White Oak: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Prevent It?
Keep the motor and ignition off and call 0333 366 0103 now — reading can wait if AdBlue is already in your diesel tank. Caught before the engine runs, it's generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is in White Oak. If you're reading before it has happened, the rest of this page is about why it takes place and how to make sure it doesn't.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel vehicle
Diesel feeds your motor — yet plenty of newer diesels driven round White Oak and Hextable hold a second fluid too. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
There is a filler on each tank. Plenty of cars share a single flap for both, whereas some put the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. At the petrol pump, your diesel side is topped up constantly. Far less frequently, the AdBlue side gets topped up — normally from a bottle, by a person working out where it goes. The slip lives in that gap.
White Oak: how AdBlue in the diesel tank happens
Seldom is it carelessness: normally three things coincide.
On a drive off Conifer Way before work, or in the car park outside The Cotton Mill heading home: that is where the hurried top-up takes place. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low your car warns you, and if it's empty, limp mode follows.
Then, the hand goes for the cap it knew on the old vehicle — because a hire car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not.
A spouted bottle meets no resistance at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. So the pour, after begun, carries on. It takes a few seconds, whether out in Stonehill Green or bang in the heart of White Oak.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
A few seconds is all these take — so check them before you tip anything, on a driveway in Upper Ruxley or a forecourt in White Oak.
- Read the cap instead of going by position: AdBlue caps are often blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones normally aren't.
- On plenty of motors, the size tells: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Plenty of cars say there which fuel goes where.
- Cannot see it beside the diesel inlet? In that case check beneath the bonnet or inside the boot — the owner's manual says which.
- Check with the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — when you pick up a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park outside Swanley.
Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up
Wherever across Kent the light comes on, here is a routine for that day.
- Not in a rush on the side of Russett Way, not on a slope, not with your engine running: park and switch off first.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it does the trick.
- The diesel cap stays on. When both sit under a flap, confirm it is closed before lifting the bottle.
- Gently does it, through the bottle's own spout, until it is full or the bottle runs out.
- Only then, start the vehicle: close the cap, check once more, and make sure the diesel cap was never opened.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you have already poured into your diesel side. Don't carry on to stage five.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, around White Oak?
What follows is a short order of things, beginning with no starting the motor. Don't switch your ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Filling up with diesel will not thin it: instead, AdBlue sinks to the base of your tank, right where fuel is drawn from.
The attendants at BP, Harvest Energy or any forecourt will normally help to push your car away if asked. Leave it where it is if you are on your own driveway in White Oak.
If your motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. On the M20, under 3 miles from White Oak, that means the next junction. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards London, under 15 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across White Oak.
White Oak: what happens when we get there
Our van reaches the vehicle wherever it has come to rest — your own drive, beside Swanley Full Gospel Church, or outside Horizon Primary Academy. The answers decide the work and our quote, and so we ask what got in, about how much, and if it has run. Nobody sets off until you've heard our price over the phone.
The fuel system is then rinsed thoroughly, once your tank is cleared. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not wash out on its own — which is why the flush counts more with AdBlue than with petrol. After your filter is cleaned — or renewed, where needed — clean diesel is added, and finally the vehicle is tested. Next we start the engine and make sure it runs properly before we leave.
Most jobs are finished in about half an hour after our engineers arrive, as long as your motor hasn't run — and the pumps we use are fine on a busy forecourt yet quiet after dark outside a house. Nothing upfront; you settle up that day. Afterwards, a VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for your insurer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About White Oak, briefly
White Oak is a locality in Kent, situated inland at an elevation of 67 metres, and is located approximately 14 miles from central London. White Oak forms part of the commuter belt around London, with nearby places including Stonehill Green, Hockenden, and Swanley. White Oak has a population of around 3200 residents, predominantly living in terraced housing.
AdBlue drains in White Oak and across Kent
Being a small village, White Oak shares its vans surrounding areas — Hockenden, Swanley — right through BR postcodes and the surrounding area beyond. The van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting BR8 7.
Moving the vehicle is not needed. The drain takes place on the spot, whether a driveway, a street by White Oak indoor Bowls Centre, or a layby on the way to Birch Wood. Awkward to explain, like the back of White Oak Leisure Centre? Close to a county line? Checking is better than guessing, so phone.
In short, for White Oak drivers
Pour no AdBlue till you have read the cap. Still AdBlue in your diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel will drain it wherever it stands, anywhere around Kent: switch the car off and phone 0333 366 0103.