Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Carrington: Why It Happens
Pause here a minute when the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, and ring 0333 366 0103. Caught before your engine runs, it is normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Carrington. The rest of this page covers why it occurs and how to make sure it doesn't — handy if you are reading before it has happened.
AdBlue in a diesel motor, and its separate tank
Diesel feeds the motor — but plenty of current diesels seen round Carrington and New Basford hold another liquid too. AdBlue's own tank keeps it, and from there it goes to your exhaust, and there a spray treats the gas.
Each tank has its own filler. Plenty of cars share a single flap for both, while others move the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. Diesel goes in on each forecourt visit, week in, week out. Rarely filled, AdBlue usually comes from a bottle, poured by someone who has to stop and think what cap to use. It's in that gap that the slip lives.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Carrington: how it takes place
It is rarely carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a warning from your car, and letting it run dry leads to limp mode — so a hurried top-up, maybe before work off Haddon Street, or at Kraft Werks on the way home that evening.
Then, the hand reaches for the cap it knew on the old vehicle — since a rental car, a new car or a company car places the fillers somewhere your last one did not.
Third, the spout goes in: a diesel filler or AdBlue one, it goes in as easily, and once the tip starts, nothing stops it. Sherwood or the middle of Carrington: it is the same few seconds in both.
Telling the AdBlue filler from your diesel filler
Before you tip anything, whether on a driveway in Alexandra Park or a forecourt around Carrington, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Colour and lettering: an AdBlue cap is regularly blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap normally does not. Trust the cap, not where it sits.
- The size. On many motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Plenty of cars say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If the filler isn't by your diesel cap, it is in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Collecting a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park outside Bulwell? Ask the person who drove it last before you set off, rather than when the light goes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up
On the day the warning appears — anywhere it is in Nottinghamshire — a simple routine to use.
- Not in a rush on the side of Haydn Road, not on a slope, not with your engine running: park then switch off properly.
- Find the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and say the word "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It seems silly. It does the trick.
- The diesel cap stays on. When the two share a flap, make sure it's closed before lifting the bottle.
- Finish when that tank fills or the bottle runs dry; before that, tip gently using the own spout.
- Before you start the vehicle, shut the cap and check again that the diesel cap never opened off.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Stage five stays out.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank in Carrington already?
Brief list, then. First: your motor remains unstarted. On many diesels your ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so don't switch the car on. Thinning it with more diesel fails, since AdBlue settles to the bottom instead of blending — and that's where the fuel is drawn from.
Ask the attendants to help push your car away from the pump if you're at a forecourt — the Valero, the Shell or anywhere else. Leave it where it is if you are on your own driveway in Carrington.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if your engine has already run. The next exit is where to come off if you're on the M1, under 5 miles from Carrington. Mileage matters — a quick hop across Carrington is a smaller job than heading under 3 miles to Nottingham — so tell us about how far it went.
Carrington: what takes place when our engineers turn up
Anywhere the vehicle has stopped, be it by Haydn Primary School, near Sherwood Methodist Church or at home, our van travels to it. Both the work and the price rest on three answers — which fluid, what amount, and if it has run — so our engineers ask. You hear that price on the phone, before anyone heads out.
Emptying your tank comes next, then a thorough flush of the system. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not wash out on its own — which is why the flush matters more here than with petrol. Testing comes last: before that, clean diesel is added, and your filter is cleaned or changed if necessary. Before leaving, our technicians start it and check that it's running properly.
Unrun vehicles usually need a half-hour visit after the moment we arrive. The kit is fine on a live forecourt, and hushed enough for a residential street after dark. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Wrong-fuel cover is included in plenty of insurance policies — and so use the wait to check yours.
About Carrington
Carrington is a suburban area located near Nottingham, sitting at an elevation of 58 metres in the East Midlands region of England. Carrington is characterized by its predominantly semi-detached housing stock, reflecting the residential development of the area. Carrington is situated close to several nearby places, including Sherwood, Mapperley Park, and Sherwood Rise, and is approximately 1.6 miles from Nottingham city centre. Carrington has a population of around 10,131 people, making it a sizable residential community.
AdBlue drains around Carrington and across Nottinghamshire
Over NG postcodes, our vans that cover Carrington — a residential suburb — work the surrounding locations too, Sherwood Rise and Mapperley Park included. Quote a postcode beginning NG5 2, and our van arrives quickest.
The vehicle does not need to move. Draining takes place right there, whether a driveway, a street near Sherwood Forest, or a layby towards Haydn Road Community Cricket Club. If you're close to a border, or somewhere hard to describe like the back of Sherwood Library, ring and ask rather than guessing.
In short, for Carrington drivers
Tip no AdBlue till you've read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless, leave the car off and ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel clears it where it sits, anywhere across Nottinghamshire.