Winchmore Hill: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Avoid It?
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? Then set this page aside a moment, keep the ignition and motor off, then call 0333 366 0103. Usually, when the engine has not run, it's drained and fully purged where the vehicle is in Winchmore Hill. The remainder of this page explains why it takes place and how to make sure it does not — useful if you're reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
Many newer diesels in Bush Hill Park, like those in Winchmore Hill, carry on two liquids; the motor gets only your diesel. AdBlue's own tank holds it, and from there it goes to the exhaust, and there spraying cleans the fumes.
There is a filler on each tank. Many of vehicles have a single flap for both, whereas others put the AdBlue filler to your boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is topped up at the petrol pump all the time. Far less frequently, the AdBlue side is filled — mostly from a bottle, by a person working out where it goes. The mistake grows in the gap between the two.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Winchmore Hill: how it happens
It is hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a driveway off Station Road before work, or in the car park at On Broadway heading home: that is where the hurried top-up happens. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue runs low the car tells you, and once it's empty, limp mode follows.
Next, the hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old car — since a hire car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers somewhere your last one didn't.
No part stops the tip after it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. Grange Park or the heart of Winchmore Hill: it takes the same few seconds in both.
Telling the AdBlue filler from your diesel filler
Check these first, on a forecourt in Winchmore Hill or a driveway over in Southgate. Seconds, no more.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is often blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap usually isn't. Read it rather than going by position.
- On many cars, the size gives it away: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- Look inside the fuel flap: many motors have a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If your filler is not by the diesel cap, it's in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Picking up a hire or company car, say at the car park outside the nearest station? Ask whoever drove it last before leaving, not when the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
The day the light goes on, wherever in Greater London, use this routine.
- Not in a rush on the side of Hazelgreen Close, not on a slope, not with your engine running: park and switch off properly.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and say the name "AdBlue" aloud as unscrewing it. It sounds silly. It does the trick.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Finish once your tank is topped up or the bottle is empty; until then, tip gently through its own spout.
- Only after that, start your car: 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've already poured into your diesel side. Skip stage five altogether.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, in Winchmore Hill?
Brief order, then. Top of it: the motor stays off. On plenty of diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so do not switch the car on. Filling up with diesel will not dilute it: instead, AdBlue sinks to the bottom of that tank, just where fuel is drawn from.
If you are at a forecourt, whether it's the Esso or the JET, ask the staff to help push the vehicle clear of the petrol pump. At home in Winchmore Hill? Then your car stays where it is.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if your engine has already run. Winchmore Hill lies under 5 miles from the M25; on it, take the next exit. Roughly how far did it go? Crossing Winchmore Hill is smaller work than a run of under 10 miles towards London, and so tell us.
What occurs when our technicians turn up around Winchmore Hill
Our van reaches the vehicle wherever it stopped — your own drive, near Winchmore Hill Baptist Church, or outside St Paul's CofE Primary School. What fluid went in, the amount, and whether it ran: our technicians ask because the replies set the work and quote. You hear that quote on the phone, before anybody heads out.
After that: draining, then a thorough flush of the whole system. Unlike petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and eats at certain fuel-system metals, and neither clears away unaided. Hence it counts more. Your filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and your car is tested. Your engine is started next and tested to confirm it runs smoothly, all before our engineers go.
Unrun cars mostly mean a half-hour job from the moment we arrive. The equipment is fine on a busy forecourt, and hushed enough for a residential street late at night. No money upfront; you settle up that day. Afterwards, the VAT invoice and a report from the engineer are handed to you for your insurer. While we travel, take a look at your policy; plenty include cover for misfuelling.
About Winchmore Hill itself
Winchmore Hill is a suburban area in north London, situated near the River Lea and close to the neighbouring districts of Grange Park and Palmers Green. Winchmore Hill has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are particularly prevalent in the area. Winchmore Hill sits at an elevation of around 43 metres, about 8 miles from central London, and is part of the wider London urban landscape. Winchmore Hill is also near Highlands Village, another local residential area.
AdBlue drains round Winchmore Hill, and Greater London beyond
Over N postcodes, our vans that cover Winchmore Hill — a residential suburb — work the nearby locations too, Highlands Village and Palmers Green included. The van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting N21 3.
The car does not need to shift. A driveway, a lay-by on the way to The Paulin Ground, a side street close to Holy Trinity: our technicians drain it where it is. Ring and ask instead of assuming if you are near a border, or somewhere hard to describe, like the back of Winchmore Hill URC.
For Winchmore Hill people, the short version
Read the cap before you pour. AdBlue in your diesel tank regardless? Keep the vehicle switched off and ring 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, throughout Greater London.