AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Brandwood: Why It Happens and How to Avoid It
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? In that case set this page down a moment, leave the ignition and motor off, and call 0333 366 0103. Caught before your engine runs, it's normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Brandwood. Not happened yet? Below, the rest of the page explains the reasons it occurs and the ways to prevent it for good.
AdBlue in a diesel motor, and its separate tank
Many newer diesels around Glen Top, like those in Brandwood, carry on two fluids; your motor takes just the diesel. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is sprayed into your exhaust gas to clean it.
Every tank has a filler of its own. Plenty of vehicles share a single flap for both, while some move the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is topped up at the pump all the time. Someone who has to stop and work out where it goes usually fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less frequently. The slip lives in that gap.
Brandwood: how AdBlue in the diesel tank takes place
Carelessness rarely explains it. Instead is three things lining up at once.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the car tells you, and if it runs out completely, your vehicle goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a drive off Four Lane Ends Road before work, or in the car park outside Rose n Bowl on the way home.
Then the car is new. A hire car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers where your last one didn't, and your hand gets to for the cap it would have used on the old one.
Nothing stops the tip once it has started, because a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. It's seconds, be it in Waterbarn or right in the centre of Brandwood.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you tip anything, whether on a driveway in Tunstead or a forecourt around Brandwood, check these. They take a few seconds.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is regularly blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap usually is not. Read it instead of going by where it sits.
- The size. On many vehicles the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- A label inside your fuel flap frequently says which fuel goes where, on plenty of cars. Look for it.
- The handbook. If your filler is not by your diesel cap, it is 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 — if you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park outside Walsden.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
Anywhere in Lancashire the light comes on, this is a routine for that day.
- Stop on level, engine off, with time to spare — never rushing on the side of West View.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and speak the word "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly. 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.
- Before you start your car, close the cap and look a second time that the diesel cap never came off.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Leave out stage five entirely.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Brandwood?
What follows is a short order of things, beginning with not starting your engine. On plenty of diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so do not switch it on. Topping up with diesel won't weaken it: instead, AdBlue sinks to the base of your tank, right where fuel is taken from.
On a forecourt — Shell, Texaco or any other — the attendants will usually help roll your car clear, when you ask. On your own drive around Brandwood? Then the vehicle stays put.
If the engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. The next junction means where to come off if you're on the M66, under 5 miles from Brandwood. Distance matters — a short hop across Brandwood is a smaller job than driving under 15 miles to Manchester — so say about how far it went.
When our engineers arrive in Brandwood, what takes place?
Anywhere the vehicle has stopped, be it by Bacup Holy Trinity Stacksteads Church of England Primary School, near Holy Trinity or on your own drive, the van comes to it. The replies settle the work and our quote, so we ask what went in, roughly how much, and if it has run. The price comes on the call, before any van leaves.
After that: a drain, then a full flush of the whole system. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own — which is why that counts more here than with petrol. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the car is tested. We don't leave until it has been fired up and is running smoothly.
Most jobs are finished in about half an hour after our engineers get there, as long as your motor hasn't run — and the pumps we use are safe on a busy forecourt and quiet after dark beside a house. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. While we travel, take a look at your policy; many carry cover for misfuelling.
About Brandwood and where it is
Brandwood is a suburban area in Lancashire, situated near the River Irwell and characterised by its terraced housing. Brandwood sits at an elevation of 214 metres, overlooking the surrounding countryside. Brandwood is located near several nearby places, including Waterbarn, Stacksteads, and Rake Head, and is approximately 14.7 miles from Manchester. Brandwood has a population of around 1899 residents.
AdBlue drains across Lancashire, Brandwood included
Over OL postcodes, the teams that cover Brandwood — a residential suburb — work the surrounding locations too, Rake Head and Stacksteads among them. Our van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting OL13 0.
Your car stays where it is. Our engineers drain it where it is — a side street near St Nicholas with St John & St Michael, a lay-by on the way to Edgeside Park, a driveway. Assuming doesn't help at the back of Bamboo Theatre, close to a boundary, or anywhere hard to describe; phone and check.
For Brandwood drivers, the short version
Always, the cap; then, the pour. AdBlue in the diesel tank after all? Keep it off and call 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, across Lancashire.