AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Woodford: How It Happens and How to Stop It
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave the motor and your ignition off then call 0333 366 0103. In Woodford, catching it before your motor turns usually means a drain and a thorough flush on the spot. Here before the event? In that case what follows explains how it happens and what to stop it happening at all.
AdBlue in a diesel motor, and its separate tank
Plenty of modern diesels around Moorslade, as well as Woodford, run on two fluids; the motor gets just the diesel. AdBlue's own tank holds it, and from there it goes to your exhaust, where spraying treats the fumes.
Each tank has its own filler. Some cars keep the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; plenty of others place the two together under one flap. Topping up the diesel side at the pump goes on constantly. A driver who has to stop and think where it goes usually tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less often. The mistake grows in that gap between them.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Woodford: how it occurs
Carelessness seldom causes it. What does is three things coming up together.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the car tells you, and if it runs out completely, the vehicle goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a drive off Damery Lane before work, or in the car park at the pub in the village on the way home.
Then the 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 reaches for the cap it would have used on the old one.
Third, the bottle goes in: diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it slides in as readily, and after the tip begins, nothing halts it. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Woodford or out in Swanley.
Telling the AdBlue filler from your diesel filler
Check these before pouring, on a forecourt in Woodford or a drive out in Lower Stone. Seconds, that's all.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is often blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap usually is not. Read it instead of going by where it sits.
- On plenty of motors, size gives it away: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- Check inside your fuel flap: plenty of motors carry a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that's where the filler sits if it's not by your diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- Picking up a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park outside Lydney? Ask whoever drove the vehicle last before leaving, rather than when the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever across Gloucestershire that is.
- Park and switch off. Not on a slope, not with the motor running, and not in a rush on the side of Woodford Green.
- Daft as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap does the trick — once you've found your filler and read it.
- Leave the diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Before you start the car, close the cap and check a second time that your diesel cap was never came off.
Find at step two or three that it's already gone into your diesel side? Then stop just there. Never go on to stage five.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, in Woodford?
What follows is a short order of things, beginning with no starting your motor. The fuel pump runs on plenty of diesels as soon as your ignition goes on — so leave it off. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where your fuel is pulled from — so don't top up with diesel to dilute it.
If you're on a forecourt, whether it is the Stone Garage or the another forecourt nearby, ask the staff to help push your car clear of the pump. Your own drive around Woodford is where it should stay.
If your motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. Come off the M5 — under a mile out of Woodford — at the next exit. About how far did it go? Crossing Woodford is less a job than a trip of under 25 miles to Bristol, and so tell us.
Our arrival in Woodford, and what happens next
The van comes to the vehicle wherever it stopped — your own drive, near All Saints, or by Stone with Woodford Church of England Primary School. Those answers settle this work and our price, and so we ask what got in, about how much, and whether it has run. You get that price by phone, before anyone heads out.
Next: draining, then a thorough flush of the whole system. Unlike petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and eats at certain fuel-system metals, and neither washes out unaided. That is why it matters more. Filter cleaned or, where it must be, swapped; fresh diesel in; and then a test of the vehicle. We don't leave until it has been started and is running properly.
Most jobs are finished in roughly half an hour after our technicians arrive, provided the engine has not run — and the pumps our technicians use are safe on a busy forecourt and quiet after dark beside a house. Your insurer usually wants an engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and both are yours at the end. Payment comes on the day, with no deposit. While we travel, take a look at your policy; many carry cover for misfuelling.
About Woodford itself
Woodford is a small village in Gloucestershire, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 27 metres. Woodford lies near the cities of Bristol and Gloucester, and is close to nearby places such as Swanley and Stone. Woodford has a population of around 536 people, predominantly living in detached houses. Woodford is located in the South West region of England, approximately 100 miles from London.
Woodford and Gloucestershire: AdBlue drains across the area
Stone and Newport are among the towns near Woodford, a village, that the same vans cover, throughout GL postcodes. Our van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting GL13 9.
No need to move the vehicle. Our technicians drain it where it is — a side street near Stone Village Hall, a lay-by on the way to Daniel's Wood, a drive. Guessing doesn't help behind Falfield Village Hall, close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to pin down; phone and check.
For Woodford people, the short version
Read the cap before you tip. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless, leave the car off and call 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel clears it where it stands, anywhere across Gloucestershire.