Ashton upon Mersey: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Prevent It?
Stop here for a moment when the diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, and ring 0333 366 0103. A drain plus a thorough flush, done right where your vehicle sits around Ashton upon Mersey, is usually all it needs if caught before the motor runs. The remainder of this page covers why it happens and how to ensure it doesn't — useful if you are reading ahead of time.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel car
Diesel feeds the motor — but many modern diesels seen about Ashton upon Mersey and Carrington carry a second liquid as well. AdBlue's own tank holds it, and from there it is sent to the exhaust, where spraying cleans the gas.
Every tank has a filler of its own. Many of cars have a single flap for both, whereas others move the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. At the petrol pump, your diesel side gets filled constantly. Rarely filled, AdBlue normally comes from a bottle, poured by a driver who must stop and think which filler it needs. Mistakes happen in the gap between the two.
AdBlue in the diesel tank around Ashton upon Mersey: how it occurs
Rarely is it carelessness: normally three things coincide.
On a drive off Ashton Lane before work, or in the car park at The Old Plough heading home: that is where the hurried top-up takes place. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low the car warns you, and once it's gone, limp mode follows.
Then the car is new. A hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers where your last one didn't, and your hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old one.
A spout-topped bottle finds no obstacle at a diesel filler any more than at an AdBlue one. So the pour, once started, keeps on. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Ashton upon Mersey or out in Sale.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Check these before pouring, at a forecourt in Ashton upon Mersey or a driveway out in Broadheath. A few seconds, that's all.
- Position can mislead; the cap doesn't. AdBlue ones tend to be blue or carry the name "AdBlue" — diesel caps usually do not.
- Look at the size: the smaller filler neck is, on plenty of cars, the AdBlue one.
- Lift the filler flap and check for a label — many vehicles mark what belongs in each filler just there.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that's where the filler is if it's not by the diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- The person who drove it last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park outside Urmston, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
When the light comes on, wherever across Greater Manchester, use this routine.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with your engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Grosvenor Road.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once finding the AdBlue filler and read it. Daft, perhaps, yet it does the trick.
- The diesel cap remains on. Where both share a flap, make sure it's shut before lifting the bottle.
- Stop when your tank is topped up or the bottle runs dry; before that, tip slowly through its built-in spout.
- Before you start the car, shut the cap and check again that the diesel cap was never opened off.
Stop there if you find, at stage two or three, that you've already poured into the diesel side. Don't go on to stage five.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank in Ashton upon Mersey?
What follows is a short order of things, beginning with not starting the engine. On plenty of diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so don't switch the vehicle on. Diluting it with extra diesel won't work, since AdBlue sinks to the bottom rather than blending — and that is where the fuel is drawn from.
The attendants at Essar, Asda or any forecourt will usually lend a hand to push your car clear if asked. If you are on your own driveway around Ashton upon Mersey, leave the car where it stands.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if the motor has already run. On the M60, under a mile from Ashton upon Mersey, that means the next exit. Mileage matters — a quick hop across Ashton upon Mersey makes a smaller job than driving under 5 miles towards Salford — so say about how far it went.
Our arrival around Ashton upon Mersey, and what occurs next
Our van comes to the car wherever it stopped — your own drive, near St Mary Magdalene C of E Church, or outside Wellfield Infant and Nursery School. What fluid got in, the amount, and whether it ran: we ask since those replies decide the work and quote. Nobody sets off before you have heard our price by phone.
Then that tank is emptied and the fuel system flushed thoroughly. With AdBlue that counts more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not wash out on its own. A test is at the end: before that, clean diesel goes in, and your filter is flushed or replaced if necessary. The motor is started next and tested to confirm it runs smoothly, all before our engineers leave.
Most jobs are finished in about half an hour after our engineers get there, as long as your motor hasn't run — and the pumps our engineers use are fine on a live forecourt and quiet after dark outside a house. The insurer will ask for the engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and you get both once this job is done. Payment comes on the day, with no deposit. Before we get there, have a look at your insurance documents; many carry cover for misfuelling.
About Ashton upon Mersey
Ashton upon Mersey is a suburban area in Greater Manchester, situated near the cities of Salford and Manchester. Ashton upon Mersey lies close to the River Mersey, with its elevation at around 29 metres above sea level. Ashton upon Mersey is characterised by its predominantly semi-detached housing stock, with nearby places including Sale, Brooklands, and Stretford. Ashton upon Mersey is located approximately 161.9 miles northwest of London.
AdBlue drains across Greater Manchester, Ashton upon Mersey included
Throughout M postcodes, our vans covering Ashton upon Mersey — a residential suburb — work the nearby locations too, Stretford and Brooklands among them. Fastest of all: quote a M33 6 postcode for our van.
The car does not need to shift. Anywhere it sits — beside The Salvation Army Sale Corps, in a lay-by heading to Ashton Park, on a drive — that's where it is drained. Ring and ask rather than assuming if you're near a boundary, or somewhere hard to describe, like the back of Sports Direct.
The short version for Ashton upon Mersey people
Read the cap before you tip. Still AdBlue in the diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel can drain it where it is, anywhere in Greater Manchester: keep the vehicle off and call 0333 366 0103.