesel tank after all? Leave the vehicle switched off and call 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, across Kent.