AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Pyrford: How It Occurs and How to Prevent It
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave your motor and your ignition off and ring 0333 366 0103. Around Pyrford, finding it before the engine turns usually means draining and a thorough flush on the spot. Nothing happened yet? Further down, the page covers the why it happens and the ways to avoid it for good.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Plenty of current diesels on the roads round Pyrford and Pyrford Village carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your engine. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into the exhaust stream and cleans it.
Every tank comes with one filler of its own. 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. Topping up your diesel side at the pump happens all the time. Much less frequently, the AdBlue side is filled — mostly from a bottle, by someone thinking about where it goes. The mistake grows in the gap between the two.
How AdBlue in the diesel tank happens in Pyrford
Rarely is it carelessness: usually three things line up.
On a driveway off Coldharbour Road before work, or in the car park at The Station on the way home: that is where the hurried top-up takes place. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low the vehicle warns you, and once it's gone, limp mode follows.
Then, the hand goes for the cap it knew on the old motor — since a hire car, a new motor or a company car places the fillers somewhere your last one didn't.
Third, the bottle fits: diesel filler or AdBlue one, it slides in just as readily, and after the pour starts, nothing stops it. Whether it happens in West Byfleet or the middle of Pyrford, it's the same few seconds.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you pour anything, whether on a driveway in Woodham or a forecourt in Pyrford, check these. They take a few seconds.
- Position misleads; the cap doesn't. AdBlue ones are often blue or bear the word "AdBlue" — diesel caps usually do not.
- Many cars fit AdBlue the smaller neck of the two.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Many vehicles say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If the filler is not by your diesel cap, it's in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Picking up a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park outside West Byfleet? Ask the person who drove the vehicle last before leaving, not once the light goes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
On the day the light comes on — wherever it is around Surrey — a simple routine to use.
- Turn off once parked — level ground, engine stopped, and not in a rush beside Oakcroft Road at the roadside.
- Silly as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap works — once you've found your filler and read it.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Gently is best, through the bottle's own spout, till it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check once more. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start your car.
Find at step two or three that it's already gone into your diesel side? Then stop right there. Skip step five altogether.
Pyrford: already put AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Brief order, then. Top of that: your motor stays off. Don't switch the ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is pulled from — so do not top up with diesel to thin it.
On a forecourt — Esso, Asda or another — the staff will usually help push the car clear, when you ask. Your own drive in Pyrford is the place it stays.
Already started? Pull over when it is sensible, then turn off. On the M25, under 3 miles from Pyrford, that means the next exit. Mileage matters — a short hop across Pyrford makes a smaller job than heading under 25 miles towards Westminster — so say roughly how far it went.
Our arrival around Pyrford, and what takes place next
Anywhere the car has stopped, whether by Pyrford Church of England Primary School, beside Church of the Good Shepherd or on your own drive, our van comes to it. Both the work and the quote depend on three replies — which liquid, what quantity, and if it has run — so we ask. The price comes over the phone, ahead of any van leaving.
Emptying that tank comes next, followed by a thorough flush of the fuel system. More than with petrol, it matters here: the crystals form, some metals are attacked, and nothing washes out unaided, no matter how long it sits. After the fuel filter is flushed — or replaced, where required — clean diesel goes in, and finally the car is tested. After that our engineers start it and make sure it runs smoothly before we go.
Using pumps fine on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs in which your engine hasn't run need about half an hour once our engineers are there. Your insurer usually wants an engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and both are yours at the end. Payment is on the day, with no deposit. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Pyrford itself
Pyrford is a village in Surrey, situated inland at an elevation of 38 metres, approximately 20 miles south-west of central London. Pyrford lies near the villages of West Byfleet and Sheerwater, and includes the hamlet of Pyrford Green. Pyrford has a population of around 1606 people, predominantly living in detached houses.
Pyrford and Surrey: AdBlue drains across the area
Over GU postcodes, our vans that cover Pyrford — a rural village — work the nearby locations too, Pyrford Green and Sheerwater included. Give a postcode beginning GU22 8, and our van gets there quickest.
The vehicle doesn't need to shift. Draining happens on the spot, be it a drive, a road near Pyrford Cricket Club, or a lay-by towards West Byfleet Golf Club. Tricky to pin down, like the back of Pyrford Village War Memorial Hall? Close to a county line? Asking beats guessing, so phone.
In short, for Pyrford drivers
Pour nothing till you have read the cap. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, anywhere in Surrey, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless — so leave the car off and ring 0333 366 0103.