Why It Occurs and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Otterbourne
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? Then put this page aside a moment, leave the ignition and motor off, and phone 0333 366 0103. In Otterbourne, catching it before the motor turns usually means draining and a full flush on the spot. Nothing happened yet? Below, the rest of the page explains the reasons it takes place and the ways to avoid it for good.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
Many newer diesels on the roads about Otterbourne and Hocombe carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the engine. The exhaust, not the motor, is where AdBlue ends up: dosed into the gas to fresh it, from a separate tank.
Separate tanks, different fillers. Under one flap, next to each other: that's the arrangement on many vehicles. On others, AdBlue's filler is beneath the bonnet or in the boot instead. Topping up the diesel side at the pump happens all the time. A driver who has to stop and work out where it goes usually tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less commonly. The mistake lives in that gap.
How AdBlue in the diesel tank takes place around Otterbourne
Rarely is it carelessness: usually three things coincide.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the car tells you, and if it runs out completely, your vehicle drops into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a driveway off Brooklyn Close before work, or in the car park outside The Old Forge on the way home.
The old car's cap is where the hand reaches — but a rental car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers somewhere else. That is the second factor: a new car.
A spouted bottle finds no obstacle at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. So the tip, once started, carries on. South Down or the middle of Otterbourne: it takes the same few seconds in both.
The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart
Before you pour anything, whether on a driveway in Highbridge or a forecourt around Otterbourne, check these. They take a few seconds.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap usually is not. Read it instead of going by where it sits.
- Check the size: the smaller neck is, on many vehicles, the AdBlue one.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Plenty of motors say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If the filler is not by your diesel cap, it's in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Whoever had it before will know. Ask when you pick up a hire car or fleet car — at Shawford's car park, say — not once the light appears.
Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up
The day the light comes on, wherever around Hampshire, use this routine.
- Turn off once parked — flat ground, engine stopped, and not rushed beside Main Road at the roadside.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once finding the AdBlue filler and read it. Silly, perhaps, but it does the trick.
- The diesel cap remains on. When the two share a flap, confirm it's shut before the bottle comes up.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Only after that, start your car: close the cap, check again, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Leave out stage five altogether.
Put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Otterbourne already?
Brief order, then. Top of that: your engine remains off. On plenty of diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so don't switch the vehicle on. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where the fuel is pulled from — so don't top up with diesel to dilute it.
The attendants at Shell, Esso or another forecourt will normally help pushing the vehicle away if you ask. Leave it where it is if you're on your own driveway around Otterbourne.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if the engine has already run. Come off the M3 — under a mile out of Otterbourne — at the first exit. About how far did it go? Hopping across Otterbourne is less work than a run of under 5 miles towards Winchester, and so tell us.
Our arrival around Otterbourne, and what takes place next
Our engineers come to the car wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside Otterbourne Church of England Primary School, close to Otterbourne Village Hall or on your own drive. Which liquid got in, the amount, and if it ran: our engineers ask because those answers set the work and price. You hear that quote on the phone, before anybody heads out.
Your system is then rinsed thoroughly, after the tank is emptied. Much more than with petrol, it matters here: crystals form, certain metals are attacked, and none of it clears out unaided, however long it is left. The filter cleaned or, where it must be, replaced; clean diesel in; and then a check of your car. Before we go, our engineers fire it up and check that it's running smoothly.
Most jobs are finished in about half an hour once our engineers get there, as long as the motor hasn't run — and the pumps our technicians use are safe on a busy forecourt and quiet at night beside a house. The insurer usually wants an engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and you get both once this job is done. Payment comes on the day, with no deposit. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Otterbourne, for a moment
Otterbourne is a village situated on the banks of the River Itchen in Hampshire, with a low elevation of around 26 metres. Otterbourne lies close to the city of Winchester, approximately 4 miles to the north, and is surrounded by nearby places such as South Down, Allbrook, and Compton. Otterbourne has a population of around 1252 people and is characterised by predominantly detached housing. Otterbourne is located within the South East region of England, about 62.9 miles from London.
Otterbourne and Hampshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Allbrook and Compton are among the places near Otterbourne, a village, that the same teams cover, throughout SO postcodes. Quote a postcode that starts SO21 2, and our van arrives fastest.
No need to move the car. The drain happens right there, whether a drive, a road by St Matthew, or a lay-by towards Greenacres Nature Area. Ring and ask rather than guessing if you are near a border, or somewhere hard to describe, like the back of Brambridge Park House.
The short version for Otterbourne people
Before you tip, read the cap. Still AdBlue in the diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel will empty it wherever it is, anywhere across Hampshire: switch the vehicle off and ring 0333 366 0103.