AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in West Hoathly: Why It Occurs and How to Stop It
Pause reading for a moment when the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, and phone 0333 366 0103. A drain plus a thorough flush, done right where the vehicle sits in West Hoathly, is normally what it takes when caught before the motor runs. If you're reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it happens and how to make sure it does not.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel vehicle need its own filler?
Plenty of newer diesels on the roads around West Hoathly and Little London carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your motor. The exhaust, not the motor, is where AdBlue goes: dosed into the fumes to clean it, from a separate tank.
Each tank comes with a filler of its own. Plenty of motors share a single flap for the two, whereas others put the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. Diesel goes in at every filling station call-out, week in, week out. Someone 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 mistake lives.
West Hoathly: how AdBlue in the diesel tank occurs
It's seldom carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a driveway off Church Hill before work, or in the car park at The Cat Inn on the way home: that's where the hurried top-up takes place. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue runs low the vehicle warns you, and if it's gone, limp mode kicks in.
The old car's filler is where the hand reaches — but a hire car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers somewhere else. That is a second factor: an unfamiliar motor.
A spout-topped bottle finds no obstacle at a diesel filler any more than at an AdBlue one. And so the tip, once begun, carries on. Whether it takes place in Sharpthorne or the middle of West Hoathly, it's the same few seconds.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Before you pour anything, whether on a drive in Withypitts or a forecourt around West Hoathly, check these. They take a few seconds.
- Position misleads; the cap doesn't. AdBlue ones tend to be blue or carry the word "AdBlue" — diesel ones normally do not.
- The size. On plenty of motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- Lift the flap and look for a label — plenty of cars show which goes in which inlet just there.
- The handbook. If the filler isn't by your diesel cap, it's in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The person who drove it last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park outside East Grinstead, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
Wherever in West Sussex the light comes on, here is a routine for that day.
- Not in a rush on the side of Sandy Lane, not on a slope, not with the engine running: park and switch off properly.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once you find the AdBlue filler and reading it. Daft, perhaps, but it works.
- The diesel cap remains on. When both sit under a flap, confirm it's shut before lifting the bottle.
- Slowly is best, through the bottle's own spout, until it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap, then check once more — confirm your diesel filler stayed closed the whole time. After that, start the vehicle.
Find at step two or three that it's already gone into your diesel side? Then stop just there. Don't go on to step five.
West Hoathly: already put AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Brief list, then. First: your engine remains unstarted. Don't switch your ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is drawn from — so do not top up with diesel to thin it.
The attendants at Esso, JET or another forecourt will normally help to push the car clear when you ask. Your own drive around West Hoathly is the place it should stay.
If the motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. On the M23, under 5 miles from West Hoathly, that means the next exit. A short hop across West Hoathly is a smaller job than a run towards Brighton and Hove, under 25 miles away, so tell us roughly how far it went.
Our arrival in West Hoathly, and what occurs next
Outside West Hoathly CofE Primary School, near St Margaret's or on your own driveway: wherever the car has stopped, our engineers come to it. Both the work and the price depend on three replies — which fluid, what amount, and if it's run — so our engineers ask. No one heads out until you've had the price over the phone.
Next: a drain, then a full flush of the entire system. Unlike petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and attacks certain fuel-system metals, and neither washes out by itself. That is why it matters more. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the car is tested. We do not go until it has been fired up and is running correctly.
If the motor hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there, using pumps that are fine on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night. Paying happens on the day, not upfront, and you are given the paperwork your insurer asks for: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About West Hoathly, briefly
West Hoathly is a small village in West Sussex, situated near the River Medway and surrounded by woodland and farmland. West Hoathly sits at an elevation of 179 metres, with views of the surrounding countryside and the South Downs in the distance. West Hoathly is located near several other villages, including Sharpthorne and Selsfield Common, and is within commuting distance of Brighton and Hove. West Hoathly has a population of around 730 people, living in predominantly detached houses.
AdBlue drains around West Hoathly, and West Sussex beyond
Selsfield Common and Highbrook are among the towns around West Hoathly, a village, that the same vans cover, over RH postcodes. Quickest of all: quote a RH19 4 postcode to the van.
The car remains put. The drain happens on the spot, be it a driveway, a street by West Hoathly Village Hall, or a lay-by on the way to Hook Lane Recreation Ground. Awkward to pin down, like the back of Priest House? By a border? Checking beats assuming, and so ring.
For West Hoathly motorists, the short version
Read the cap before you pour. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank anyway, leave the car off and phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel clears it where it waits, anywhere across West Sussex.