Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Reading Street: Why It Occurs
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? In that case put this page down a moment, keep the ignition and motor off, and call 0333 366 0103. Caught before your motor runs, it is normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is in Reading Street. The remainder of this page covers why it occurs and how to ensure it does not — useful if you're reading before it has happened.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel car
Many current diesels on the roads round Reading Street and North Foreland carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the engine. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Each tank has its own filler. Under one flap, side by side: that is the arrangement on a lot of motors. On others, AdBlue's filler sits under the bonnet or in the boot instead. Topping up your diesel side at the petrol pump goes on constantly. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less frequently, normally from a bottle, and usually by a person who has to stop and think where it goes. It is in the gap that the mistake happens.
How AdBlue in the diesel tank happens in Reading Street
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a message from the car, and letting it run dry means limp mode — hence a rushed top-up, perhaps before work off Reading Street, or outside The White Swan on the way home after work.
Unfamiliar motors are next, as well. Hire cars, new cars and company vehicles put their fillers differently, and the hand goes for the cap used on the old one.
A spout-topped bottle meets no obstacle at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. So the tip, once begun, keeps on. Whether it occurs in Kingsgate or the middle of Reading Street, it's the same few seconds.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Before you pour anything, whether on a driveway in Broadstairs or a forecourt around Reading Street, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Read the cap instead of going by where it sits: AdBlue ones are frequently blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps usually aren't.
- Check the size: the smaller neck is, on plenty of vehicles, the AdBlue one.
- Open the filler flap and check for a label — plenty of cars mark what belongs in each filler just there.
- Cannot find it next to the diesel filler? In that case check beneath the bonnet or inside the boot — the owner's manual will say where.
- The previous driver knows. Ask when you pick up a rental or fleet car — from Broadstairs's car park, say — not once the light comes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
Anywhere in Kent the light comes on, this is a routine for the day.
- Not in a rush on the side of Elmwood Close, not on a slope, not with your engine running: park and switch off first.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it does the trick.
- Both behind one flap? Then confirm the cap on your diesel filler stays shut ahead of lifting the bottle.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Only then, start the vehicle: close the cap, check once more, and make sure the diesel cap was never opened.
Spot at stage two or three that it's already gone into your diesel side? Then stop right there. Stage five is off limits.
Put AdBlue in your diesel tank around Reading Street already?
The short order of things, beginning with no starting the engine. The fuel pump runs on many diesels as soon as your ignition goes on — and so keep it off. Don't top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where the fuel is drawn from.
On a forecourt — Gulf, Shell or any other — the attendants will normally help push the vehicle clear, when you ask. Your own driveway around Reading Street is the place it should stay.
Already run? Pull over once it's safe, then turn off. On the M2, under 25 miles from Reading Street, that means the next exit. Mileage counts — a short hop across Reading Street makes a smaller job than driving under 25 miles to Canterbury — so tell us about how far it went.
Our arrival around Reading Street, and what happens next
The van comes to the car anywhere it has come to rest — your own drive, beside St. Andrew's, or by St Peter-in-Thanet CofE Junior School. We ask what went in, roughly how much, and if it's run, because the answers determine this work and our price. During the phone call itself, you hear our price — before anything else.
After that: a drain, then a full flush of the entire system. More than with petrol, it counts with AdBlue: the crystals build up, some metals corrode, and none of that clears out on its own, no matter how long it sits. Once your filter is flushed — or replaced, where needed — clean diesel goes in, and finally the car gets tested. We do not go until it has been started and is running smoothly.
Unstarted vehicles mostly need a half-hour job from arrival. The kit is fine on a busy forecourt, and quiet enough for a driveway late at night. Nothing in advance; you settle up that day. At the end, a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer are handed to you for the insurer. Wrong-fuel cover is included in many insurance policies — and so use the wait to check yours.
About Reading Street and where it is
Reading Street is a suburban area in Kent, situated near the coast and approximately 16.6 miles from Canterbury. Reading Street has a population of around 2962 people and is characterised by predominantly detached housing. Reading Street is also close to other nearby places such as Kingsgate, St Peters, and Northdown, and is located at an elevation of 48 metres above sea level.
Reading Street and Kent: AdBlue drains across the area
St Peters and Northdown are among the towns near Reading Street, a residential suburb, that the same teams cover, over CT postcodes. Quote a postcode that starts CT10 3, and our van gets there fastest.
Shifting the vehicle is not necessary. Wherever it stands — beside Stella Maris Convent, in a lay-by en route to St Peter's Recreation Ground, at home — that's where it is emptied. Ring and ask instead of assuming if you're near a border, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of Thanet Squash Rackets Club.
For Reading Street drivers, the short version
Read the cap before you tip. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank all the same, leave it off and ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it waits, anywhere in Kent.