Whitebushes: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Prevent It?
Leave the motor and ignition off and call 0333 366 0103 now — reading can wait when AdBlue is already in your diesel tank. A drain plus a full flush, done right where the vehicle stands in Whitebushes, is usually all it takes if caught before the engine runs. Nothing happened yet? Below, the rest of the page covers the reasons it occurs and the how to avoid it for good.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel vehicle
Plenty of newer diesels on the roads round Whitebushes and St Johns carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the motor. Its own tank keeps it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, and there a spray treats the fumes.
Each tank comes with one filler of its own. On a lot of cars the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is filled at the petrol pump all the time. Much less regularly, the AdBlue side gets topped up — mostly from a bottle, by a person thinking about where it goes. Mistakes happen in that gap between the two.
Whitebushes: how AdBlue in the diesel tank occurs
Carelessness rarely explains it. What does is three things lining up together.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low your car tells you, and if it runs out altogether, the vehicle drops into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a driveway off Mason's Bridge Road before work, or in the car park at Joshua Tree on the way home.
Unfamiliar vehicles are second, as well. Rentals, new cars and company cars put their fillers differently, and the hand goes for the cap it used on the old one.
Lastly, the spout goes in: a diesel filler or AdBlue one, it slides in just as easily, and once the pour starts, no part stops it. South Earlswood or the heart of Whitebushes: it takes the same few seconds either way.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Before you tip anything, whether on a drive in South Nutfield or a forecourt around Whitebushes, check these. They take a few seconds.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap usually isn't. Read it rather than going by position.
- On many cars, size tells: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- A label inside your fuel flap often says which fuel goes where, on many motors. Check for it.
- Cannot find it next to your diesel filler? Then check below the bonnet or inside your boot — the handbook says which.
- Collecting a hire or company car, say at the car park at Salfords? Check with the person who drove the car last before you set off, rather than once the light goes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
On the day the light appears — anywhere you are around Surrey — a routine to use.
- Stop on level, engine off, with time in hand — not rushing on the side of Ivydene Close.
- 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. When the two sit under a flap, make sure it is shut before the bottle comes up.
- Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start your car.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Never go on to step five.
Whitebushes: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
The short order of things, starting with not starting your engine. Keep the ignition off as well, because on many diesels switching it on alone runs the pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is pulled from — so do not top up with diesel to dilute it.
The staff at Shell, BP or any forecourt will normally help pushing the vehicle away if asked. Leave it where it is if you are on your own drive around Whitebushes.
Already started? Stop once it's safe, then switch off. The next exit is the place to leave if you are on the M23, under 3 miles from Whitebushes. A short hop across Whitebushes is a smaller job than a run towards Westminster, under 25 miles away, and so tell us roughly how far it went.
Whitebushes: what occurs when our engineers get there
Wherever the vehicle came to rest, whether by Salfords Primary School and Nursery, near Whitebushes Community Centre or at home, the van travels to it. Those replies settle this work and the price, so we ask what went in, roughly how much, and whether it has run. The price comes on the call, ahead of any van leaving.
Then the tank is drained and the system cleaned thoroughly. More than with petrol, it counts here: crystals build up, some metals corrode, and none of that clears away on its own, no matter how long it sits. After the filter is flushed — or replaced, where required — fresh diesel goes in, and then the car gets tested. Your engine is started next and tested to be sure it runs properly, all before our technicians head off.
Using pumps fine on a working forecourt and quiet enough for use outside a house at night, most jobs in which your motor has not run take roughly half an hour once our engineers arrive. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Before we get there, take a look at your insurance documents; many carry cover for misfuelling.
About Whitebushes itself
Whitebushes is a suburban area in Surrey, situated near the riverside with an elevation of 72 metres. Whitebushes lies approximately 20 miles south of London, near the neighbouring communities of South Earlswood and Salfords. Whitebushes has a population of around 2650 people, predominantly living in semi-detached housing. Whitebushes is also close to Ridge Green and other local settlements.
AdBlue drains about Whitebushes, and Surrey beyond
Whitebushes is a residential suburb, and the vans that cover it also work the towns around it, Salfords and Ridge Green among them, across the RH postcode area. Quickest of all: give a RH1 5 postcode to our van.
The car doesn't need to shift. A driveway, a lay-by on the way to Royal Earlswood Park, a side street close to Library & Knowledge Services: we drain the vehicle where it is. Awkward to pin down, like the back of Marks & Spencer? By a border? Checking is better than assuming, and so ring.
The short version for Whitebushes motorists
Pour nothing until you have read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank all the same, leave it off and call 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel clears it where it sits, anywhere in Surrey.