AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Upton Lea: How It Happens and How to Prevent It
Stop reading a minute when your diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, and ring 0333 366 0103. A drain and a full flush, carried out just where your vehicle stands around Upton Lea, is normally all it needs when caught before your engine runs. Reading before the event? In that case the rest covers how it happens and what to prevent it ever happening.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
Many newer diesels in Slough, like those in Upton Lea, run on two fluids; the engine gets just the diesel. Kept in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into the exhaust stream and cleans it.
Each tank has its own filler. Other motors keep the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; a lot of others have both side by side under one flap. Diesel goes in at every forecourt visit, again and again. Rarely filled, AdBlue usually comes from a bottle, poured by someone who must stop and think what filler it needs. It is in the gap that the error lives.
Upton Lea: how AdBlue in your diesel tank occurs
Carelessness seldom explains it. Instead is three things lining up at once.
On a drive off Wexham Road before work, or in the car park outside The George heading home: that's where the rushed top-up takes place. Why the rush? As AdBlue gets low your car warns you, and once it is empty, limp mode kicks in.
Then, your hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old motor — since a rental car, a new car or a company car places the fillers where your last one did not.
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 after it has started. Whether it happens in Wexham Court or the middle of Upton Lea, it is the same few seconds.
Telling the AdBlue filler from the diesel filler
Before you tip anything, whether on a drive in Middle Green or a forecourt in Upton Lea, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Where it sits misleads; the cap does not. AdBlue ones are often blue or carry the word "AdBlue" — diesel caps usually do not.
- Plenty of vehicles give AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- A label inside the fuel flap frequently says which fuel goes where, on plenty of cars. Look for it.
- The handbook. If your filler is not by your diesel cap, it is in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The person who drove it last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park at Slough, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
For the day the warning comes on — wherever you are around Berkshire — a simple routine to use.
- Stop somewhere level, engine off, with time to spare — never rushing on the side of Kendal Drive.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it does the trick.
- Both under a single flap? So confirm the cap on the diesel side is still shut ahead of lifting the bottle.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Never go on to step five.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Upton Lea already?
Don't start the engine: that's where the short order of things begins. The fuel pump runs on plenty of diesels the moment your ignition is switched on — so keep it off. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is sucked from — so don't top up with diesel to dilute it.
If you are on a forecourt, whether it is the BP or the Tesco, ask the attendants to help roll the vehicle clear of the pump. On your own drive in Upton Lea? So your car remains where it is.
If the motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. Upton Lea lies under 3 miles from the M4; on it, use the first exit. A short hop across Upton Lea is a smaller job than a run towards St Albans, under 25 miles away, and so tell us roughly how far it went.
What happens when our engineers arrive in Upton Lea
Wherever the car came to rest, be it outside Willow Primary School, near Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses or on your own drive, the van travels to it. We ask what was put in, roughly how much, and whether it's run, because the answers settle the work and the price. The quote is given over the phone, before any van leaves.
The system is then rinsed thoroughly, once the tank is emptied. Unlike petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and eats at certain fuel-system metals, and neither clears out unaided. That is why it counts more. After your filter has been flushed — or replaced, where needed — fresh diesel goes in, and finally your car gets tested. Before we leave, our technicians fire it up and make sure that it's running properly.
Most jobs are finished in about half an hour once our technicians get there, as long as the motor hasn't run — and the pumps we use are fine on a busy forecourt and quiet at night outside a house. The insurer will ask for the engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and you get both at the end. Payment comes on the day, with no money upfront. Before we get there, have a look at your insurance documents; many carry cover for misfuelling.
About Upton Lea and where it is
Upton Lea is a suburban area in Berkshire, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 29 metres. Upton Lea lies within the commuter belt, approximately 19 miles from London, and is near several other suburban areas, including Wexham Court and George Green. Upton Lea has a population of around 12440 people, predominantly living in semi-detached housing. Upton Lea is also close to Stoke Green and other local neighbourhoods.
AdBlue drains across Berkshire, Upton Lea included
Upton Lea is a residential suburb, and the teams that cover it also work the places near it, George Green and Stoke Green among them, across the SL postcode area. A postcode starting SL2 5 gets the van to you fastest.
There's no need to shift the vehicle. Wherever it sits — near Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, on a layby en route to Upton Lea Recreation Ground, on a drive — that's where it is cleared. If you're close to a border, or somewhere hard to describe like the back of Holy Redeemer, ring and ask instead of assuming.
For Upton Lea drivers, the short version
Before you pour, read the cap. AdBlue in the diesel tank after all? Keep the vehicle switched off and call 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, across Berkshire.