Audley: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Avoid It?
Pause here for a moment if your diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, then phone 0333 366 0103. In Audley, finding it before the motor runs normally leaves draining and a full flush on the spot. Here in advance? Then the rest covers why it comes about and what to stop it happening at all.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Many current diesels on the roads around Audley and Bignall End carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to 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.
There's a filler for every tank. On a lot of vehicles the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is topped up at the pump all the time. Far less frequently, the AdBlue side is topped up — normally from a bottle, by a person thinking about where it goes. That gap is where the error lives.
How does AdBlue in your diesel tank happen around Audley?
Rarely is it carelessness: normally three things line up.
On a drive off Hall Street before work, or in the car park at Butchers Arms on the way home: that is where the rushed top-up takes place. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue runs low the car tells you, and once it's gone, limp mode follows.
Then the vehicle is strange. A hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers where your last one didn't, and the hand hits for the cap it would have used on the old one.
Third, the bottle goes in: diesel filler or AdBlue one, it slides in just as easily, and once the pour starts, no part stops it. It takes a few seconds, whether in Wereton or bang in the heart of Audley.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
A few seconds is all the checks take — so check them before you pour anything, on a drive in Miles Green or a forecourt around Audley.
- Blue and lettering: an AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap usually doesn't. Go by the cap, not its position.
- The size. On plenty of vehicles the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- A label inside the fuel flap frequently shows which fuel goes where, on many vehicles. Check for it.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that's where your filler sits if it is not by your diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- The previous driver will know. Ask when you collect a hire car or fleet car — from Alsager's car park, say — not when the warning comes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
The day the light goes on, anywhere in Staffordshire, use this routine.
- Switch off once parked — level ground, engine off, and not in a rush by Dean Hollow at the roadside.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it works.
- Both behind a single flap? Then confirm the cap on your diesel filler stays shut ahead of raising the bottle.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Only then, start the vehicle: close the cap, check a second time, and make sure the diesel cap was never opened.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Never carry on to step five.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, in Audley?
What follows is a short order of things, starting with no starting your motor. Do not switch the ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Don't top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where your fuel is sucked from.
The attendants at Shell, Sainsbury's or another forecourt will usually help pushing your car away when you ask. Your own drive in Audley is the place it stays.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if the motor has already run. Come off the M6 — under 3 miles out of Audley — at the next exit. A short hop across Audley is a smaller job than a run towards Stoke-on-Trent, under 10 miles away, and so tell us roughly how far it went.
Audley: what happens when our engineers get there
Anywhere the vehicle came to rest, whether by Ravensmead Primary School, near Audley Library or on your own drive, our van comes to it. What fluid was put in, the amount, and whether it ran: our technicians ask since the replies decide both work and quote. On the call itself, you are told our price — ahead of anything else.
After that: draining, then a thorough flush of the whole system. Not like petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and eats at some fuel-system metals, and none of it clears away by itself. Hence it matters more. The filter flushed or, if it must be, swapped; clean diesel in; and then a test of the vehicle. Your engine is fired up next and checked to make sure it runs correctly, all before we go.
Unrun cars usually need a half-hour visit after arrival. The equipment is safe on a live forecourt, and hushed enough for a driveway late at night. Payment happens on the day, not upfront, and you receive the documents an insurer wants: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. Before we get there, have a look at your insurance documents; many include cover for misfuelling.
About Audley
Audley is a village in Staffordshire, situated on the banks of a river at an elevation of 142 metres. Audley lies near the cities of Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme, with nearby places including Wereton, Boon Hill, and The Quarry. Audley has a population of approximately 1761 residents, predominantly living in semi-detached housing. Audley is located about 5.8 miles from Stoke-on-Trent and 140.9 miles from London.
AdBlue drains in Audley and across Staffordshire
Boon Hill and The Quarry are among the towns near Audley, a village, that the same teams cover, over ST postcodes. The van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting ST7 8.
There's no need to move the car. The drain happens on the spot, whether a driveway, a street by Audley Theatre, or a lay-by towards Leddy's Field. Awkward to pin down, like the back of Audley St. James the Great? Close to a county line? Checking is better than assuming, so phone.
For Audley drivers, the short version
Pour no AdBlue till you have read the cap. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, anywhere in Staffordshire, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank anyway — and so leave it off then call 0333 366 0103.