Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Streatham Vale: Why It Happens
Stop reading a minute if your diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, then call 0333 366 0103. Caught before the motor runs, it is normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is in Streatham Vale. Here in advance? In that case what follows covers why it comes about and how to stop it ever happening.
AdBlue in a diesel motor, and its separate tank
Diesel goes to your engine — yet plenty of newer diesels seen around Streatham Vale and Norbury hold another fluid as well. The exhaust, not your engine, is where AdBlue ends up: dosed into the gas to fresh them, from a separate tank.
There is a filler on each tank. 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. At the pump, your diesel side gets filled constantly. Someone who has to stop and think where it goes usually fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less commonly. The error lives in that gap.
AdBlue in your diesel tank around Streatham Vale: how it takes place
It's rarely carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
Haste comes from the warning. The car warns you as AdBlue runs low, and an empty tank sends it into limp mode — so the top-up happens in a rush, before work on a drive off Bridgewood Road, or heading home in the car park at The Railway.
The old car's cap is where your hand reaches — but a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers elsewhere. That's the second thing: a strange car.
A spout-topped bottle finds no obstacle at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. So the pour, once begun, carries on. Furzedown or the middle of Streatham Vale: it is the same few seconds in both.
Telling the AdBlue filler from the diesel filler
A few seconds is all these take — so run through them before you tip anything, on a driveway in Tooting Bec Common or a forecourt around Streatham Vale.
- Blue and marking: an AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap usually doesn't. Go by the cap, not its position.
- Many motors give AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- Open the filler flap and check for a label — plenty of motors mark which belongs in which filler just there.
- The handbook says which it lives when the filler isn't next to your diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- Ask the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — when you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park at Streatham Common.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
When the light goes on, anywhere in Greater London, use this routine.
- Switch off once parked — level ground, motor stopped, and never rushed by Bencroft Road on the verge.
- Daft as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew the cap does the trick — after you've found the filler and read the cap.
- The two under a single flap? So confirm the lid on your diesel filler is still shut before lifting the bottle.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when 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 the diesel side, stop there. Don't go on to step five.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank in Streatham Vale already?
Don't start the engine: that's where the short order of things begins. The fuel pump runs on many diesels as soon as your ignition goes on — and so leave it off. Topping up with diesel will not thin it: rather than mixing, AdBlue sinks to the base of your tank, right where the fuel is drawn from.
The staff at Applegreen, Esso or another forecourt will usually lend a hand pushing the vehicle clear if asked. Your own drive in Streatham Vale is the place it should stay.
Where the motor has run by now, stop safely then turn the vehicle off. On the M4, under 10 miles from Streatham Vale, that means the next exit. A short hop across Streatham Vale is a smaller job than a run towards Westminster, under 10 miles away, so tell us roughly how far it went.
When our technicians arrive around Streatham Vale, what happens?
Anywhere the car has stopped, be it by Granton Primary School, beside Holy Redeemer Church or on your own drive, our van comes to it. Both the work and our price depend on three replies — which fluid, which quantity, and whether it's run — so our technicians ask. You hear that quote on the phone, before anybody heads out.
The fuel system is then rinsed thoroughly, after your tank is emptied. Unlike petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and attacks certain fuel-system metals, and none of it washes out by itself. Hence it counts more. Filter flushed or, if needed, replaced; fresh diesel in; and then a test of the vehicle. We do not leave until it has been started and is running correctly.
Unrun cars usually need a half-hour visit from the moment we arrive. The equipment is safe on a live filling station, and hushed enough for a driveway late at night. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. It's worth checking your policy as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover is included with plenty of policies.
About Streatham Vale itself
Streatham Vale is a suburban area in south London, situated near the River Graveney and close to several parks and green spaces. Streatham Vale has a mix of housing types, but is predominantly characterized by terraced homes, and its elevation is around 29 metres above sea level. Streatham Vale is located near other suburban areas, including Furzedown, Streatham Park, and Streatham, and is about 6.3 miles from central London.
AdBlue drains across Greater London, Streatham Vale included
Streatham Park and Streatham are among the places around Streatham Vale, a residential suburb, that the same vans cover, over SW postcodes. Fastest of all: give a SW16 5 postcode for our van.
No need to move your car. Draining takes place on the spot, whether a drive, a street by Hyderi Islamic Centre, or a layby on the way to Eardley Road Sidings Nature Reserve. If you are close to a border, or somewhere hard to explain like the back of Streatham Vale Baptist Church, ring and ask instead of assuming.
The short version for Streatham Vale drivers
Read the cap before you tip. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank all the same, leave it off and phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, anywhere in Greater London.