Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in West Howe: Why It Happens
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? Then set this page down a moment, keep the ignition and engine off, and phone 0333 366 0103. Normally, when your engine has not run, it's drained and thoroughly rinsed where your car sits around West Howe. Nothing happened yet? Below, the page covers the why it takes place and the how to avoid it for good.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel vehicle
Many modern diesels around Bearwood, as well as West Howe, run on two liquids; your engine takes only your diesel. AdBlue's own tank keeps it, and from there it is sent to the exhaust, and there a spray treats the gas.
Different tanks, separate fillers. On a lot of cars the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. Diesel goes in on each forecourt call-out, again and again. A driver who has to stop and think where it goes usually tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less frequently. It is in that gap that the mistake happens.
West Howe: how AdBlue in your diesel tank takes place
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the car tells you, and if it runs out completely, your vehicle drops into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a driveway off Poole Lane before work, or in the car park outside Shoulder of Mutton on the way home.
Then, your hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old vehicle — since a hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers somewhere your last one didn't.
Lastly, the bottle fits: a diesel filler or AdBlue one, it goes in just as easily, and after the tip begins, no part halts it. Bear Cross or the middle of West Howe: it is the same few seconds in both.
The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart
Look at these first, on a forecourt around West Howe or a driveway out in Alderney. A few seconds, no more.
- Colour and lettering: an AdBlue cap is regularly blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap usually doesn't. Trust the cap, not its position.
- On many vehicles, the size gives it away: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- Look inside your fuel flap: many vehicles have a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- Cannot see it beside your diesel filler? In that case look below the bonnet or in your boot — the owner's manual will say which.
- Whoever had it before knows. Ask as you collect a hire car or company car — at Branksome's car park, say — rather than once the light appears.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
Wherever in Dorset the light comes on, here is a routine for the day.
- Park and switch off. Not on a slope, not with your motor running, and not in a rush on the side of Poole Lane Roundabout.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly and it does the trick.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave the car on.
- Gently does it, through the bottle's own spout, till it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Before starting your car, shut the cap and look again that your diesel cap was never came off.
Find during the second or third step that the bottle went into the diesel filler? That is where you stop. Step five is off limits.
West Howe: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
The short order of things, beginning with no starting the engine. Leave your ignition off too, because on many diesels switching it on by itself starts your pump. Filling up with diesel will not weaken it: rather than mixing, AdBlue drops to the bottom of the tank, just where fuel is drawn from.
If you are at a forecourt, whether it's the BP or the Texaco, ask the staff to help push the vehicle away from the pump. Leave it where it is if you are on your own driveway around West Howe.
Where the motor has run by now, pull over somewhere safe and turn it off. On the M27, under 25 miles from West Howe, that means the next exit. Mileage counts — a quick hop across West Howe is a smaller job than heading under 25 miles to Salisbury — so say roughly how far it went.
When we arrive around West Howe, what occurs?
Our engineers come to your car wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside Heathlands Primary Academy, close to TK Maxx or on your own drive. Which fluid was put in, the amount, and if it ran: our technicians ask since those answers set the work and quote. You get that price by phone, before anybody heads out.
Then that tank is cleared and your system purged thoroughly. Much more than with petrol, it matters here: the crystals form, certain metals corrode, and nothing washes away unaided, no matter how long it sits. Filter flushed or, if needed, replaced; clean diesel in; and then a test of your car. We do not go until it has been started and is running smoothly.
Using pumps safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough for use outside a house at night, most jobs in which your motor has not run take about half an hour after our technicians arrive. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About West Howe itself
West Howe is a suburban area in Dorset, situated inland at an elevation of 52 metres, and is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock. West Howe lies near several other localities, including Bear Cross, Wallisdown, and Turbary Common, and is approximately 22 miles from the city of Salisbury. West Howe is also within commuting distance of larger cities, with London being around 94 miles away. West Howe has a population of around 4754 residents.
West Howe and Dorset: AdBlue drains across the area
As a residential suburb, West Howe has the same vans as surrounding places — Wallisdown, Turbary Common — right through BH postcodes and the surrounding area beyond. Fastest of all: quote a BH11 9 postcode for the van.
Your car remains put. A driveway, a lay-by on the way to Pottery Woods, a side street close to Chapel: our engineers drain it where it sits. Awkward to explain, like the back of TeamSport Bournemouth? By a county line? Checking is better than guessing, and so ring.
In short, for West Howe motorists
Read the cap before you pour. Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, anywhere in Dorset, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank all the same — and so leave it off and ring 0333 366 0103.