AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Westbourne: Why It Happens and How to Stop It
Pause reading for a moment when the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, and call 0333 366 0103. Usually, if your motor hasn't turned, it is drained and fully rinsed where your car is in Westbourne. Here in advance? Then the rest explains how it happens and what to prevent it happening at all.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel vehicle
Diesel goes to your motor — yet many modern diesels driven round Westbourne and Woodmancote hold another liquid as well. The exhaust, not the motor, is where AdBlue goes: dosed into the fumes to fresh them, from its own tank.
Separate tanks, separate fillers. Plenty of vehicles share a single flap for both, while others put the AdBlue filler to your boot or under the bonnet. Topping up the diesel side at the pump goes on constantly. Far less regularly, the AdBlue side gets topped up — mostly from a bottle, by a person working out where it goes. The error lives in that gap.
AdBlue in your diesel tank around Westbourne: how it occurs
It is rarely carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a message from the vehicle, and letting it run dry leads to limp mode — so a rushed top-up, maybe before work off The Square, or outside The Stags Head on the way home that evening.
Next, the hand goes for the cap it knew on the old vehicle — because a hire car, a new vehicle or a company car places the fillers where your last one didn't.
A spouted bottle meets no obstacle at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. So the tip, once begun, keeps on. Whether it happens in New Brighton or the middle of Westbourne, it is the same few seconds.
The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart
Before you tip anything, whether on a driveway in Breach or a forecourt around Westbourne, check these. They take a few seconds.
- Position can mislead; the cap doesn't. AdBlue caps are often blue or bear the word "AdBlue" — diesel ones normally don't.
- Plenty of vehicles give AdBlue the smaller neck of the two.
- Lift the flap and check for a label — many motors show which goes in which inlet right there.
- The handbook. If the filler isn't by the diesel cap, it's in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park outside Emsworth, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
The day the light goes on, wherever across West Sussex, use this routine.
- Stop somewhere level, motor off, with time to spare — never hurried on the side of East Street.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly and it does the trick.
- The diesel cap remains on. Where both share a flap, confirm it is closed before the bottle comes up.
- Finish once your tank fills or the bottle runs dry; until then, tip slowly using the own spout.
- Only then, start your car: close the cap, check a second time, and make sure the diesel cap was never opened.
Spot at step two or three that it's already gone into the diesel side? So stop just there. Never carry on to stage five.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank around Westbourne?
Short list, then. First: your motor stays off. On many diesels your ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so don't switch the car on. Don't top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where your fuel is pulled from.
If you're on a forecourt, whether it's the Murco or the Shell, ask the attendants to help roll the vehicle clear of the pump. Leave it where it is if you're on your own drive around Westbourne.
Where the engine has been run by now, pull over safely then switch it off. The next exit is where to leave if you're on the A3(M), under 5 miles from Westbourne. A short hop across Westbourne is a smaller job than a run towards Chichester, under 10 miles away, and so tell us roughly how far it went.
What happens when our engineers turn up in Westbourne
Our technicians come to the car wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside Westbourne Primary School, near Westbourne War Memorial or on your own driveway. Which fluid went in, the amount, and if it ran: our technicians ask because the replies set both work and quote. You hear that price by phone, before anybody sets off.
The fuel system is then flushed thoroughly, after that tank is cleared. With AdBlue that matters more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not wash out on its own. After the filter is flushed — or replaced, if needed — fresh diesel is added, and then the car gets tested. After that our engineers fire it up and check it runs correctly before leaving.
With pumps safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough for use outside a house at night, most jobs in which the motor hasn't run take roughly half an hour once our technicians arrive. Nothing upfront; you settle up on the day. At the end, a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer go to you for the insurer. It is worth checking your insurance as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover is included with plenty of policies.
About Westbourne
Westbourne is a small village on the coast of West Sussex, situated near the city of Chichester and close to other local places such as New Brighton and Lumley. Westbourne sits at a low elevation of around 12 metres above sea level, looking out over the coastal landscape. Westbourne has a population of approximately 1539 people, living in predominantly semi-detached housing. Westbourne is located about 56 miles from London, making it a relatively accessible rural community.
AdBlue drains across West Sussex, Westbourne included
Lumley and Aldsworth are among the places around Westbourne, a coastal village, that the same vans cover, throughout PO postcodes. Quote a postcode that starts PO10 8, and the van gets there fastest.
Moving your car is not necessary. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Hampshire Farm Meadow, a side street close to Westbourne Parish Hall: our technicians drain the car where it sits. Awkward to explain, like the back of Emsworth Memorial Garden? Close to a county line? Asking is better than guessing, and so phone.
In short, for Westbourne 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 West Sussex.