How It Happens and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Pimlico
Leave your motor and ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103 now — the rest can wait when AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. Caught before your engine runs, it's usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Pimlico. Nothing happened yet? Below, the rest of the page explains the why it occurs and the how to avoid it altogether.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel motor need its own filler?
Diesel feeds your motor — but plenty of newer diesels seen around Pimlico and Nine Elms carry a second liquid as well. Its own tank keeps it, and from there it goes to your exhaust, where spraying cleans the fumes.
There is a filler for each tank. On a lot of cars 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 the diesel side at the pump goes on constantly. Far less frequently, the AdBlue side is filled — normally from a bottle, by someone working out where it goes. The slip lives in that gap.
How AdBlue in the diesel tank occurs in Pimlico
It's rarely carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a drive off St George's Drive before work, or in the car park at The Constitution heading home: that is where the hurried top-up happens. Why the rush? As AdBlue gets low your car warns you, and once it's gone, limp mode follows.
The old car's cap is where your hand goes — yet a hire car, a new vehicle or a company car keeps the fillers elsewhere. That is 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 pour after it has started. It's a few seconds, be it in Millbank or right in the heart of Pimlico.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Before you pour anything, whether on a drive in Vauxhall or a forecourt in Pimlico, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Where it sits can mislead; the cap does not. AdBlue ones are often blue or bear the word "AdBlue" — diesel caps normally do not.
- The size. On many cars the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Plenty of cars say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook says which it lives when your filler is not next to the diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- The previous driver will know. Check as you pick up a hire car or company car — at London Victoria's car park, say — rather than once the warning comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
When the light comes on, wherever around Greater London, follow this routine.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with the engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Denbigh Place.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after you find the AdBlue filler and reading it. Silly, yes, but it works.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Before you start the car, close the cap and look again that your diesel cap was never came off.
Find at the second or third stage that the bottle went in the wrong filler? That is where you stop. Do not go on to step five.
Pimlico: already put AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Brief order, then. First: your motor remains unstarted. On plenty of diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so don't switch it on. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where your fuel is drawn from — so don't top up with diesel to dilute it.
On a forecourt — BP, Shell or any other — the staff will normally help push the car clear, when you ask. At home around Pimlico? So the car stays put.
If your motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. The next exit is where to leave when you are on the M4, under 10 miles from Pimlico. About how far did it go? Crossing Pimlico is less a job than a run of under 3 miles to Westminster, so say.
Pimlico: what occurs when our engineers turn up
Anywhere the vehicle came to rest, whether by Pimlico Primary, near Quite Victorian Actually or at home, our van travels to it. Our engineers ask what got in, about how much, and if it's run, because the replies decide this work and the price. No one sets off before you've heard the price over the phone.
Emptying your tank comes next, followed by a thorough flush of your system. Not like petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and attacks some fuel-system metals, and none of that clears away by itself. That is why it matters more. The filter cleaned or, if it must be, replaced; fresh diesel in; and then a check of the car. Then our engineers start the car and make sure it runs correctly before we go.
Using pumps safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs where your engine hasn't run take about half an hour after our engineers are there. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Wrong-fuel cover is part of many insurance policies — so use the wait to check yours.
About Pimlico itself
Pimlico is a suburban area in central London, situated on the north bank of the River Thames. Pimlico sits at a relatively low elevation of around 13 metres, close to the heart of the city and near the neighbouring areas of Millbank, Victoria, and Belgravia. Pimlico is predominantly composed of flats, reflecting its urban character and high population density. Pimlico is located just over a mile from Westminster and approximately 1.4 miles from central London.
AdBlue drains across Greater London, Pimlico included
Victoria and Belgravia are among the places around Pimlico, a residential suburb, that the same vans cover, over SW1V postcodes. Our van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting SW1V 4.
Your car stays where it is. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Warwick Square, a side street close to Sir Thomas Cubitt: our technicians drain it where it sits. Ring and ask rather than assuming if you are close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to describe, like the back of Swami Vivekananda.
The short version for Pimlico motorists
Before you tip, read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank regardless, leave it off then phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, anywhere across Greater London.