AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in South Littleton: How It Occurs and How to Avoid It
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? Then set this page down for now, leave your ignition and motor off, then call 0333 366 0103. Caught before your motor runs, it's normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around South Littleton. Not happened yet? Further down, the rest of the page explains the reasons it takes place and the how to prevent it for good.
AdBlue in a diesel motor: two tanks, two fillers
Diesel feeds the motor — but many newer diesels driven around South Littleton and Blackminster carry a second fluid too. Kept in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into the exhaust gas to clean it.
Separate tanks, different fillers. On a lot of vehicles 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 petrol pump all the time. Much less frequently, the AdBlue side is filled — normally from a bottle, by someone working out where it goes. The mistake lives in that gap.
AdBlue in your diesel tank around South Littleton: how it takes place
It is hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a drive off Blacksmiths Lane before work, or in the car park at The Ivy Inn on the way home: that's where the hurried top-up takes place. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue runs low your car tells you, and if it's gone, limp mode follows.
Then your car is unfamiliar. A hire car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers where your last one didn't, and the hand hits for the cap it would have used on the old one.
Third, the spout goes in: diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it goes in as easily, and once the tip begins, nothing halts it. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of South Littleton or out in Middle Littleton.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Be it a South Littleton forecourt or a drive over in Offenham, spend a few seconds on these before anything goes in.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap usually is not. Read it rather than going by position.
- The size. On plenty of cars the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- Open the filler flap and look for a label — many cars show which belongs in which inlet right there.
- Cannot see it beside the diesel filler? In that case check beneath the bonnet or in your boot — the handbook says where.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park at Honeybourne, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever around Worcestershire that is.
- Not in a rush on the side of St Michaels Close, not on a slope, not with your engine running: park then switch off first.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after finding the AdBlue filler and read it. Silly, perhaps, but it does the trick.
- The two under one flap? Then confirm the lid on the diesel side is still closed ahead of lifting the bottle.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Only then, start the vehicle: close the cap, check again, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Don't go on to step five.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, in South Littleton?
Brief order, then. First: the engine stays off. On plenty of diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so do not switch it on. Diluting it with extra diesel won't work, since AdBlue settles to the base rather than mixing — and that's where the fuel is drawn from.
Ask the attendants to help push the car clear of the pump if you are at a forecourt — the HGV, the Texaco or somewhere else. At home in South Littleton? So the vehicle remains where it is.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if your motor has already run. The next junction means where to come off when you're on the Strensham Interchange, under 15 miles from South Littleton. Distance counts — a quick hop across South Littleton is a smaller job than heading under 25 miles towards Worcester — so tell us roughly how far it went.
South Littleton: what happens when we turn up
Our van comes to your car anywhere it has come to rest — your own driveway, near St Michael, or by The Littletons Church of England Academy. Our technicians ask what went in, roughly how much, and if it has run, since the replies decide this work and the price. Nobody heads out until you have heard our price over the phone.
Emptying the tank comes next, then a full flush of the system. Not like petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and eats at some fuel-system metals, and none of that clears out unaided. Hence it counts more. A test comes at the end: before that, fresh diesel goes in, and the fuel filter is flushed or replaced if necessary. We don't leave until it has been started and is running smoothly.
Most jobs are done in roughly half an hour after our technicians get there, provided your engine has not run — and the pumps our engineers use are safe on a live forecourt yet quiet at night outside a house. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About South Littleton
South Littleton is a village in Worcestershire, situated on the banks of a river at an elevation of 42 metres. South Littleton has a mix of housing types, with semi-detached homes being particularly prevalent. South Littleton is located near several other small villages, including Middle Littleton and North Littleton, and is around 15 miles from the city of Worcester. South Littleton is also within commuting distance of larger cities, being around 86 miles from London.
AdBlue drains about South Littleton, and Worcestershire beyond
As a village, South Littleton shares its vans nearby areas — Offenham Cross, North Littleton — right across WR postcodes and the wider area around them. Our van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting WR11 8.
Shifting the vehicle is not necessary. A driveway, a lay-by on the way to South Littleton Recreation Ground, a side street near Friends Littleton Mission: our technicians drain it where it is. Awkward to explain, like the back of Littleton Village Hall? By a border? Checking is better than assuming, and so phone.
The short version for South Littleton people
Read the cap before you tip. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank anyway, leave the vehicle off then phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, anywhere around Worcestershire.