AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Overtown: Why It Occurs and How to Avoid It
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave the engine and your ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103. Caught before the engine runs, it is normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Overtown. The remainder of this page explains why it occurs and how to make sure it does not — useful if you're reading before it has happened.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel car need its own filler?
Plenty of newer diesels around North Wroughton, like those in Overtown, run on two fluids; your engine takes just your diesel. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to clean it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Each tank has its own filler. Some vehicles keep the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; a lot more have both together under one flap. Topping up the diesel side at the petrol pump happens constantly. Someone who has to stop and think where it goes normally tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less frequently. The mistake lives in that gap.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Overtown: how it takes place
Carelessness rarely explains it. What does is three things lining up together.
Haste 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 in a rush, before work on a drive off Overtown Lane, or heading home in the car park at The Brown Jack.
The old car's filler is where the hand goes — yet a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers elsewhere. That's a second thing: a strange motor.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, so nothing stops the tip after it has started. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Overtown or out in Hodson.
Telling the AdBlue filler from your diesel filler
A few seconds is all these take — so check them before you tip anything, on a driveway in Wichelstowe or a forecourt around Overtown.
- Colour and lettering: an AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap normally doesn't. Trust the cap, not its position.
- On many cars, the size tells: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Many motors say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If the filler isn't by the diesel cap, it is in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The person who drove it last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park outside Swindon, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
For the day the light appears — anywhere you are across Wiltshire — a routine to follow.
- Switch off after you park — flat ground, motor off, and never rushed beside Langton Park on the verge.
- Daft as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew the cap works — after you have found your filler and read the cap.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave the vehicle on.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the vehicle.
Spot at step two or three that it's already gone into the diesel side? So stop right there. Never go on to step five.
Overtown: already put AdBlue in your diesel tank?
The short order of things, starting with no starting your motor. Don't switch the ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Filling up with diesel will not dilute it: instead, AdBlue sinks to the bottom of your tank, just where fuel is taken from.
If you are on a forecourt, whether it's the Esso or the Shell, ask the staff to help push your car away from the pump. Your own driveway in Overtown is the place it should stay.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if your motor has already run. Overtown lies under 3 miles from the M4; on it, take the next exit. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Bath, under 50 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Overtown.
Overtown: what occurs when our engineers get there
Our van comes to the car anywhere it has come to rest — your own drive, near RAF Princess Alexandra Hospital, or by Wroughton Infant School. Both the work and our quote depend on three answers — what liquid, what quantity, and whether it's run — so we ask. That quote comes on the call, before any van leaves.
Then your tank is cleared and the fuel system cleaned thoroughly. More than with petrol, it counts here: the crystals build up, certain metals corrode, and none of it washes out unaided, however long it sits. The filter cleaned or, where needed, replaced; clean diesel in; and then a check of the vehicle. Your engine is started next and checked to confirm it runs smoothly, all before we head off.
Unrun vehicles mostly need a half-hour visit from arrival. The equipment is safe on a live filling station, and quiet enough for a driveway late at night. Nothing upfront; you settle up on the day. At the end, the VAT invoice and a report from the engineer are handed to you for your insurer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Overtown
Overtown is a small suburban area in Wiltshire, situated inland at an elevation of 186 metres. Overtown lies near the villages of Hodson, Elcombe, and Wroughton, and is approximately 26.5 miles from the city of Bath. Overtown has a population of around 608 people, with semi-detached housing being the predominant type in the area. Overtown is also within commuting distance of London, being around 71 miles to the west of the capital.
AdBlue drains across Wiltshire, Overtown included
As a residential suburb, Overtown has the same vans as surrounding areas — Elcombe, Wroughton — right across SN postcodes and the surrounding area beyond. Our van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting SN4 0.
Moving the car isn't needed. Draining happens on the spot, be it a driveway, a street by Cipher Wave, or a layby towards Lord's Copse. If you are close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to describe like the back of Swindon Karting Arena, ring and ask rather than guessing.
Overtown people: the short version
First, the cap; then, the tip. AdBlue in the diesel tank after all? Keep the vehicle switched off then phone 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, across Wiltshire.