Pillowell: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Avoid It?
Stop reading for a moment if your diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, then call 0333 366 0103. Caught before your motor runs, it's usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Pillowell. The remainder of this page covers why it happens and how to ensure it doesn't — useful if you are reading before it has happened.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
Plenty of current diesels on the roads round Pillowell and The Eaves carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the motor. AdBlue's own tank keeps it, and from there it is sent to the exhaust, and there spraying treats the fumes.
Different tanks, separate fillers. 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. The diesel side is topped up at the pump all the time. Far less commonly, the AdBlue side gets filled — mostly from a bottle, by someone thinking about where it goes. The slip lives in that gap.
Pillowell: how AdBlue in the diesel tank happens
It is seldom carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a message from the car, and letting it run out leads to limp mode — hence a hurried top-up, maybe before work off School Road, perhaps outside The Miner's Arms on the way home that evening.
New-to-you motors come next, too. Rentals, new motors and company cars put their fillers differently, and the hand reaches for the cap used on the old one.
Third, the bottle goes in: a diesel filler or AdBlue one, it slides in as easily, and once the tip begins, no part halts it. It's a few seconds, be it in Phipps Bottom or bang in the heart of Pillowell.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Whether a Pillowell forecourt or a driveway over in Brockhollands, spend a couple of seconds on these before any goes in.
- Position can mislead; the cap does not. AdBlue ones tend to be blue or carry the word "AdBlue" — diesel ones usually don't.
- Look at the size: the smaller filler neck is, on plenty of cars, the AdBlue one.
- A label inside the fuel flap often says which fuel goes where, on many cars. Look for it.
- Cannot see it next to your diesel filler? In that case look beneath the bonnet or inside the boot — the owner's manual will say which.
- Ask the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — if you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park at Lydney.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
The day the light goes on, anywhere across Gloucestershire, follow this routine.
- Not in a rush on the side of Pillowell Road, not on a slope, not with your engine running: park and switch off properly.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly and it does the trick.
- Both under a single flap? Then confirm the cap on your diesel filler is still closed ahead of lifting the bottle.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Only then, start the vehicle: close the cap, check once more, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened.
Find at step two or three that it's already gone into your diesel side? So stop just there. Don't go on to stage five.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Pillowell?
Do not start the engine: that is how the short order of things starts. Leave the ignition off too, because on plenty of diesels switching it on by itself starts the fuel pump. Don't top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is drawn from.
If you are at a forecourt, whether it's the Central Garage or the Co-op, ask the attendants to help push the car clear of the pump. On your own drive around Pillowell? So the car stays where it is.
If your engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. Leave the M5 — under 10 miles out of Pillowell — at the first junction. Roughly how far did it go? Hopping across Pillowell is smaller a job than a run of under 15 miles to Gloucester, and so tell us.
What happens when we turn up around Pillowell
Wherever your car has stopped, be it by Pillowell Community Primary School, beside Pillowell Village Hall or on your own drive, the van comes to it. Which liquid got in, the quantity, and whether it ran: our technicians ask since those replies decide the work and price. Nobody heads out before you have heard our quote by phone.
Then that tank is drained and the fuel system rinsed thoroughly. Much more than with petrol, it matters with AdBlue: the crystals form, certain metals are attacked, and none of that clears away unaided, however long it is left. A test is last: before that, fresh diesel is added, and the fuel filter is flushed or replaced as needed. Before leaving, we fire it up and confirm that it is running correctly.
Unrun cars mostly need a half-hour visit after the moment we arrive. The kit is safe on a busy filling station, and hushed enough for a driveway late at night. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Wrong-fuel cover is included in many insurance policies — so use the wait to look at yours.
About Pillowell and where it is
Pillowell is a coastal locality in Gloucestershire, situated near the Forest of Dean, with Phipps Bottom and Yorkley nearby. Pillowell sits at an elevation of 74 metres, overlooking the surrounding countryside. Pillowell has a population of around 728 people, predominantly living in detached houses.
Pillowell and Gloucestershire: AdBlue drains across the area
Pillowell is a coastal area, and the vans that cover it also work the towns near it, Yorkley and Whitecroft among them, across the GL postcode area. Our van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting GL15 4.
Your car stays where it is. Anywhere it stands — near Saint Paul, in a lay-by en route to Oakenhill Wood, on a drive — that's where it is drained. Ring and ask instead of assuming if you are close to a border, or somewhere hard to describe, like the back of Parkend Baptist Church.
For Pillowell motorists, the short version
Tip no AdBlue till you've read the cap. AdBlue in your diesel tank after all? Leave the vehicle switched off then phone 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, across Gloucestershire.