How It Occurs and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Adelphi
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? In that case set this page down a moment, leave your ignition and motor off, and ring 0333 366 0103. Caught before the engine runs, it's normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is in Adelphi. If you are reading before it has happened, the rest of this page is about why it happens and how to make sure it does not.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel motor
Not one fluid but two: that is how many modern diesels near Adelphi and Deepdale 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.
Each tank comes with one filler of its own. Some vehicles put the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; plenty of others place both side by side behind one flap. Diesel gets filled on each forecourt visit, again and again. A driver who has to stop and think where it goes usually fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less often. The slip lives in that gap.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Adelphi: how it happens
Seldom is it carelessness: usually three things line up.
On a drive off Adelphi Street before work, or in the car park at The Ferret heading home: that is where the rushed top-up takes place. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low the car tells you, and once it's empty, limp mode follows.
Then, your hand reaches for the cap it knew on the old vehicle — since a hire car, a new motor or a company car places the fillers where your last one did not.
Lastly, the spout fits: a diesel filler or AdBlue one, it goes in as easily, and once the pour starts, nothing stops it. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Adelphi or out in Maudlands.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
A few seconds is all these take — so run through them before you tip anything, on a drive in Broadgate or a forecourt in Adelphi.
- Colour and lettering: an AdBlue cap is often blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap usually doesn't. Go by the cap, not its position.
- On many motors, size gives it away: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Plenty of motors say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook says which it is if the filler is not next to your diesel cap: your boot, or under the bonnet.
- Picking up a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park at Preston? Ask whoever drove the car last before you set off, rather than once the light goes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
When the light goes on, anywhere across Lancashire, follow this routine.
- Not in a rush on the side of Ashmoor Street, not on a slope, not with your engine running: park then switch off properly.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after you find the AdBlue filler and reading it. Silly, perhaps, but it works.
- Leave the diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Stop when the tank is topped up or the bottle is empty; until then, pour slowly through the own spout.
- Before you start the vehicle, shut the cap and check a second time that your diesel cap never opened off.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you've already poured into your diesel side. Never go on to step five.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank in Adelphi already?
Do not start the engine: that's where the short order of things begins. Don't switch your ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where your fuel is sucked from — so do not top up with diesel to thin it.
The staff at Texaco, Gulf or any forecourt will normally help pushing the car clear when you ask. If you are on your own driveway in Adelphi, leave it where it sits.
Already run? Stop once it is sensible, then switch off. On the Preston Bypass, under 3 miles from Adelphi, that means the next exit. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Preston, under a mile away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Adelphi.
Adelphi: what takes place when our engineers get there
We come to the vehicle wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside English Martyrs Catholic Primary School, Preston, near Library and Learning Information Services or on your own driveway. Our engineers ask what went in, roughly how much, and if it has run, since the answers decide the work and our quote. That quote is given over the phone, ahead of any van leaving.
The fuel system is then purged thoroughly, once that tank is cleared. Not like petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and attacks certain fuel-system metals, and neither washes out by itself. That is why it matters more. The filter flushed or, where it must be, swapped; fresh diesel in; and then a test of your vehicle. Then our technicians fire it up and confirm it runs smoothly before we leave.
If your engine has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there, using pumps that are safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house after dark. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. It is worth checking your insurance while we travel to you: misfuelling cover comes with many policies.
About Adelphi and where it is
Adelphi is a suburban area in Lancashire, situated on the riverside near Preston, with a mix of terraced housing and local amenities. Adelphi sits at an elevation of around 35 metres, close to the city centre and nearby areas like Maudlands and Gallows Hill. Adelphi is part of the larger Preston urban area, with the city's facilities and services within easy reach. Adelphi has a population of approximately 9503 residents, living in a range of predominantly terraced homes.
Adelphi and Lancashire: AdBlue drains across the area
Over PR postcodes, the vans that cover Adelphi — a residential suburb — work the nearby spots too, Preston and Gallows Hill included. Give a postcode that starts PR1 7, and our van gets there fastest.
Your car stays put. The drain takes place on the spot, be it a drive, a road by St Peter's Art Centre, or a lay-by on the way to Preston Peace Garden. If you are close to a border, or somewhere hard to explain like the back of Emmanuel Street Labour Club, ring and ask instead of assuming.
Adelphi people: the short version
Before you tip, read the cap. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, anywhere in Lancashire, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank regardless — and so leave it off and phone 0333 366 0103.