AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Whitehall: Why It Happens and How to Prevent It
Pause here a minute if your diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, then ring 0333 366 0103. In Whitehall, finding it before the motor runs usually means a drain and a full flush where it stands. Here before the event? In that case the rest explains how it comes about and what to stop it ever happening.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Diesel feeds your engine — yet plenty of current diesels seen around Whitehall and Haine hold another liquid as well. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Separate tanks, different fillers. Under one flap, next to each other: that's the layout on a lot of cars. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler is under the bonnet or in the boot instead. Topping up the diesel side at the pump happens constantly. Someone who has to stop and work out where it goes normally tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less often. The slip lives in that gap.
AdBlue in the diesel tank around Whitehall: how it takes place
Seldom is it carelessness: usually three things line up.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a warning from the vehicle, and letting it run out leads to limp mode — hence a rushed top-up, maybe before work off Winifred Avenue, perhaps at Hare & Hounds on the way home after work.
Then your car is new. A hire car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not, and your hand gets to for the cap it would have used on the old one.
Third, the spout goes in: diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it goes in as readily, and after the pour begins, no part stops it. Newington or the heart of Whitehall: it takes the same few seconds either way.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Whether a Whitehall forecourt or a drive out in Westwood, take a few seconds over these before any goes in.
- Check the cap rather than going by where it sits: AdBlue ones are regularly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps normally aren't.
- Many vehicles give AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Plenty of cars say there which fuel goes where.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that's where your filler sits if it's not by your diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- Ask the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — if you pick up a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park at Ramsgate.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
Anywhere around Kent the light comes on, here is a routine for that day.
- Switch off after you park — level ground, engine off, and not rushed beside Nixon Avenue at the roadside.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it works.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave it on.
- Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Shut the cap, then look again — making sure the diesel filler remained closed the whole time. Only then, start your car.
Find at stage two or three that it has already gone into your diesel side? So stop right there. Stage five is off limits.
Whitehall: already put AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Don't start the motor: that is where the short order of things begins. Leave the ignition off as well, since on many diesels it alone runs your pump. Thinning it with extra diesel won't work, since AdBlue sinks to the base instead of blending — and that's where your fuel is pulled from.
Ask the staff to help push the car away from the pump if you are on a forecourt — the Sainsbury's, the Tesco or somewhere else. If you're on your own driveway in Whitehall, leave the car where it is.
Already started? Pull over when it is sensible, then switch off. Whitehall lies under 25 miles from the M20; there, use the first exit. A short hop across Whitehall is a smaller job than a run towards Canterbury, under 15 miles away, and so tell us roughly how far it went.
What takes place when our technicians turn up in Whitehall
Anywhere the car has stopped, whether by Dame Janet Primary Academy, beside St Mark's Church or on your own drive, the van travels to it. The replies settle the work and the quote, and so our engineers ask what went in, about how much, and whether it has run. During the phone call itself, you hear the quote — ahead of anything else.
Next: a drain, then a thorough flush of the whole system. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own — which is why that counts more with AdBlue than with petrol. Once your filter is cleaned — or renewed, if required — clean diesel goes in, and then your vehicle gets tested. Before leaving, our engineers start the engine and confirm that it is running properly.
If the engine hasn't run, the majority of 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. Nothing in advance; you settle up that day. Afterwards, the VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for the insurer. It is worth checking your policy as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover is included with many policies.
About Whitehall
Whitehall is a suburban area in Kent, situated on the coast near the cities of Canterbury and Dover. Whitehall sits at an elevation of 41 metres, with a mix of semi-detached housing and other residential properties. Whitehall is located near other local places such as Newington, Northwood, and Nethercourt, and is approximately 66.8 miles from London. Whitehall has a population of around 6370 people, making it a moderately sized community.
AdBlue drains in Whitehall and across Kent
Whitehall is a residential suburb, and the vans that cover it also work the towns near it, Northwood and Nethercourt among them, across the CT postcode area. Quickest of all: give a CT12 6 postcode to our van.
No need to move the vehicle. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Coleman Crescent Community Park, a side street near Newington Library: our engineers drain it where it sits. Assuming doesn't help behind The Corner, close to a boundary, or anywhere awkward to pin down; phone and check.
In short, for Whitehall motorists
Always, the cap; then, the tip. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank all the same, leave the vehicle off then call 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel clears it where it sits, anywhere around Kent.