AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Theescombe: Why It Occurs and How to Avoid It
Pause reading for a moment if the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, then phone 0333 366 0103. In Theescombe, catching it before the engine runs usually means a drain and a thorough flush on the spot. If you are reading before it has happened, the rest of this page is about why it happens and how to make sure it doesn't.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
Plenty of modern diesels around Inchbrook, like those in Theescombe, carry on two fluids; your engine gets just your diesel. 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 one filler of its own. Under one flap, side by side: that's the arrangement on many cars. On others, AdBlue's filler is under the bonnet or in your boot instead. Diesel gets filled at every filling station call-out, week in, week out. Rarely filled, AdBlue normally goes in from a bottle, tipped by a driver who has to stop and think what cap to use. The mistake grows in the gap between them.
Theescombe: how AdBlue in your diesel tank happens
Carelessness seldom explains it. What does is three things coming up together.
On a driveway off Gydynap Lane before work, or in the car park at The Black Horse heading home: that's where the rushed top-up takes place. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low your car tells you, and if it is gone, limp mode kicks in.
Then your car is unfamiliar. A hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers where your last one didn't, and the hand gets to for the cap it would have used on the old one.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, so nothing stops the tip once it has started. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Theescombe or out in Amberley.
Telling the AdBlue filler from your diesel filler
Before you pour anything, whether on a driveway in Windsoredge or a forecourt in Theescombe, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap usually isn't. Read it rather than going by position.
- On plenty of motors, the size tells: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- Lift the flap and check for a label — plenty of vehicles show which belongs in each filler right there.
- Cannot see it next to the diesel inlet? Then check beneath the bonnet or inside the boot — the owner's manual will say where.
- Whoever had it before knows. Check as you pick up a hire car or company car — from Stroud's car park, say — not once the warning comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever in Gloucestershire that is.
- Not in a rush on the side of Culver Hill, not on a slope, not with your engine running: park and switch off properly.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after you find the AdBlue filler and reading it. Silly, perhaps, but it works.
- The two under one flap? So make sure the cap on your diesel filler stays shut before raising the bottle.
- Finish when the tank is topped up or the bottle runs dry; until then, tip slowly using its own spout.
- Only then, start your car: close the cap, check a second time, and make sure the diesel cap was never opened.
Stop there if you find, at stage two or three, that you've already poured into the diesel side. Don't go on to step five.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Theescombe?
Brief order, then. First: your engine stays unstarted. On plenty of diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so don't switch it on. Do not top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is drawn from.
Ask the attendants to help roll the vehicle clear of the petrol pump if you are on a forecourt — the Shell, the BP or anywhere else. On your own drive in Theescombe? So the vehicle remains where it is.
If the motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. On the M5, under 10 miles from Theescombe, that means the next junction. About how far did it go? Hopping across Theescombe is less a job than a run of under 15 miles towards Gloucester, so tell us.
What takes place when our technicians arrive in Theescombe
By Amberley Parochial School, close to Holy Trinity Church or on your own driveway: wherever the car has stopped, we come to it. The replies settle the work and the price, so our engineers ask what got in, about how much, and if it has run. You get that price by phone, before anyone heads out.
Draining the tank comes next, then a thorough flush of the fuel system. 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. Your filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. We do not leave until it has been started and is running correctly.
Unrun vehicles usually mean a half-hour visit after arrival. The equipment is fine on a busy forecourt, 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 insurance as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover is included with many policies.
About Theescombe and where it is
Theescombe is a village in Gloucestershire, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 118 metres, with detached housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Theescombe lies near the city of Gloucester, approximately 10.7 miles away, and is also close to nearby places such as Amberley and Littleworth. Theescombe has a population of around 609 people and is located in the South West region of England, about 91 miles from London. Theescombe is part of a wider rural area with a mix of agricultural land and residential communities.
Theescombe and Gloucestershire: AdBlue drains across the area
Throughout GL postcodes, the teams covering Theescombe — a village — work the nearby places too, Littleworth and St Chloe among them. A postcode starting GL5 5 gets the van to you fastest.
The car stays put. Our engineers drain it where it is — a side street close to Wayside Cross, a lay-by on the way to Dunkirk Mill Ponds, a drive. Tricky to explain, like the back of St Marys Church? By a border? Checking beats guessing, so ring.
In short, for Theescombe motorists
Pour no AdBlue until you've read the cap. Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, anywhere in Gloucestershire, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank all the same — so leave it off and call 0333 366 0103.