AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Alva: How It Happens and How to Avoid It
Pause here a minute when the diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, then call 0333 366 0103. Around Alva, finding it before the engine runs usually means a drain and a thorough flush where it stands. The rest of this page covers why it happens and how to ensure it does not — useful if you're reading before it has happened.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel vehicle need its own filler?
Diesel feeds the engine — yet plenty of current diesels driven around Alva and Devon Village hold a second liquid too. Kept in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into your exhaust stream to clean it.
Each tank has its own filler. Plenty of vehicles share a single flap for the two, while some move the AdBlue filler to your boot or under the bonnet. At the petrol pump, your diesel side is topped up constantly. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less regularly, usually from a bottle, and usually by someone who has to stop and think where it goes. It is in that gap that the error happens.
How AdBlue in the diesel tank occurs around Alva
Carelessness seldom causes it. Instead is three things lining up together.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a warning from the vehicle, and letting it run dry leads to limp mode — hence a hurried top-up, maybe before work off West Stirling Street, or at The Turnpike Tavern on the way home that evening.
The old car's cap is where your hand goes — but a hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers elsewhere. That is the second thing: an unfamiliar car.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, so nothing stops the tip once it has started. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Alva or out in Glenochil Village.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Look at these before pouring, at a forecourt in Alva or a drive out in Fairfield. Seconds, that's all.
- Where it sits misleads; the cap doesn't. AdBlue caps tend to be blue or bear the word "AdBlue" — diesel ones normally don't.
- Check the size: the smaller neck is, on many vehicles, the AdBlue one.
- Check inside the fuel flap: many cars carry a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- Can't see it beside the diesel inlet? Then check beneath the bonnet or in your boot — the handbook will say which.
- Collecting a hire or company car, say at the car park at Alloa? Check with whoever drove the vehicle last before leaving, rather than once the light goes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever in Clackmannanshire that is.
- Switch off once parked — flat ground, engine off, and not rushed beside Queen Street on the verge.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after you find the AdBlue filler and reading it. Silly, yes, but it does the trick.
- The diesel cap remains on. Where the two share a flap, make sure it's closed before lifting the bottle.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check a second time. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
Find at stage two or three that it has already gone into the diesel side? Then stop right there. Stage five is out.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, in Alva?
Short list, then. First: the motor remains off. The fuel pump starts on many diesels the moment your ignition goes on — and so keep it off. Filling up with diesel won't weaken it: rather than mixing, AdBlue drops to the bottom of that tank, right where fuel is taken from.
The attendants at JET, Asda or another forecourt will usually lend a hand to push your car clear if asked. If you are on your own drive around Alva, leave the vehicle where it is.
Where the engine has been run by now, stop somewhere safe then switch the vehicle off. Come off the M9 — under 10 miles out of Alva — at the first exit. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Stirling, under 10 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Alva.
What takes place when our technicians arrive in Alva
By the local primary school, near Alva Parish Church or on your own driveway: wherever the car has stopped, our technicians come to it. We ask what got in, about how much, and if it has run, since the replies decide this work and the quote. You get that price on the phone, before anyone heads out.
Your system is then cleaned thoroughly, after the tank is drained. Unlike petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and attacks certain fuel-system metals, and none of that clears away unaided. Hence it counts more. After the fuel filter is flushed — or replaced, if needed — fresh diesel is added, and then the vehicle gets tested. The engine is fired up next and checked to make sure it runs smoothly, all before we go.
Unstarted vehicles usually need a half-hour job after arrival. The kit is fine on a busy forecourt, and hushed enough for a residential street late at night. The insurer usually wants the engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and you get both at the end. Payment is on the day, with no deposit. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Alva and where it is
Alva is a coastal town in Clackmannanshire, situated near the River Devon and looking out over the Ochil Hills. Alva sits at a relatively low elevation of around 25 metres, close to the scenic countryside of central Scotland. Alva is part of a network of communities that include Glenochil Village, Branshill, and Fishcross, and is located near the city of Stirling. Alva has a population of approximately 4820 people, living predominantly in semi-detached housing.
AdBlue drains in Alva and across Clackmannanshire
Throughout FK postcodes, the vans that cover Alva — a coastal town — work the nearby spots too, Fishcross and Branshill among them. A postcode starting FK12 5 gets the van to you fastest.
Your car stays where it is. Our technicians drain it where it is — a side street near Alva Parklands Centre, a lay-by on the way to Johnstone Park, a driveway. Guessing won't help behind Alva Baptist Church, on a boundary, or anywhere awkward to describe; phone and ask.
The short version for Alva motorists
Read the cap before you tip. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank all the same, leave the vehicle off then phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it sits, anywhere in Clackmannanshire.