How It Happens and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Roe Green
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave your engine and your ignition off and call 0333 366 0103. Usually, when your motor has not run, it's drained and fully flushed where your car is in Roe Green. Not happened yet? Further down, the rest of the page covers the reasons it happens and the how to prevent it for good.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel motor
No single liquid but two: that's how plenty of newer diesels around Roe Green and Old Hatfield carry, with diesel for the motor. Its own tank holds it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, and there spraying cleans the gas.
There is a filler for each tank. 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. The diesel side is fuelled at the pump all the time. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less frequently, usually from a bottle, and normally by somebody who has to stop and think where it goes. The mistake grows in the gap between the two.
How AdBlue in your diesel tank occurs around Roe Green
Seldom is it carelessness: usually three things line up.
On a driveway off Lemsford Road before work, or in the car park outside The Town Inn & Mai Tai Bar on the way home: that's where the hurried top-up happens. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue runs low the vehicle tells you, and once it is gone, limp mode kicks in.
The old car's cap is where your hand reaches — yet a hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers somewhere else. That's the second thing: a new car.
A spout-topped bottle finds no obstacle at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. And so the tip, once begun, keeps on. It takes a few seconds, whether in Hatfield or bang in the heart of Roe Green.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you pour anything, whether on a drive in Nast Hyde or a forecourt in Roe Green, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is regularly blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap normally isn't. Read it rather than going by position.
- On plenty of vehicles, size gives it away: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Plenty of motors say there which fuel goes where.
- Cannot find it beside your diesel filler? Then check beneath the bonnet or inside the boot — the owner's manual will say where.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park outside Hatfield, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
For the day the warning comes on — anywhere you are across Hertfordshire — a routine to use.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with the engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Cavendish Way.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and say the word "AdBlue" aloud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft. It works.
- The diesel cap stays on. Where the two sit under a flap, confirm it's closed before lifting the bottle.
- Gently does it, through the bottle's own spout, until it is full or the bottle runs out.
- Close the cap and check a second time. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start your car.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Don't go on to step five.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank in Roe Green?
What follows is a short order of things, beginning with no starting your engine. Do not switch your ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Filling up with diesel won't thin it: instead, AdBlue sinks to the base of the tank, right where fuel is drawn from.
The staff at Asda, another forecourt nearby or any forecourt will usually lend a hand pushing the vehicle clear when asked. On your own drive around Roe Green? So your car remains put.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if your engine has already run. The next exit is the place to leave if you're on the Hatfield Tunnel, under a mile from Roe Green. Mileage matters — a short hop across Roe Green makes a smaller job than driving under 5 miles to St Albans — so tell us roughly how far it went.
Roe Green: what takes place when our engineers turn up
We come to the vehicle wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside Hatfield Community Free School, close to Hatfield Swim Centre or on your own driveway. Our engineers ask what got in, roughly how much, and whether it's run, since the answers decide this work and our price. You hear that price on the phone, before anyone sets off.
Then the tank is drained and the system rinsed thoroughly. Unlike petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and eats at certain fuel-system metals, and none of it clears out unaided. That is why it counts more. The fuel filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the car is tested. Your engine is started next and tested to confirm it runs properly, all before we go.
Unrun cars mostly need a half-hour job after the moment we arrive. The equipment is safe on a busy filling station, and quiet enough for a driveway after dark. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. While we travel, take a look at your policy; plenty include cover for misfuelling.
About Roe Green
Roe Green is a suburban area in Hertfordshire, situated approximately 18 miles northwest of central London and 5 miles southeast of St Albans. Roe Green sits at an elevation of around 82 metres, in a gently sloping landscape of inland eastern England. Roe Green is characterized by a high proportion of flat dwellings, which dominate the local housing stock. Roe Green is close to nearby places such as Hatfield, Oxlease, and Birchwood, and is part of the wider commuter belt around London.
Roe Green and Hertfordshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Being a residential suburb, Roe Green has the same vans as surrounding places — Oxlease, Birchwood — right across AL postcodes and the wider area beyond. Give a postcode beginning AL10 0, and our van gets there fastest.
Your car remains where it is. Anywhere it sits — near Kingdom Light Church, on a lay-by en route to Coronation Gardens, at home — that is where it gets drained. Awkward to pin down, like the back of Farmer's & Craft Market? Close to a county line? Checking beats assuming, and so phone.
The short version for Roe Green motorists
Before you pour, read the cap. AdBlue in the diesel tank regardless? Keep the car off then call 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, across Hertfordshire.