Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Titchfield: Why It Occurs
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? In that case set this page down a moment, keep the ignition and engine off, then call 0333 366 0103. A drain and a full flush, carried out right where the vehicle stands in Titchfield, is usually what it takes when caught before the motor runs. Nothing happened yet? Further down, the rest of the page explains the why it happens and the how to avoid it for good.
AdBlue in a diesel car: two tanks, two fillers
No single liquid but two: that is what plenty of modern diesels around Titchfield and Little Posbrook run, with diesel for your engine. The exhaust, not the motor, is where AdBlue ends up: sprayed into the fumes to fresh them, from a separate tank.
Separate tanks, separate fillers. Plenty of motors share a single flap for the two, while some move the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is fuelled at the petrol pump all the time. A driver who has to stop and think where it goes normally tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less often. That gap is where the slip lives.
Titchfield: how AdBlue in your diesel tank occurs
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a warning from the vehicle, and running out means limp mode — hence a hurried top-up, maybe before work off High Street, or outside The Queens Head on the way home after work.
New-to-you vehicles come second, as well. Rentals, new motors and company vehicles place their fillers in new places, and habit reaches for the cap used on the old one.
A spout-topped bottle meets no obstacle at a diesel filler any more than at an AdBlue one. So the pour, once begun, carries on. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Titchfield or out in Catisfield.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
A few seconds is all these take — so check them before you tip anything, on a drive in Titchfield Common or a forecourt around Titchfield.
- Position can mislead; the cap does not. AdBlue caps tend to be blue or carry the name "AdBlue" — diesel caps normally don't.
- On many cars, size tells: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Plenty of cars say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook says which it lives if the filler isn't next to your diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- Picking up a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park outside Fareham? Ask the person who drove it last before leaving, rather than when the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
For the day the warning appears — wherever you are in Hampshire — a simple routine to use.
- Pull in somewhere level, engine off, with time in hand — never hurried on the side of Church Street.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and speak the word "AdBlue" aloud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly. It does the trick.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Finish once that tank fills or the bottle is empty; until then, tip gently using its own spout.
- Before you start the car, shut the cap and look a second time that your diesel cap was never came off.
Stop there if you find, at stage two or three, that you've already poured into the diesel side. Leave out stage five entirely.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, around Titchfield?
Short order, then. First: the engine stays off. On many diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so do not switch it on. Don't top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where your fuel is sucked from.
The attendants at Shell, Texaco or any forecourt will normally lend a hand pushing your car clear if you ask. Leave it where it is if you are on your own drive around Titchfield.
When your engine has been run by now, stop safely and switch the car off. On the M27, under 3 miles from Titchfield, that means the next exit. A short hop across Titchfield is a smaller job than a run towards Portsmouth, under 10 miles away, and so tell us roughly how far it went.
Titchfield: what occurs when our technicians get there
Wherever the vehicle came to rest, be it outside Titchfield Primary School, near Saint Peter's Church or at home, our van comes to it. The answers settle this work and the price, and so our engineers ask what was put in, about how much, and whether it has run. No one sets off before you've heard the quote over the phone.
Then your tank is cleared and the fuel system flushed thoroughly. Much more than with petrol, it counts with AdBlue: crystals form, certain metals corrode, and none of it clears out on its own, however long it sits. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the car is tested. Your engine is fired up next and tested to be sure it runs smoothly, all before our engineers leave.
If your motor has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there, using pumps that are fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Before we get there, have a look at your policy; many carry cover for misfuelling.
About Titchfield
Titchfield is a small village on the south coast of Hampshire, situated near the larger city of Portsmouth. Titchfield sits at a low elevation of around 8 metres above sea level, close to the Solent Strait. Titchfield has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are particularly prevalent in the area. Titchfield is also near several other small communities, including Catisfield and Heathfield.
Titchfield and Hampshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Over PO postcodes, our teams covering Titchfield — a coastal village — work the surrounding locations too, Titchfield Park and Heathfield included. Quickest of all: quote a PO14 4 postcode for the van.
No need to shift your car. Anywhere it sits — beside Titchfield Parish Room, on a layby en route to The Den, at home — that's where it is drained. Awkward to explain, like the back of Titchfield Community Centre? Close to a border? Asking beats guessing, so ring.
The short version for Titchfield motorists
Before you pour, read the cap. Still AdBlue in the diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel will empty it wherever it is, wherever in Hampshire: keep it off and ring 0333 366 0103.