Why It Occurs and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Pagham
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? Then put this page down for now, leave the ignition and motor off, then call 0333 366 0103. Caught before your motor runs, it is generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is around Pagham. The rest of this page explains why it happens and how to make sure it doesn't — useful if you're reading before it has happened.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
Diesel goes to your motor — but many current diesels driven round Pagham and Church Norton carry a second fluid as well. Kept in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into the exhaust gas to clean it.
Separate tanks, different fillers. On a lot of motors the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. At the pump, the diesel side is topped up all the time. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less regularly, usually from a bottle, and normally by a person who has to stop and think where it goes. The slip lives in that gap.
How does AdBlue in the diesel tank take place around Pagham?
Carelessness rarely explains it. Instead is three things lining up at once.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low your car tells you, and if it runs out altogether, the vehicle goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a driveway off Church Lane before work, or in the car park outside The Lamb Inn on the way home.
The old car's filler is where the hand reaches — but a hire car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers somewhere else. That's the second thing: an unfamiliar vehicle.
Lastly, the bottle goes in: a diesel filler or AdBlue one, it goes in just as easily, and after the tip begins, nothing stops it. Nyetimber or the middle of Pagham: it takes the same few seconds either way.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
A few seconds is all the checks take — so run through them before you pour anything, on a drive in Aldwick or a forecourt in Pagham.
- Position can mislead; the cap does not. AdBlue ones are often blue or carry the name "AdBlue" — diesel caps usually don't.
- Look at the size: the smaller neck is, on plenty of cars, the AdBlue one.
- Look inside your fuel flap: many cars carry a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- The handbook says where it lives if the filler is not next to the diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- Whoever had it before knows. Check as you collect a hire car or company car — from Bognor Regis's car park, perhaps — not when the warning appears.
How to top up without AdBlue in the diesel tank
When the light comes on, wherever around West Sussex, follow this routine.
- Stop somewhere level, motor off, with time to spare — never rushing on the side of Pagham Road.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once you find the AdBlue filler and reading it. Daft, yes, yet it works.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave it on.
- Gently is best, through the bottle's own spout, till it's full or the bottle runs out.
- Close the cap, then look once more — confirm the diesel filler stayed closed throughout. After that, start the vehicle.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you have already poured into your diesel side. Stage five stays out.
Pagham: already put AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start your motor. The fuel pump starts on many diesels the moment the ignition is switched on — and so leave it off. Don't top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where your fuel is pulled from.
The staff at Esso, Asda or any forecourt will normally help pushing your car away if you ask. If you are on your own drive around Pagham, leave the vehicle where it is.
When your motor has been run by now, pull over somewhere safe then turn the vehicle off. Leave the Waterlooville Bypass — under 15 miles out of Pagham — at the next junction. A short hop across Pagham is a smaller job than a run towards Chichester, under 5 miles away, so tell us about how far it went.
Our arrival around Pagham, and what occurs next
Wherever the car has stopped, whether outside Rose Green Infant School, beside Parish Church of Saint Thomas a Becket or at home, our van comes to it. Our engineers ask what went in, roughly how much, and if it has run, because those answers decide this work and our quote. During the phone call itself, you hear the quote — ahead of dispatch.
Next: draining, then a full flush of the whole system. More than with petrol, it counts with AdBlue: crystals form, some metals are attacked, and nothing washes away unaided, no matter how long it is left. Testing comes at the end: before that, fresh diesel is added, and your filter is flushed or changed as needed. The engine is started next and tested to be sure it runs properly, all before our technicians head off.
Using pumps safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs in which your motor has not run need roughly half an hour once our technicians are there. Your insurer usually wants the engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and both are yours at the end. Payment is on the day, with no money upfront. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Pagham and where it is
Pagham is a small coastal village in West Sussex, situated near the city of Chichester and close to the neighbouring communities of Nyetimber, Rose Green, and South Mundham. Pagham has a population of around 1061 residents and is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock. Pagham sits at a low elevation of approximately 3 metres above sea level, making it a low-lying coastal area. Pagham is located about 57.5 miles south of London, making it a relatively accessible rural community.
AdBlue drains across West Sussex, Pagham included
Throughout PO postcodes, our teams covering Pagham — a coastal village — work the nearby spots too, South Mundham and Rose Green included. A postcode starting PO21 4 gets the van to you fastest.
Moving the car isn't needed. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Avisford Park, a side street close to Pagham Parish Council: our technicians drain the car where it is. If you are close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain like the back of Pagham United Reformed Church, ring and ask instead of assuming.
The short version for Pagham people
Before you tip, read the cap. Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, anywhere in West Sussex, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank regardless — so leave it off and ring 0333 366 0103.