AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Oxford: How It Occurs and How to Stop It
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? In that case put this page aside for now, leave the ignition and motor off, and call 0333 366 0103. A drain plus a thorough flush, carried out just where your car sits in Oxford, is usually what it takes when found before your engine runs. The rest of this page explains why it occurs and how to make sure it does not — handy if you're reading before it has happened.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel car need its own filler?
Plenty of current diesels on the roads about Oxford and Whitfield carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your motor. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into your exhaust gas to clean it.
Each tank has its own filler. On a lot of motors the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. Topping up your diesel side at the pump goes on constantly. A driver who has to stop and work out where it goes normally tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less commonly. That gap is where the slip lives.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Oxford: how it takes place
Carelessness seldom causes it. What does is three things coming up at once.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a message from the vehicle, and running dry means limp mode — hence a hurried top-up, maybe before work off Houldsworth Drive, perhaps at The Jester on the way home after work.
Then, the hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old vehicle — since a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not.
Third, the bottle fits: diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it slides in just as readily, and after the tip begins, nothing stops it. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Oxford or out in Fegg Hayes.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
A few seconds is all these take — so run through them before you tip anything, on a driveway in Turnhurst or a forecourt around Oxford.
- Check the cap instead of going by where it sits: AdBlue ones are often blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps normally aren't.
- On plenty of motors, size gives it away: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- Open the flap and check for a label — many cars show which belongs in each inlet just there.
- Can't find it beside the diesel filler? In that case look below the bonnet or inside your boot — the handbook says which.
- Picking up a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park at Kidsgrove? Check with whoever drove the car last before you set off, not when the light goes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
The day the light goes on, anywhere in Staffordshire, use this routine.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with your motor running, and not in a rush on the side of Biddulph Road.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly and it works.
- The diesel cap remains on. Where both sit under a flap, confirm it is shut before lifting the bottle.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Before you start your car, shut the cap and look a second time that your diesel cap was never came off.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Step five is out.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Oxford?
Short order, then. First: your motor stays off. The fuel pump runs on many diesels as soon as the ignition goes on — so leave it off. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is drawn from — so do not top up with diesel to thin it.
Ask the staff to help roll your car away from the petrol pump if you are at a forecourt — the Murco Petroleum, the another forecourt nearby or anywhere else. At home in Oxford? Then the vehicle stays put.
Already started? Pull over when it's sensible, then switch off. On the M6, under 10 miles from Oxford, that means the next junction. About how far did it go? Hopping across Oxford is smaller work than a trip of under 5 miles towards Stoke-on-Trent, so say.
What happens when our technicians turn up in Oxford
By Whitfield Valley Primary Academy, close to St Michael's or on your own driveway: wherever the car has stopped, our engineers come to it. What fluid was put in, the quantity, and whether it ran: our technicians ask since the replies decide both work and quote. Nobody sets off until you've heard the quote over the phone.
After that: draining, then a thorough flush of the entire system. With AdBlue that matters more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own. The filter cleaned or, if it must be, swapped; clean diesel in; then a check of the vehicle. We do not go until it has been started and is running properly.
With pumps safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs in which your engine has not run take about half an hour once our engineers are there. No money upfront; you settle up that day. Afterwards, the VAT invoice and a report from the engineer are handed to you for the insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Oxford itself
Oxford is a suburban area in Staffordshire, situated on the riverside near Stoke-on-Trent, with a mix of semi-detached housing and local amenities. Oxford sits at an elevation of 164 metres, overlooking the surrounding countryside. Oxford is close to nearby places such as Fegg Hayes, Great Chell, and Chell Heath, and is approximately 138.9 miles from London.
AdBlue drains in Oxford and across Staffordshire
Over ST postcodes, the vans covering Oxford — a residential suburb — work the nearby spots too, Chell Heath and Great Chell among them. Quickest of all: quote a ST6 6 postcode for our van.
Your car remains where it is. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Turnhurst Jubilee Woods, a side street close to The Church of the Saviour: our engineers drain the car where it sits. If you're close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain like the back of Chell Heath Local Centre, ring and ask rather than assuming.
In short, for Oxford motorists
Before you tip, read the cap. AdBlue in your diesel tank after all? Keep it off and phone 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, across Staffordshire.