Why It Occurs and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Bamford
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave your motor and the ignition off and call 0333 366 0103. A drain and a thorough flush, carried out just where your vehicle sits around Bamford, is usually what it takes when found before the engine runs. Not happened yet? Below, the rest of the page explains the reasons it occurs and the how to prevent it for good.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel motor
Many newer diesels in Offerton, as well as Bamford, run on two fluids; your engine takes just the diesel. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into the exhaust gas and cleans it.
Each tank has its own filler. On a lot of motors the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. Topping up your diesel side at the pump goes on constantly. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less frequently, usually from a bottle, and normally by somebody who has to stop and think where it goes. The error lives in that gap.
How does AdBlue in your diesel tank occur in Bamford?
It's rarely carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a message from the car, and running dry leads to limp mode — hence a hurried top-up, perhaps before work off St Johns Close, perhaps at The Anglers on the way home that evening.
The old car's filler is where the hand goes — yet a hire car, a new car or a company car keeps the fillers elsewhere. That's a second factor: a new vehicle.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, so nothing stops the pour once it has started. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Bamford or out in Thornhill.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Before you tip anything, whether on a drive in Brough or a forecourt around Bamford, check these. They take a few seconds.
- Check the cap instead of going by position: AdBlue caps are commonly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps normally aren't.
- Many vehicles give AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Plenty of motors say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If your filler isn't by the diesel cap, it's in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Ask the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — when you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park at the nearest station.
How to top up without AdBlue in the diesel tank
On the day the warning appears — anywhere it is around Derbyshire — a simple routine to follow.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with your motor running, and not in a rush on the side of The Croft.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and say the word "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew it. It seems silly. It works.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start your car.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you have already poured into the diesel side. Never go on to step five.
Bamford: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start your engine. Leave the ignition off as well, since on plenty of diesels it alone starts your pump. Don't top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is sucked from.
If you're at a forecourt, whether it's the Texaco or the another forecourt nearby, ask the attendants to help push the vehicle clear of the pump. Leave it where it is if you are on your own driveway around Bamford.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if your engine has already run. On the M1, under 15 miles from Bamford, that means the next exit. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Sheffield, under 10 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Bamford.
Bamford: what occurs when we turn up
Anywhere the vehicle has stopped, be it by Bamford Primary School, near St John the Baptist, Bamford or at home, the van comes to it. Our technicians ask what went in, about how much, and whether it has run, because those answers settle this work and our price. You get that price on the phone, before anyone heads out.
The fuel system is then flushed thoroughly, after the tank is drained. With AdBlue that counts more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own. Testing comes at the end: before that, fresh diesel is added, and the fuel filter is flushed or changed if necessary. We do not leave until it has been started and is running correctly.
If the motor has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we are there, using pumps that are safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house after dark. Paying is on the day, not upfront, and you are given the paperwork an insurer wants: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. Before we get there, take a look at your insurance documents; many include cover for misfuelling.
About Bamford, for a moment
Bamford is a village in Derbyshire, situated on the banks of a river at an elevation of 173 metres, with terraced housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Bamford lies approximately 9.5 miles from Sheffield and 143.1 miles from London, making it a rural community with nearby villages including Thornhill, Shatton, and Aston. Bamford has a population of around 1114 residents, who live in a setting that offers scenic views of the surrounding countryside. Bamford is part of the East Midlands region, with its location influencing its character and development.
AdBlue drains around Bamford and across Derbyshire
Bamford is a village, and the vans that cover it also work the places around it, Shatton and Aston among them, across the S postcode area. Quote a postcode beginning S33 0, and the van gets there fastest.
The vehicle doesn't need to shift. We drain it where it is — a side street close to Moore Memorial Hall, a lay-by on the way to Sickleholme Golf Club, a driveway. Guessing won't help behind Bamford Methodist Church, on a boundary, or anywhere awkward to pin down; phone and check.
In short, for Bamford people
Read the cap before you pour. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank all the same, leave the vehicle off then call 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it sits, anywhere across Derbyshire.