Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Stockheath: Why It Happens
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave the engine and your ignition off then call 0333 366 0103. Normally, if the engine has not turned, it is emptied and thoroughly rinsed where your car sits in Stockheath. If you are reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it occurs and how to make sure it doesn't.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel vehicle
No single liquid but two: that's what plenty of newer diesels around Stockheath and Bedhampton carry, with diesel feeding the motor. Its own tank keeps it, and from there it is sent to the exhaust, where spraying cleans the fumes.
Different tanks, separate fillers. Under one flap, side by side: that is the layout on many vehicles. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler sits under the bonnet or in the boot instead. Diesel goes in at each forecourt call-out, week in, week out. Seldom filled, AdBlue normally goes in out of a bottle, tipped by someone who must stop and think what cap it needs. That gap is where the error lives.
How AdBlue in your diesel tank occurs around Stockheath
Carelessness seldom explains it. Instead is three things coming up at once.
On a driveway off Alresford Road before work, or in the car park at The Heron on the way home: that's where the rushed top-up happens. Why the rush? As AdBlue gets low the vehicle tells you, and once it is empty, limp mode kicks in.
New-to-you vehicles are second, as well. Hire cars, new cars and company cars put their fillers in new places, and habit goes for the cap used on the old one.
No part halts the tip once it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. It takes a few seconds, whether out in Havant or bang in the heart of Stockheath.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Check these before pouring, on a forecourt in Stockheath or a drive out in Denvilles. Seconds, no more.
- Blue and lettering: an AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap normally does not. Go by the cap, not its position.
- On plenty of motors, size tells: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- Check inside the fuel flap: plenty of cars have a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If the filler isn't by the diesel cap, it's in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The previous driver knows. Ask when you collect a rental or company car — from Havant's car park, say — not when the warning comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
When the light goes on, wherever across Hampshire, use this routine.
- Turn off after you park — level ground, engine stopped, and not in a rush by Soberton Road on the verge.
- Daft as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" aloud as you unscrew the cap works — once you've located the filler and read it.
- The diesel cap remains on. Where the two share a flap, confirm it is shut before the bottle comes up.
- Finish when your tank fills or the bottle is empty; until then, pour gently through the own spout.
- Close the cap and check a second time. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
Spot at step two or three that it's already gone into your diesel side? So stop right there. Don't carry on to stage five.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, around Stockheath?
Do not start your engine: that's where the short order of things starts. Leave your ignition off too, because on plenty of diesels it alone starts the pump. Topping up with diesel will not thin it: rather than mixing, AdBlue sinks to the base of the tank, just where fuel is taken from.
The attendants at BP, Tesco or another forecourt will normally lend a hand pushing the car clear if you ask. On your own drive in Stockheath? Then the car stays where it is.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if your engine has already run. On the A3(M), under 3 miles from Stockheath, that means the next exit. A short hop across Stockheath is a smaller job than a run towards Portsmouth, under 10 miles away, and so tell us roughly how far it went.
When our engineers arrive in Stockheath, what takes place?
Wherever the vehicle came to rest, be it by Trosnant Junior School, beside Leigh Park Library or at home, the van comes to it. Those replies settle this work and the quote, so we ask what was put in, about how much, and whether it's run. The quote is given on the call, ahead of any van leaving.
Next: a drain, then a full flush of the entire system. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it doesn't wash out on its own — which is why the flush matters more with AdBlue than with petrol. Once the filter has been flushed — or renewed, if required — clean diesel is added, and then your car gets tested. Your engine is started next and checked to confirm it runs correctly, all before our technicians leave.
Most jobs are finished in about half an hour once our technicians arrive, provided your engine has not run — and the pumps we use are fine on a busy forecourt and quiet after dark outside a house. The insurer usually wants an engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and both are yours once the job is done. Payment is on the day, with no money upfront. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Stockheath itself
Stockheath is a coastal locality in Hampshire, situated near the city of Portsmouth and close to the neighbouring communities of Havant and Leigh Park. Stockheath lies at a low elevation of around 13 metres, reflecting its proximity to the sea. Stockheath has a mix of housing types, but terraced homes are particularly prevalent in the area. Stockheath is located within commuting distance of London, approximately 58 miles away.
AdBlue drains about Stockheath, and Hampshire beyond
Being a coastal area, Stockheath has the same vans as nearby places — Leigh Park, West Leigh — all the way through PO postcodes and the wider area beyond. Our van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting PO9 2.
No need to move your car. A driveway, a lay-by on the way to Stockheath Common, a side street close to Leigh Park Community Centre: our engineers drain the vehicle where it sits. Assuming doesn't help behind Havant Methodist Church, on a border, or somewhere awkward to describe; ring and ask.
For Stockheath drivers, the short version
Read the cap before you tip. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank anyway, leave the vehicle off and ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it sits, anywhere across Hampshire.