AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Redbridge: How It Occurs and How to Stop It
Leave your motor and ignition off then call 0333 366 0103 now — reading can wait if AdBlue is already in your diesel tank. Around Redbridge, catching it before the engine runs usually means a drain and a full flush on the spot. Reading in advance? Then the rest covers why it happens and what to stop it ever happening.
AdBlue in a diesel motor: two tanks, two fillers
Diesel goes to the engine — yet plenty of modern diesels driven about Redbridge and Clayhall hold a second liquid too. AdBlue's own tank holds it, and from there it goes to the exhaust, where spraying treats the fumes.
Different tanks, different fillers. Under one flap, next to each other: that is the layout on many motors. On others, AdBlue's filler sits under the bonnet or in the boot instead. The diesel side is fuelled at the pump all the time. Seldom filled, AdBlue normally goes in from a bottle, tipped by someone who has to stop and think what cap to use. That gap is where the slip lives.
How does AdBlue in your diesel tank take place in Redbridge?
Carelessness seldom explains it. Instead is three things lining up together.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a warning from the car, and running out means limp mode — hence a hurried top-up, perhaps before work off Edwina Gardens, or outside The George and Dragon on the way home after work.
Then the vehicle is new. A hire car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not, and your hand hits for the cap it would have used on the old one.
No part halts the tip after it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. Gants Hill or the middle of Redbridge: it is the same few seconds in both.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Before you tip anything, whether on a driveway in Snaresbrook or a forecourt around Redbridge, check these. They take a few seconds.
- Position can mislead; the cap doesn't. AdBlue caps tend to be blue or carry the word "AdBlue" — diesel caps normally do not.
- On plenty of vehicles, the size tells: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Many vehicles say there which fuel goes where.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that's where your filler is if it is not by your diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- Check with the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — when you pick up a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park at Ilford.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
Wherever in Greater London the light comes on, this is a routine for the day.
- Not in a rush on the side of Redbridge Lane East, not on a slope, not with the engine running: park then switch off first.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once you find the AdBlue filler and reading it. Daft, perhaps, but it works.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave the vehicle on.
- Slowly is best, through the bottle's own spout, until it is full or the bottle runs out.
- Only after that, start the car: close the cap, check once more, and make sure the diesel cap was never opened.
Find at step two or three that it's already gone into the diesel side? So stop right there. Leave out step five altogether.
Redbridge: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Brief order, then. Top of that: your motor stays unstarted. Keep the ignition off as well, since on many diesels switching it on by itself runs your pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is pulled from — so do not top up with diesel to thin it.
If you are on a forecourt, whether it's the the nearest petrol station or the K&S Fuels Limited, ask the attendants to help roll the vehicle clear of the pump. At home in Redbridge? So the car remains where it is.
When your motor has been run already, pull over safely then turn the vehicle off. On the M11, under a mile from Redbridge, that means the next junction. A short hop across Redbridge is a smaller job than a run towards London, under 10 miles away, and so tell us roughly how far it went.
What happens when our engineers get there around Redbridge
Outside Redbridge Primary School, near Christian Science Church or on your own drive: wherever the vehicle has stopped, our engineers come to it. Our engineers ask what got in, roughly how much, and if it has run, since the replies settle the work and our quote. No one sets off before you have had our quote by phone.
Emptying that tank comes next, then a thorough flush of the fuel system. More than with petrol, it matters with AdBlue: the crystals form, some metals are attacked, and nothing clears away on its own, no matter how long it is left. Your filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. The engine is started next and tested to be sure it runs smoothly, all before our technicians head off.
Unrun vehicles mostly need a half-hour job after arrival. The kit is safe on a busy forecourt, and hushed enough for a driveway after dark. The insurer usually wants the engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and both are yours once this job is done. Payment is on the day, with no money upfront. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Redbridge, for a moment
Redbridge is a suburban area in northeast London, situated near the River Roding at an elevation of around 20 metres. Redbridge lies approximately 9 miles from central London and is close to nearby places such as Gants Hill, Cranbrook, and Wanstead. Redbridge has a population of around 11,545 people and is characterised by predominantly terraced housing. Redbridge is also a short distance from London, being about 7.5 miles from the city centre.
AdBlue drains across Greater London, Redbridge included
Being a residential suburb, Redbridge has the same vans as nearby areas — Cranbrook, Wanstead — all the way across IG postcodes and the wider area beyond. Quote a postcode that starts IG4 5, and the van arrives quickest.
No need to move the vehicle. We drain it where it is — a side street near Roding Lane Free Church, a lay-by on the way to Eton Manor Rugby Football Club, a drive. Awkward to explain, like the back of Uniting Friends? Close to a county line? Asking beats assuming, so ring.
In short, for Redbridge motorists
Before you tip, read the cap. AdBlue in your diesel tank after all? Keep the vehicle off then phone 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, throughout Greater London.