Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Walton: Why It Happens
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? In that case set this page down for now, keep your ignition and engine off, and ring 0333 366 0103. Caught before the motor runs, it is generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is in Walton. The remainder of this page explains why it takes place and how to make sure it doesn't — useful if you are reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel motor: two tanks, two fillers
Plenty of newer diesels in Paston, like those in Walton, carry on two liquids; your engine takes only the diesel. AdBlue goes to your exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Each tank has its own filler. Under one flap, side by side: that is the layout on a lot of vehicles. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler is beneath the bonnet or in your boot instead. The diesel side is fuelled at the pump all the time. Someone who has to stop and think where it goes normally fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less often. That gap is where the error lives.
How does AdBlue in your diesel tank take place around Walton?
It is seldom carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the vehicle tells you, and if it runs out altogether, the car drops into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a driveway off A15 before work, or in the car park outside Paul Pry on the way home.
The old car's filler is where your hand reaches — yet a rental car, a new car or a company car keeps the fillers somewhere else. That is a second thing: a strange motor.
Lastly, the bottle goes in: diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it goes in as easily, and after the pour starts, nothing stops it. It's a few seconds, be it in New England or right in the centre of Walton.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Look at these before pouring, at a forecourt around Walton or a drive over in Bretton. A few seconds, that's all.
- Where it sits misleads; the cap doesn't. AdBlue ones are often blue or carry the name "AdBlue" — diesel ones usually don't.
- On plenty of motors, size gives it away: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- A label inside your fuel flap frequently shows which fuel goes where, on plenty of cars. Check for it.
- Cannot find it next to the diesel inlet? Then check beneath the bonnet or in your boot — the owner's manual says where.
- The previous driver will know. Ask as you pick up a rental or company car — from Peterborough's car park, perhaps — rather than once the warning comes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
For the day the warning appears — wherever it is around Cambridgeshire — a simple routine to use.
- Turn off once parked — flat ground, engine off, and never in a rush by Lincoln Road at the roadside.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and say the word "AdBlue" aloud as unscrewing it. It sounds daft. It works.
- The diesel cap remains on. When both sit under a flap, confirm it is shut before lifting the bottle.
- Finish when your tank is topped up or the bottle runs dry; before that, pour slowly through its own spout.
- Shut the cap, and look once more — making sure your diesel cap stayed shut throughout. Only then, start your car.
Find during the second or third stage that the bottle went into the wrong filler? That's where you stop. Never go on to step five.
Put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Walton already?
Short order, then. First: the engine stays off. Don't switch your ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Do not top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is sucked from.
The staff at Shell, Morrisons or another forecourt will normally lend a hand to push the car away if asked. If you're on your own driveway in Walton, leave it where it is.
Already started? Stop when it is sensible, then switch off. Leave the A1(M) — under 10 miles out of Walton — at the next junction. A short hop across Walton is a smaller job than a run towards Peterborough, under 3 miles away, so tell us roughly how far it went.
Our arrival around Walton, and what occurs next
Outside Discovery Primary Academy, near Walton Community Centre or on your own driveway: wherever the vehicle has stopped, our technicians come to it. Those answers decide this work and the quote, so our engineers ask what was put in, roughly how much, and whether it's run. On the call itself, you hear the quote — ahead of anything else.
The system is then flushed thoroughly, once that tank is emptied. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not wash out on its own — which is why that counts more with AdBlue than with petrol. Filter cleaned or, where it must be, swapped; fresh diesel in; then a test of the vehicle. The motor is fired up next and tested to be sure it runs correctly, all before we go.
Unstarted vehicles usually mean a half-hour visit from the moment we arrive. The kit is safe on a live forecourt, and hushed enough for a driveway after dark. The insurer will ask for the engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and you get both once the job is done. Payment comes on the day, with no money upfront. While we travel, take a look at your policy; many include cover for misfuelling.
About Walton
Walton is a suburban area located on the riverside in Cambridgeshire, with an elevation of around 15 metres. Walton sits near the city of Peterborough, approximately 2.4 miles away, and is close to nearby places such as New England, Ravensthorpe, and Gunthorpe. Walton has a population of around 6320 people and predominantly consists of semi-detached housing.
AdBlue drains in Walton and across Cambridgeshire
Being a residential suburb, Walton has the same vans as nearby places — Ravensthorpe, Gunthorpe — right through PE postcodes and the surrounding area around them. Quickest of all: give a PE4 6 postcode for our van.
The car stays put. Wherever it stands — near TK Maxx, on a layby en route to Mountsteven Recreation Ground, on a drive — that is where it is emptied. If you're close to a border, or somewhere hard to explain like the back of Asda Living, ring and ask instead of assuming.
The short version for Walton motorists
Before you tip, read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank anyway, leave it off then phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it waits, anywhere across Cambridgeshire.