Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Woodford: Why It Happens
Pause here for a moment if the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, then ring 0333 366 0103. Caught before your engine runs, it's generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is around Woodford. The remainder of this page explains why it occurs and how to ensure it does not — handy if you are reading before it has happened.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel car need its own filler?
Many modern diesels around South Woodford, like those in Woodford, run on two liquids; the engine gets only the diesel. AdBlue's own tank keeps it, and from there it is sent to the exhaust, where spraying cleans the fumes.
There's a filler on each tank. Under one flap, side by side: that is the layout on many cars. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler sits beneath the bonnet or in the boot instead. The diesel side is filled at the pump all the time. Far less often, the AdBlue side is filled — normally from a bottle, by a person working out where it goes. The mistake lives in that gap.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Woodford: how it occurs
Carelessness rarely explains it. Instead is three things coming up at once.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a message from the car, and running out leads to limp mode — hence a hurried top-up, perhaps before work off The Broadway, perhaps outside Railway Tavern on the way home that evening.
Then the vehicle is new. A hire car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers where your last one didn't, and the hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old one.
Third, the spout goes in: diesel filler or AdBlue one, it slides in just as easily, and after the pour begins, no part halts it. It's seconds, be it out in Woodford Green or bang in the heart of Woodford.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Whether a Woodford forecourt or a driveway out in Chingford Hatch, take a couple of seconds on these before anything is poured in.
- Check the cap instead of going by where it sits: AdBlue caps are regularly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps usually aren't.
- The size. On plenty of cars the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Many motors say there which fuel goes where.
- Can't see it next to your diesel filler? In that case look below the bonnet or in the boot — the owner's manual will say where.
- The person who drove it last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park outside Highams Park, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever in Greater London that is.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with the engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Snakes Lane West.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once finding the AdBlue filler and reading it. Silly, perhaps, but it does the trick.
- The diesel cap remains on. When the two sit under a flap, make sure it is shut before lifting the bottle.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Before you start your car, close the cap and look a second time that the diesel cap was never came off.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Stage five is out.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Woodford?
Brief order, then. Top of it: your engine remains off. The fuel pump runs on many diesels the moment the ignition goes on — 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 BP, Esso or any forecourt will usually help to push the car clear if asked. If you are on your own driveway around Woodford, leave the vehicle where it sits.
If your motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. The next exit is the place to leave when you're on the M11, under a mile from Woodford. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards London, under 10 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Woodford.
When our technicians arrive around Woodford, what happens?
Anywhere your car came to rest, be it by Ray Lodge Primary School, beside Woodford Green Library or on your own drive, our van travels to it. Those answers settle the work and our price, so our engineers ask what was put in, roughly how much, and if it has run. You hear that quote on the phone, before anybody heads out.
Draining that tank comes next, then a thorough flush of the fuel system. Not like petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and attacks some fuel-system metals, and none of that washes away unaided. Hence it counts more. The 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 be sure it runs properly, all before our technicians leave.
Most jobs are finished in about half an hour once we get there, provided your engine hasn't run — and the pumps our technicians use are safe on a busy forecourt and quiet at night beside a house. The insurer will ask for the engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and both are yours once this job is done. Payment is on the day, with no money upfront. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Woodford
Woodford is a locality in northeast Greater London, situated approximately 9.8 miles from central London. Woodford sits at an elevation of around 36 metres, characterised by its predominantly semi-detached housing stock. Woodford is close to nearby places such as Woodford Green, Woodford Wells, and Woodford Bridge, and is part of the wider London urban area.
AdBlue drains across Greater London, Woodford included
Woodford Wells and Woodford Bridge are among the places near Woodford, a small village, that the same vans cover, over IG postcodes. Quote a postcode beginning IG8 0, and our van gets there fastest.
The car remains put. Anywhere it sits — beside Clement Attlee, in a layby en route to Bancroft's School Sports Ground, at home — that's where it is emptied. Ring and ask instead of assuming if you are near a boundary, or somewhere hard to describe, like the back of St Barnabas.
The short version for Woodford drivers
Read the cap before you pour. AdBlue in the diesel tank regardless? Leave the car off then phone 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, throughout Greater London.