AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Bardsey: Why It Happens and How to Avoid It
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave the motor and your ignition off and ring 0333 366 0103. Usually, if the engine has not turned, it is emptied and thoroughly cleaned where the car sits in Bardsey. Here in advance? In that case what follows explains why it comes about and what to stop it happening at all.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
No single fluid but two: that's how plenty of newer diesels around Bardsey and Bracken Park carry, with diesel for the engine. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Different tanks, separate fillers. Other cars keep the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; plenty of others place the two together under one flap. Diesel gets filled at every forecourt visit, week in, week out. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less frequently, normally from a bottle, and normally by somebody who has to stop and think where it goes. That gap is where the error lives.
AdBlue in your diesel tank around Bardsey: how it occurs
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a warning from your car, and letting it run dry leads to limp mode — so a hurried top-up, perhaps before work off Church Lane, or outside Bingley Arms on the way home that evening.
Then, the hand reaches for the cap it knew on the old motor — since a hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not.
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. Whether it happens in East Rigton or the middle of Bardsey, it is the same few seconds.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Before you pour anything, whether on a driveway in Thorner or a forecourt in Bardsey, check these. They take a few seconds.
- Read the cap rather than going by position: AdBlue caps are regularly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones normally are not.
- The size. On plenty of motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- Look inside the fuel flap: plenty of cars carry a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If the filler isn't by the diesel cap, it's in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The previous driver knows. Check as you pick up a hire car or company car — at Cross Gates's car park, perhaps — not once the warning comes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in the diesel tank
Anywhere across West Yorkshire the light comes on, here is a routine for the day.
- Not in a rush on the side of Castle Grove, not on a slope, not with the motor running: park and switch off first.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it does the trick.
- The diesel cap stays on. When both share a flap, make sure it is shut before lifting the bottle.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Before you start your car, close the cap and check again that the diesel cap never opened off.
Spot at stage two or three that it's already gone into your diesel side? Then stop right there. Stage five stays out.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, in Bardsey?
What follows is a short order of things, beginning with no starting your motor. Don't switch the ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Topping up with diesel won't dilute it: rather than mixing, AdBlue sinks to the bottom of the tank, just where fuel is taken from.
The attendants at BP, Euro Garages or another forecourt will normally lend a hand to push your car clear when asked. If you're on your own driveway around Bardsey, leave the vehicle where it sits.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if your motor has already run. Bardsey sits under 5 miles from the A1(M); on it, use the first exit. A short hop across Bardsey is a smaller job than a run towards Leeds, under 10 miles away, so tell us roughly how far it went.
What happens when our engineers arrive in Bardsey
Anywhere the car came to rest, be it by Bardsey Primary Academy, beside The Parish Church of All Hallows or at home, our van travels to it. Both the work and our price rest on three answers — what liquid, what quantity, and whether it has run — so we ask. No one sets off before you have had our price over the phone.
After that: a drain, then a full flush of the whole system. Unlike petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and attacks certain fuel-system metals, and none of it washes away by itself. That is why it matters more. Once the fuel filter has been flushed — or replaced, if needed — fresh diesel is added, and then your car is tested. Next our technicians start the car and check it runs smoothly before leaving.
With pumps fine on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs in which the engine hasn't run take about half an hour once our engineers are there. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Bardsey itself
Bardsey is a village in West Yorkshire, situated on the banks of a river at an elevation of 62 metres, with detached housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Bardsey lies approximately 7 miles from Leeds and 173 miles from London, making it a commuter-friendly location. Bardsey is surrounded by nearby villages such as East Rigton, Scarcroft, and East Keswick, and has a population of around 704 residents. Bardsey enjoys a peaceful riverside setting, with the nearby cities and towns providing access to amenities and services.
Bardsey and West Yorkshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Being a village, Bardsey shares its vans surrounding areas — Scarcroft, East Keswick — right across LS postcodes and the surrounding area beyond. A postcode starting LS17 9 gets our van to you fastest.
The car remains where it is. Anywhere it sits — beside Callister Hall, on a lay-by en route to Bardsey Fields, at home — that is where it is emptied. Assuming won't help behind Bardsey Village Hall, close to a border, or anywhere hard to pin down; phone and check.
Bardsey people: the short version
First, the cap; after that, the pour. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank all the same, leave the vehicle off and ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it waits, anywhere in West Yorkshire.