Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Barton: Why It Happens
Leave the engine and ignition off and ring 0333 366 0103 now — reading can wait when AdBlue is already in your diesel tank. Normally, if your engine hasn't turned, it is drained and fully rinsed where the car sits in Barton. Nothing happened yet? Further down, the page explains the why it takes place and the ways to avoid it altogether.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
Not one liquid but two: that is what many newer diesels near Barton and Aldbrough St John run, with diesel feeding 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.
Each tank has its own filler. Plenty of cars share a single flap for both, whereas others put the AdBlue filler to your boot or under the bonnet. At the petrol pump, the diesel side gets filled all the time. The AdBlue side is filled far less often, usually from a bottle, and normally by someone who has to stop and think where it goes. Mistakes happen in that gap between the two.
Barton: how AdBlue in your diesel tank happens
Carelessness seldom explains it. What does is three things lining up together.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a message from the car, and running out leads to limp mode — hence a rushed top-up, perhaps before work off Marygate, perhaps at The Half Moon on the way home that evening.
The old car's filler is where the hand reaches — yet a rental car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers somewhere else. That's a second thing: an unfamiliar motor.
A spouted bottle finds no obstacle at a diesel filler any more than at an AdBlue one. So the pour, after begun, carries on. It's a few seconds, whether out in Newton Morrell or bang in the centre of Barton.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you tip anything, whether on a drive in Scotch Corner or a forecourt in Barton, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Read the cap rather than going by position: AdBlue caps are frequently blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps normally are not.
- Look at the size: the smaller neck is, on many cars, the AdBlue one.
- A label inside your fuel flap often shows which fuel goes where, on plenty of cars. Check for it.
- The handbook. If your filler is not by the diesel cap, it's in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Picking up a hire or company car, say at the car park at Darlington? Ask whoever drove it last before leaving, rather than when the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever across North Yorkshire that is.
- Not in a rush on the side of Silver Garth, not on a slope, not with the motor running: park then switch off first.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after finding the AdBlue filler and reading it. Silly, yes, but it works.
- Leave the diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift 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 your diesel cap was never opened.
Spot at stage two or three that it has already gone into your diesel side? So stop right there. Don't go on to stage five.
Put AdBlue in your diesel tank around Barton already?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start your motor. Keep the ignition off too, because on many diesels it alone runs the pump. Don't top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where the fuel is drawn from.
If you are at a forecourt, whether it is the BP or the Esso, ask the staff to help push the car clear of the petrol pump. If you are on your own driveway around Barton, leave it where it is.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if your motor has already run. On the A1(M), under a mile from Barton, that means the next junction. Distance matters — a short hop across Barton is a smaller job than heading under 25 miles to Durham — so tell us about how far it went.
Barton: what happens when we get there
Wherever the car came to rest, be it by Barton Church of England Primary School, beside Barton Village Hall or at home, our van comes to it. The replies determine the work and the quote, so our technicians ask what got in, about how much, and if it's run. During the call itself, you are told the quote — ahead of dispatch.
Then that tank is cleared and your system purged thoroughly. Not like petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and eats at certain fuel-system metals, and none of that washes away unaided. Hence it counts more. Once the fuel filter has been flushed — or renewed, if required — fresh diesel is added, and finally the car gets tested. Then our technicians start it and make sure it runs correctly before we leave.
Using pumps fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs in which the motor hasn't run take about half an hour once we are there. Nothing in advance; you settle up on the day. At the end, a VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for the insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Barton and where it is
Barton is a village situated on the riverside in North Yorkshire, with a population of around 776 residents. Barton sits at an elevation of 79 metres, surrounded by nearby places such as Newton Morrell, Middleton Tyas, and Melsonby. Barton is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock, reflecting its rural setting. Barton is located approximately 21 miles from the city of Durham and 214 miles from London.
Barton and North Yorkshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Being a village, Barton shares its vans nearby areas — Middleton Tyas, Melsonby — all the way across DL postcodes and the surrounding area beyond. Quote a postcode that starts DL10 6, and the van arrives fastest.
There's no need to shift your car. We drain it where it is — a side street near Barton Methodist Church, a lay-by on the way to Acre Howden Spring Plantation, a drive. Awkward to pin down, like the back of St Cuthbert with St Mary? By a border? Checking beats guessing, so phone.
The short version for Barton drivers
Pour nothing till you've read the cap. Still AdBlue in your diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel will drain it where it stands, wherever in North Yorkshire: switch it off then phone 0333 366 0103.