Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Ruscombe: Why It Occurs
Leave the engine and ignition off then call 0333 366 0103 first — reading can wait if AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. A drain and a thorough flush, done just where the car sits in Ruscombe, is usually what it needs if caught before your motor runs. The rest of this page covers why it takes place and how to ensure it doesn't — useful if you are reading ahead of time.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel car
Plenty of modern diesels on the roads round Ruscombe and Charvil carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your motor. AdBlue goes to your exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Different tanks, separate fillers. Under one flap, side by side: that's the arrangement on a lot of vehicles. On others, AdBlue's filler sits beneath the bonnet or in the boot instead. Diesel gets filled on every filling station visit, week in, week out. A driver who has to stop and think where it goes normally fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less regularly. The slip lives in that gap.
Ruscombe: how AdBlue in the diesel tank happens
Carelessness rarely causes it. Instead is three things coming up together.
On a driveway off Northbury Avenue before work, or in the car park at The Royal Oak heading home: that is where the hurried top-up takes place. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue runs low your car warns you, and once it is gone, limp mode kicks in.
Then, your hand reaches for the cap it knew on the old motor — because a hire car, a new vehicle or a company car places the fillers where your last one did not.
Third, the bottle goes in: a diesel filler or AdBlue one, it slides in as readily, and after the pour begins, nothing stops it. It takes a few seconds, whether in Twyford or bang in the heart of Ruscombe.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Whether a Ruscombe forecourt or a drive over in Borough Marsh, spend a couple of seconds over these before any is poured in.
- Position can mislead; the cap does not. AdBlue ones tend to be blue or bear the name "AdBlue" — diesel ones normally do not.
- Look at the size: the smaller filler neck is, on many motors, the AdBlue one.
- A label inside the fuel flap frequently says which fuel goes where, on many vehicles. Look for it.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that is where the filler is if it is not by the diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- Whoever had it before will know. Ask when you collect a hire car or fleet car — from Twyford's car park, perhaps — rather than when the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever across Berkshire that is.
- Stop on level, motor off, with time in hand — never hurried on the side of Northbury Lane.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after you find the AdBlue filler and read it. Daft, 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, pour slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check a second time. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
Discover at the second or third stage that AdBlue went into the diesel filler? That's where you stop. Step five is out.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Ruscombe?
Brief order, then. First: your motor stays off. Do not switch the ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Do not top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where your fuel is sucked from.
On a forecourt — BP, Texaco or another — the attendants will normally help roll your car away, if you ask. Your own drive in Ruscombe is where it should stay.
If your motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. The next junction means where to come off when you are on the M4, under 3 miles from Ruscombe. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Oxford, under 50 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Ruscombe.
When our technicians turn up in Ruscombe, what takes place?
Anywhere the vehicle came to rest, be it by Polehampton Church of England Junior School, near Parish Church of Saint James the great or at home, the van comes to it. What liquid went in, the quantity, and if it ran: our technicians ask because those replies set both work and quote. On the phone call itself, you hear the quote — before anything else.
Draining that tank comes next, then a full flush of the system. Not like petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and attacks certain fuel-system metals, and none of it clears away unaided. That is why it counts more. The fuel filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the car is tested. Before we go, our engineers fire it up and confirm that it's running correctly.
Unrun cars usually need a half-hour visit 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. It is worth checking your insurance while we travel to you: misfuelling cover is included with many policies.
About Ruscombe, briefly
Ruscombe is a small village in Berkshire, situated inland at an elevation of 52 metres, and is located near the villages of Twyford and Hare Hatch. Ruscombe has a population of approximately 1116 residents and is characterized by predominantly detached housing. Ruscombe is also close to the village of Kiln Green and is within commuting distance to Oxford, which is around 25 miles away. Ruscombe is about 31 miles west of London, making it a rural retreat from the city.
AdBlue drains across Berkshire, Ruscombe included
Being a rural village, Ruscombe has the same vans as nearby areas — Hare Hatch, Kiln Green — all the way across RG postcodes and the surrounding area around them. Our van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting RG10 9.
There's no need to move the car. Our technicians drain it where it is — a side street near Saint Thomas More's Catholic Church, a lay-by on the way to Ruscombe Wood, a driveway. Tricky to pin down, like the back of Loddon Hall? By a border? Checking is better than guessing, and so ring.
The short version for Ruscombe motorists
Tip nothing until you have read the cap. Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, anywhere in Berkshire, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank regardless — and so leave it off then phone 0333 366 0103.