AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Stony Stratford: Why It Happens and How to Stop It
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? In that case set this page aside for now, leave your ignition and motor off, then call 0333 366 0103. Usually, if the motor hasn't run, it is drained and thoroughly flushed where the car is around Stony Stratford. The remainder of this page explains why it takes place and how to ensure it does not — useful if you are reading ahead of time.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel motor
Plenty of modern diesels on the roads around Stony Stratford and Passenham carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the engine. The exhaust, not your engine, is where AdBlue ends up: dosed into the fumes to fresh it, from its own tank.
Separate tanks, different fillers. Under one flap, side by side: that is the arrangement on a lot of motors. On others, AdBlue's filler is under the bonnet or in the boot instead. Filling the diesel side at the pump happens constantly. A driver who has to stop and work out where it goes normally fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less regularly. That gap is where the error lives.
Stony Stratford: how AdBlue in the diesel tank happens
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
Haste comes from the warning. The vehicle tells you as AdBlue runs low, and a dry tank puts it into limp mode — so the top-up happens quickly, before work on a drive off Woolrich Gardens, or on the way home in the car park at The Old Schoolhouse.
Then, the hand goes for the cap it would have used on the old vehicle — because a rental car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers somewhere your last one didn't.
No part halts the tip once it has started, because a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Stony Stratford or out in Wolverton Mill South.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
A few seconds is all the checks take — so run through them before you tip anything, on a drive in Fullers Slade or a forecourt in Stony Stratford.
- Where it sits misleads; the cap doesn't. AdBlue ones are often blue or carry the name "AdBlue" — diesel caps usually don't.
- The size. On plenty of motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- A label inside your fuel flap often shows which fuel goes where, on plenty of vehicles. Check for it.
- The handbook. If your filler isn't by your diesel cap, it is in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Picking up a hire or company car, say at the car park outside Wolverton? Ask whoever drove the car last before you set off, rather than when the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
Anywhere around Buckinghamshire the light comes on, here is a routine for that day.
- Not in a rush on the side of London Road, not on a slope, not with the engine running: park and switch off properly.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after you find the AdBlue filler and read it. Silly, perhaps, but it works.
- The diesel cap remains on. When the two sit under a flap, confirm it is closed before the bottle comes up.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Only after that, start the car: close the cap, check again, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened.
Stop there if you find, at stage two or three, that you've already poured into the diesel side. Step five is out.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, around Stony Stratford?
Do not start your engine: that is how the short order of things starts. The fuel pump runs on plenty of diesels the moment the ignition is switched on — and 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 pulled from.
Ask the staff to help push the car away from the pump if you are on a forecourt — the Esso, the Essar or anywhere else. Your own driveway around Stony Stratford is the place it should stay.
If your motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. On the M1, under 5 miles from Stony Stratford, that means the next junction. A short hop across Stony Stratford is a smaller job than a run towards Milton Keynes, under 5 miles away, so tell us about how far it went.
Our arrival in Stony Stratford, and what occurs next
Our engineers come to the car wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside Russell Street School, near York House Centre or on your own drive. Both the work and our price depend on three replies — what fluid, which amount, and whether it has run — so our engineers ask. On the call itself, you hear our quote — ahead of dispatch.
After that: a drain, then a thorough flush of the whole system. Unlike petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and attacks some fuel-system metals, and neither clears away unaided. Hence it counts more. Once the fuel filter has been flushed — or renewed, if required — fresh diesel goes in, and finally the car gets tested. We do not go until it has been started and is running smoothly.
If the motor has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there, using pumps that are safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night. Payment is on the day, not upfront, and you receive the paperwork an insurer asks for: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Stony Stratford itself
Stony Stratford is a suburban area in Buckinghamshire, situated on the banks of the River Great Ouse at an elevation of 77 metres. Stony Stratford lies approximately 4 miles east of Central Milton Keynes and 49 miles northwest of London, with nearby places including Wolverton Mill South and Lower Weald. Stony Stratford has a population of around 5732 people, predominantly living in semi-detached housing. Stony Stratford benefits from its riverside setting, with the River Great Ouse flowing through the area.
AdBlue drains across Buckinghamshire, Stony Stratford included
Stony Stratford is a residential suburb, and our teams that cover it also work the places around it, Wolverton Mill and Lower Weald among them, across the MK postcode area. Quickest of all: quote a MK11 1 postcode for our van.
No need to shift the car. We drain it where it is — a side street close to Swinfen Harris Church Hall, a lay-by on the way to Sensory Garden, a driveway. Guessing doesn't help at the back of Stony Stratford Community Church, on a boundary, or somewhere awkward to pin down; ring and ask.
Stony Stratford motorists: the short version
Read the cap before you pour. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, anywhere around Buckinghamshire, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless — and so leave the vehicle off then ring 0333 366 0103.