AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Oakley: Why It Happens and How to Prevent It
Leave the engine and ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103 first — reading can wait when AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. A drain plus a full flush, carried out right where the car sits around Oakley, is usually what it needs if caught before your motor runs. Not happened yet? Further down, the page covers the reasons it takes place and the ways to avoid it altogether.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel car
Many modern diesels in Leigh, as well as Oakley, carry on two liquids; the engine gets just your diesel. Its own tank keeps it, and from there it goes to your exhaust, where a spray cleans the fumes.
Each tank has its own filler. Many of cars share a single flap for the two, while some put the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. Diesel gets filled at every forecourt call-out, again and again. Rarely filled, AdBlue normally goes in out of a bottle, tipped by a driver who has to stop and think what filler it needs. That gap is where the mistake lives.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Oakley: how it occurs
Carelessness seldom causes it. Instead is three things coming up together.
Hurry follows from the warning. The car warns you as AdBlue runs low, and an empty tank sends the vehicle into limp mode — so the top-up gets done quickly, before work on a drive off Oakley Straight, or heading home in the car park at The Willett Arms.
Then, the hand goes for the cap it knew on the old vehicle — because a hire car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers somewhere your last one did not.
A spouted bottle finds no resistance at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. So the pour, after started, keeps on. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Oakley or out in Merley.
Telling the AdBlue filler from the diesel filler
Check these first, at a forecourt around Oakley or a driveway out in East Brook. A few seconds, no more.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap usually isn't. Read it rather than going by position.
- 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. Plenty of vehicles say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If the filler isn't by your diesel cap, it is in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park outside Parkstone (Dorset), ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
Wherever around Dorset the light comes on, this is a routine for that day.
- Switch off after you park — flat ground, engine off, and never rushed beside Sopwith Crescent at the roadside.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly and it does the trick.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave the vehicle on.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Before you start the car, shut the cap and look a second time that your diesel cap was never opened off.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Do not go on to step five.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Oakley?
Do not start your engine: that is where the short order of things begins. The fuel pump starts on plenty of diesels as soon as the ignition is switched on — so keep it off. Don't top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where your fuel is sucked from.
The staff at BP, Shell or any forecourt will normally help to push the vehicle clear if asked. Your own driveway around Oakley is the place it stays.
Where the engine has been run by now, pull over safely and switch the vehicle off. The next junction means where to leave when you're on the M27, under 25 miles from Oakley. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Salisbury, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Oakley.
What occurs when we get there in Oakley
Outside Merley First School, near Canford Church or on your own driveway: wherever the car has stopped, our engineers come to it. We ask what got in, about how much, and whether it's run, because those answers determine the work and the price. Nobody heads out until you have heard the quote by phone.
Emptying the tank comes next, followed by a thorough flush of the fuel system. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not wash out on its own — which is why that counts more here than with petrol. The filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and your car is tested. Before leaving, we fire it up and make sure that it's running smoothly.
With pumps safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough for use outside a house at night, most jobs where your engine has not run take roughly half an hour once our engineers arrive. The insurer usually wants the engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and you get both once the job is done. Payment is on the day, with no deposit. While we travel, have a look at your insurance documents; many carry cover for misfuelling.
About Oakley
Oakley is a suburban area in Dorset, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 36 metres, with detached housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Oakley lies near the villages of Merley, Canford Magna, and St Johns, and is approximately 21 miles from the city of Salisbury. Oakley is also within commuting distance of larger cities, with London being around 94 miles away. Oakley has a population of around 3555 residents.
AdBlue drains round Oakley, and Dorset beyond
Oakley is a residential suburb, and our teams that cover it also work the places around it, Canford Magna and St Johns among them, across the BH postcode area. Give a postcode that starts BH21 1, and the van gets there fastest.
Moving the car is not needed. We drain it where it is — a side street near Broadstone Cricket club, a lay-by on the way to Merley Park Golf Course, a drive. Awkward to pin down, like the back of St John's Church? Close to a county line? Checking is better than guessing, so ring.
The short version for Oakley drivers
Read the cap before you tip. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank all the same, leave it off and ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel clears it where it sits, anywhere in Dorset.