Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Aberford: Why It Happens
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave your motor and your ignition off then ring 0333 366 0103. In Aberford, finding it before your motor runs normally leaves a drain and a thorough flush where it stands. Not happened yet? Further down, the page covers the why it happens and the how to avoid it for good.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel vehicle
Many modern diesels around Potterton, as well as Aberford, run on two liquids; your engine takes only the diesel. Your exhaust, not the engine, is where AdBlue ends up: sprayed into the fumes to fresh them, from a separate tank.
There's a filler for every tank. On a lot of cars the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. At the petrol pump, your diesel side gets filled constantly. Seldom filled, AdBlue normally goes in from a bottle, poured by a driver who has to stop and think what cap it needs. It's in that gap that the mistake happens.
Aberford: how AdBlue in your diesel tank happens
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
On a drive off Main Street before work, or in the car park at The Arabian Horse heading home: that is where the hurried top-up happens. Why the rush? As AdBlue runs low the vehicle warns you, and if it is gone, limp mode kicks in.
Next, the hand goes for the cap it would have used on the old motor — because a rental car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers where your last one didn't.
Third, the spout fits: diesel filler or AdBlue one, it goes in just as readily, and after the pour begins, nothing halts it. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Aberford or out in Lotherton.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Check these first, on a forecourt in Aberford or a drive over in Micklefield. Seconds, that's all.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is often blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap normally is not. Read it instead of going by position.
- The size. On plenty of cars the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Plenty of cars say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook shows which it is when your filler is not next to your diesel cap: your boot, or under the bonnet.
- Ask the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — when you pick up a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park outside East Garforth.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
On the day the warning appears — anywhere you are around West Yorkshire — a routine to use.
- Stop somewhere level, engine off, with time to spare — not hurried on the side of Waterside Meadows.
- Daft as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" aloud as you unscrew the cap works — once you have found your filler and read it.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Gently is best, through the bottle's own spout, until it's full or the bottle runs out.
- Close the cap and check once more. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start your car.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Skip stage five altogether.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, in Aberford?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start your engine. The fuel pump starts on plenty of diesels the moment your ignition goes on — and so keep it off. Topping up with diesel won't thin it: rather than mixing, AdBlue sinks to the base of the tank, just where the fuel is taken from.
The attendants at Tesco, Esso or any forecourt will normally lend a hand pushing the vehicle clear if asked. If you're on your own driveway in Aberford, leave it where it sits.
Already run? Stop when it's safe, then turn off. Come off the Aberford By-Pass — under a mile out of Aberford — at the next exit. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Leeds, under 10 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Aberford.
Our arrival in Aberford, and what occurs next
By Aberford Church of England Primary School, near Saint Ricarius Parish Church or on your own drive: wherever your car has stopped, our engineers come to it. We ask what was put in, about how much, and if it has run, since those answers determine the work and the quote. You hear that quote by phone, before anyone heads out.
Then the tank is drained and the system rinsed thoroughly. Not like petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and eats at some fuel-system metals, and none of it washes out by itself. Hence it counts more. Filter cleaned or, where it must be, swapped; fresh diesel in; then a test of your vehicle. We don't go until it has been started and is running smoothly.
Most jobs are finished in about half an hour once we get there, as long as the engine hasn't run — and the pumps our engineers use are safe on a busy forecourt and quiet at night beside a house. Payment happens on the day, not upfront, and you are given the paperwork an insurer asks for: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Aberford, for a moment
Aberford is a small village situated on the banks of a river in West Yorkshire, with a low elevation of around 43 metres. Aberford lies approximately 8.7 miles from Leeds and 168.3 miles from London, making it a rural outpost near the city. Aberford has a population of around 526 people and is characterised by predominantly detached housing. Aberford is surrounded by nearby places such as Lotherton, Parlington, and Barwick in Elmet.
Aberford and West Yorkshire: AdBlue drains across the area
As a village, Aberford has the same vans as surrounding areas — Parlington, Barwick in Elmet — all the way through LS postcodes and the surrounding area beyond. A postcode starting LS25 3 gets our van to you fastest.
The car remains where it is. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Manor Farm Hall, a side street near Aberford Village Hall: our technicians drain it where it sits. Awkward to pin down, like the back of Aberford War Memorial? Close to a county line? Checking beats guessing, and so phone.
Aberford people: the short version
Tip no AdBlue till you have read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank anyway, leave the vehicle off and ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it sits, anywhere across West Yorkshire.