AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Southcott: Why It Occurs and How to Avoid It
Keep your motor and ignition off and ring 0333 366 0103 now — reading can wait when AdBlue is already in your diesel tank. A drain plus a thorough flush, carried out just where the vehicle sits around Southcott, is normally all it needs when caught before your engine runs. The rest of this page covers why it occurs and how to ensure it doesn't — useful if you're reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Diesel goes to your motor — yet many current diesels seen round Southcott and Kepnal hold a second fluid as well. AdBlue goes to your exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to clean it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Each tank comes with a filler of its own. On a lot of cars the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. Topping up your diesel side at the petrol pump goes on constantly. The AdBlue side is topped up far less commonly, normally from a bottle, and normally by someone who has to stop and think where it goes. The error lives in that gap.
How AdBlue in your diesel tank happens in Southcott
It's seldom carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a drive off Swan Meadow before work, or in the car park at The Coopers Arms heading home: that is where the rushed top-up takes place. Why the rush? As AdBlue runs low the vehicle tells you, and if it's gone, limp mode kicks in.
Then, the hand goes for the cap it knew on the old motor — because a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car places the fillers somewhere your last one didn't.
Lastly, the bottle goes in: diesel filler or AdBlue one, it slides in just as easily, and after the tip starts, no part stops it. Kings Corner or the heart of Southcott: it is the same few seconds in both.
Telling the AdBlue filler from the diesel filler
Before you pour anything, whether on a drive in Knowle or a forecourt around Southcott, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Where it sits can mislead; the cap doesn't. AdBlue caps tend to be blue or carry the word "AdBlue" — diesel ones usually do not.
- Look at the size: the smaller filler neck is, on plenty of cars, the AdBlue one.
- Look inside the fuel flap: plenty of cars have a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that is where the filler is if it's not by the diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- Collecting a hire or company car, say at the car park outside Pewsey? Check with the person who drove the vehicle last before leaving, rather than once the light goes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
Anywhere across Wiltshire the light comes on, this is a routine for the day.
- Turn off once parked — flat ground, engine stopped, and not rushed by Hurly Lane on the verge.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and speak the name "AdBlue" out loud while unscrewing it. It sounds silly. It works.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave the car on.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Before starting the vehicle, close the cap and look again that your diesel cap never came off.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you have already poured into your diesel side. Don't carry on to stage five.
Southcott: already put AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start your motor. The fuel pump starts on many diesels as soon as your ignition goes on — so leave it off. Do not top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is sucked from.
Ask the staff to help roll the car clear of the petrol pump if you are on a forecourt — the Esso, the another forecourt nearby or somewhere else. Your own drive around Southcott is the place it stays.
If the motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. Leave the M4 — under 15 miles out of Southcott — at the first exit. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Salisbury, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Southcott.
Our arrival around Southcott, and what takes place next
We come to the vehicle wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside Pewsey Primary School, near St John the Baptist or on your own drive. Our engineers ask what went in, about how much, and if it has run, because those answers decide the work and our price. Nobody sets off until you have had the quote by phone.
The system is then rinsed thoroughly, once your tank is drained. With AdBlue that matters more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not wash out on its own. After the filter is cleaned — or renewed, where needed — fresh diesel goes in, and finally your car is tested. After that our technicians fire it up and make sure it runs correctly before leaving.
With pumps fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough for use outside a house at night, most jobs in which the motor has not run take about half an hour once we are there. Nothing in advance; you settle up on the day. Afterwards, a VAT invoice and the report from the engineer go to you for the insurer. Misfuelling cover is included in many insurance policies — so use the wait to check yours.
About Southcott, for a moment
Southcott is a suburban area situated on the riverside in Wiltshire, with a mix of detached housing and a population of around 1080 residents. Southcott sits at an elevation of 115 metres, near the villages of Kings Corner and Swan, and is approximately 18 miles from the city of Salisbury. Southcott is also within commuting distance of London, being around 71 miles to the west of the capital. Southcott has a relatively small and dispersed community, with Pewsey being another nearby settlement.
AdBlue drains around Southcott and across Wiltshire
As a residential suburb, Southcott has the same vans as surrounding areas — Swan, Pewsey — right across SN postcodes and the wider area beyond. Our van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting SN9 5.
Shifting your car isn't necessary. A driveway, a lay-by on the way to The Schotchel, a side street near King Alfred: our engineers drain the vehicle where it is. Assuming won't help at the back of Pewsey Heritage Centre, close to a boundary, or anywhere hard to pin down; ring and ask.
Southcott motorists: the short version
Always, the cap; then, the pour. AdBlue in the diesel tank regardless? Keep it off and ring 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, throughout Wiltshire.