AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Upper Stratton: How It Happens and How to Avoid It
Pause here a minute if the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, and call 0333 366 0103. Usually, when the motor has not turned, it is drained and thoroughly rinsed where your vehicle sits around Upper Stratton. If you are reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it happens and how to make sure it doesn't.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel motor need its own filler?
Not one liquid but two: that's how many modern diesels around Upper Stratton and Stratton St Margaret run, with diesel for the motor. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to clean it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Each tank has its own filler. Some cars put the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; a lot of others have the two together under one flap. At the pump, your diesel side gets filled all the time. Far less commonly, the AdBlue side gets topped up — mostly from a bottle, by a person thinking about where it goes. The slip lives in that gap.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Upper Stratton: how it takes place
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
On a driveway off Farrfield before work, or in the car park at Baker's Arms heading home: that's where the rushed top-up takes place. Why the rush? As AdBlue gets low the vehicle tells you, and if it is empty, limp mode kicks in.
Then, the hand goes for the cap it would have used on the old vehicle — because a hire car, a new car or a company car places the fillers somewhere your last one did not.
Nothing halts the tip once it has started, because a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. It's seconds, whether out in Kingsdown or bang in the centre of Upper Stratton.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Before you tip anything, whether on a drive in Groundwell or a forecourt in Upper Stratton, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Check the cap rather than going by where it sits: AdBlue ones are regularly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps usually aren't.
- Look at the size: the smaller filler neck is, on plenty of cars, the AdBlue one.
- A label inside the fuel flap frequently shows which fuel goes where, on many cars. Look for it.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that is where the filler sits if it is not by your diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- Ask the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — if you pick up a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park outside Swindon.
Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever in Wiltshire that is.
- Not in a rush on the side of Revell Close, not on a slope, not with the engine running: park and switch off properly.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it does the trick.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave it on.
- Finish once that tank is topped up or the bottle runs dry; until then, tip gently using the built-in spout.
- Close the cap and check once more. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you've already poured into the diesel side. Never go on to step five.
Upper Stratton: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
What follows is a short order of things, beginning with no starting the engine. On many diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so don't switch the vehicle on. Thinning it with extra diesel won't work, because AdBlue sinks to the base instead of mixing — and that is where the fuel is pulled from.
Ask the staff to help roll the car away from the pump if you are on a forecourt — the BP, the another forecourt nearby or anywhere else. Your own drive around Upper Stratton is the place it should stay.
Already run? Pull over when it's safe, then switch off. On the M4, under 5 miles from Upper Stratton, that means the next junction. Mileage counts — a short hop across Upper Stratton is a smaller job than heading under 25 miles towards Oxford — so tell us roughly how far it went.
What takes place when our technicians get there in Upper Stratton
Our van comes to your car anywhere it has come to rest — your own driveway, beside Upper Stratton Public Library, or outside Beechcroft Infant School. What liquid got in, the amount, and whether it ran: our technicians ask since those answers set the work and price. You get that quote on the phone, before anyone heads out.
After that: draining, then a full flush of the whole system. More than with petrol, it matters with AdBlue: crystals build up, certain metals are attacked, and nothing washes out unaided, no matter how long it sits. After your filter is flushed — or replaced, if required — fresh diesel goes in, and finally your vehicle is tested. Your engine is fired up next and checked to be sure it runs properly, all before we go.
Using pumps fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough for use outside a house at night, most jobs where your engine has not run need about half an hour once our engineers are there. Nothing upfront; you settle up that day. At the end, the VAT invoice and a report from the engineer are handed to you for your insurer. It's worth checking your policy as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover comes with many policies.
About Upper Stratton
Upper Stratton is a suburban area in Wiltshire, situated inland at an elevation of 116 metres, and forms part of the larger Swindon urban area. Upper Stratton is located near several other suburban areas, including Kingsdown, Penhill, and Pinehurst, and is approximately 24.5 miles from Oxford. Upper Stratton has a population of around 6107 people and is characterised by predominantly semi-detached housing. Upper Stratton is also within commuting distance of London, being around 70.6 miles away.
AdBlue drains round Upper Stratton, and Wiltshire beyond
Penhill and Pinehurst are among the towns near Upper Stratton, a residential suburb, that the same vans cover, throughout SN postcodes. Quickest of all: give a SN2 7 postcode to the van.
The car stays put. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Merton Fields Millennium Green, a side street close to Saint Philip the Deacon Church: our engineers drain the car where it is. Guessing doesn't help at the back of Stratton St Margaret Royal British Legion Club, on a boundary, or anywhere awkward to describe; phone and check.
Upper Stratton motorists: the short version
First, the cap; after that, the tip. Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, anywhere across Wiltshire, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank all the same — and so leave it off and phone 0333 366 0103.