Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Winklebury: Why It Occurs
Stop reading a minute if the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, then call 0333 366 0103. Caught before your engine runs, it is normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is in Winklebury. Nothing happened yet? Below, the page covers the reasons it takes place and the how to avoid it altogether.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel car
Not one liquid but two: that's how many modern diesels near Winklebury and Worting run, with diesel for the engine. AdBlue goes to your exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to clean it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Every tank comes with one filler of its own. Some cars keep the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; plenty more have both together behind one flap. Filling your diesel side at the pump goes on all the time. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less commonly, normally from a bottle, and normally by somebody who has to stop and think where it goes. The slip lives in that gap.
Winklebury: how AdBlue in the diesel tank occurs
It is hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a warning from your car, and running dry means limp mode — so a rushed top-up, maybe before work off Warwick Road, or at The Winkle on the way home that evening.
The old car's cap is where your hand goes — but a hire car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers elsewhere. That's the second factor: an unfamiliar car.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, and so nothing stops the tip after it has started. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Winklebury or out in West Ham.
The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart
A few seconds is all these take — so check them before you tip anything, on a driveway in South Ham or a forecourt in Winklebury.
- Where it sits can mislead; the cap doesn't. AdBlue caps tend to be blue or bear the name "AdBlue" — diesel caps usually don't.
- Many motors give AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- A label inside the fuel flap often shows which fuel goes where, on plenty of cars. Check for it.
- Can't see it next to the diesel filler? In that case check below the bonnet or inside the boot — the owner's manual says where.
- Picking up a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park at Basingstoke? Check with the person who drove it last before you set off, not once the light goes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up
The day the light comes on, anywhere across Hampshire, follow this routine.
- Park and switch off. Not on a slope, not with the engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Caernavon Close.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it does the trick.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave it on.
- Stop when the tank fills or the bottle runs dry; before that, tip gently using its own spout.
- Close the cap, then check once more — making sure your diesel filler stayed shut the whole time. Only then, start the vehicle.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Stage five is off limits.
Put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Winklebury already?
Then the order of things is short. Do not start your motor. The fuel pump starts on plenty of diesels as soon as your ignition is switched on — and so leave it off. Do not top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where the fuel is drawn from.
The attendants at Texaco, Shell or another forecourt will usually lend a hand pushing the car away if you ask. Leave it where it is if you are on your own drive around Winklebury.
Already started? Pull over once it's sensible, then turn off. Winklebury lies under 3 miles from the M3; on it, use the first exit. A short hop across Winklebury is a smaller job than a run towards Winchester, under 25 miles away, so tell us roughly how far it went.
What occurs when we arrive in Winklebury
Our engineers come to the car wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside Castle Hill Infant School, close to The Good Shepherd, Winklebury or on your own driveway. Both the work and our price depend on three replies — which fluid, which quantity, and if it has run — so our engineers ask. You hear that quote by phone, before anybody heads out.
Then the tank is drained and your system purged thoroughly. With AdBlue that counts more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not wash out on its own. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the car is tested. We don't leave until it has been fired up and is running properly.
With pumps safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs where your motor has not run take about half an hour after our engineers are there. The insurer usually wants the engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and you get both at the end. Payment comes on the day, with no money upfront. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Winklebury itself
Winklebury is a suburban area in Hampshire, situated near the River Itchen and characterised by its terraced housing. Winklebury sits at an elevation of 112 metres, with views of the surrounding countryside and the nearby city of Winchester. Winklebury is located near other residential areas, including West Ham, Buckskin, and Houndmills, and is approximately 45.9 miles from London.
Winklebury and Hampshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Winklebury is a residential suburb, and our vans that cover it also work the towns around it, Buckskin and Houndmills among them, across the RG postcode area. Quote a postcode beginning RG23 8, and the van arrives quickest.
There's no need to shift the car. The drain happens on the spot, whether a drive, a street by Planet Ice, or a layby on the way to West Ham Park. Assuming doesn't help behind Odeon, on a boundary, or somewhere hard to describe; ring and check.
For Winklebury drivers, the short version
Before you pour, read the cap. AdBlue in your diesel tank regardless? Leave the car switched off and call 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, throughout Hampshire.