Why It Occurs and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Awsworth
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? In that case put this page aside for now, leave your ignition and motor off, then ring 0333 366 0103. Caught before the engine runs, it's normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Awsworth. If you're reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it takes place and how to make sure it does not.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel motor
Diesel feeds your engine — yet plenty of modern diesels driven around Awsworth and Kimberley hold another fluid too. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to clean it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Every tank comes with a filler of its own. Many of motors have a single flap for both, while some move the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. Filling the diesel side at the pump happens constantly. Someone who has to stop and work out where it goes usually fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less frequently. The slip lives in that gap.
Awsworth: how AdBlue in your diesel tank takes place
It's seldom carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
Haste comes from the warning. The car warns you as AdBlue runs low, and an empty tank sends the vehicle into limp mode — so the top-up gets done in a rush, before work on a drive off Station Road, or on the way home in the car park outside Crown Inn.
Next, your hand goes for the cap it knew on the old car — because a rental car, a new motor or a company car places the fillers somewhere your last one did not.
Third, the bottle goes in: a diesel filler or AdBlue one, it goes in as easily, and after the tip begins, no part halts it. Babbington or the heart of Awsworth: it takes the same few seconds in both.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
A couple of seconds is all these take — so check them before you tip anything, on a drive in Cossall or a forecourt in Awsworth.
- Position misleads; the cap doesn't. AdBlue caps tend to be blue or carry the name "AdBlue" — diesel caps usually don't.
- The size. On many motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- A label inside the fuel flap frequently shows which fuel goes where, on many cars. Check for it.
- The handbook. If your filler is not by the diesel cap, it is in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The previous driver will know. Ask as you collect a hire car or fleet car — from Ilkeston's car park, perhaps — not when the warning comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
Wherever around Nottinghamshire the light comes on, this is a routine for that day.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with the engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Main Street.
- Daft as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew the cap does the trick — once you've located your filler and read it.
- The two under a single flap? Then make sure the cap on the diesel side stays shut ahead of lifting the bottle.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start your car.
Find during the second or third stage that AdBlue went into the diesel tank? That is where you stop. Skip stage five altogether.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Awsworth?
What follows is a short order of things, beginning with no starting the engine. Keep the ignition off too, since on many diesels it alone starts your pump. Do not top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is pulled from.
On a forecourt — Shell, Sainsbury's or another — the staff will normally help roll your car away, when you ask. Your own drive in Awsworth is the place it should stay.
If your engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. Leave the M1 — under 3 miles out of Awsworth — at the first junction. Mileage counts — a short hop across Awsworth makes a smaller job than heading under 10 miles to Nottingham — so say about how far it went.
Our arrival in Awsworth, and what takes place next
Wherever the car came to rest, be it outside Awsworth Primary and Nursery School, beside St Peter's Church or at home, our van travels to it. We ask what went in, about how much, and if it's run, since those answers settle this work and our price. You hear that quote on the phone, before anybody heads out.
Then your tank is cleared and the fuel system purged thoroughly. More than with petrol, it matters here: the crystals build up, certain metals corrode, and none of that washes out on its own, however long it sits. The filter cleaned or, where needed, replaced; clean diesel in; and then a check of your car. Before we leave, our technicians fire it up and make sure that it's running smoothly.
Unrun vehicles mostly mean a half-hour visit after the moment we arrive. The kit is safe on a busy forecourt, and hushed enough for a driveway late at night. Paying happens on the day, not upfront, and you receive the paperwork an insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. It's worth checking your policy while we travel to you: misfuelling cover comes with plenty of policies.
About Awsworth itself
Awsworth is a village in Nottinghamshire, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 77 metres, with detached housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Awsworth lies approximately 6 miles from Nottingham and 113.7 miles from London, making it a commuter-friendly location. Awsworth is surrounded by nearby places such as Babbington, Cossall Marsh, and Giltbrook, and has a population of around 1512 residents. Awsworth enjoys a peaceful setting, with the River Erewash flowing nearby.
AdBlue drains around Awsworth and across Nottinghamshire
Throughout NG postcodes, the vans covering Awsworth — a village — work the surrounding places too, Giltbrook and Cossall Marsh included. Quote a postcode that starts NG16 2, and our van gets there quickest.
Shifting your car isn't necessary. Our engineers drain it where it is — a side street close to The Village Hall, a lay-by on the way to Shilo Recreation Ground, a drive. Tricky to explain, like the back of Awsworth Methodist Church? By a county line? Asking is better than assuming, so ring.
For Awsworth motorists, the short version
Pour nothing till you have read the cap. Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, anywhere around Nottinghamshire, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank anyway — so leave it off then ring 0333 366 0103.