Cherry Tree: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Avoid It?
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? In that case set this page aside a moment, keep the ignition and motor off, and ring 0333 366 0103. Caught before the motor runs, it's generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is in Cherry Tree. Not happened yet? Below, the rest of the page covers the reasons it takes place and the how to prevent it altogether.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
Not one liquid but two: that's what plenty of modern diesels near Cherry Tree and Ley Hey Park carry, with diesel feeding your engine. AdBlue's own tank holds it, and from there it goes to your exhaust, and there a spray treats the fumes.
Different tanks, different fillers. Plenty of motors have a single flap for both, while others put the AdBlue filler to your boot or under the bonnet. Diesel goes in on each forecourt call-out, again and again. Seldom filled, AdBlue usually comes from a bottle, poured by someone who has to stop and think which filler it needs. It is in that gap that the slip lives.
AdBlue in the diesel tank around Cherry Tree: how it takes place
Seldom is it carelessness: normally three things coincide.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low your car tells you, and if it runs out completely, the vehicle drops into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a driveway off Corcoran Drive before work, or in the car park outside The Andrew Arms on the way home.
Then, your hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old vehicle — because a rental car, a new motor or a company car places the fillers somewhere your last one did not.
Lastly, the spout goes in: diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it slides in just as readily, and after the tip begins, no part stops it. It's a few seconds, whether out in Compstall or right in the heart of Cherry Tree.
Telling the AdBlue filler from the diesel filler
A couple of seconds is all these take — so run through them before you tip anything, on a drive in Cote Green or a forecourt in Cherry Tree.
- Position can mislead; the cap doesn't. AdBlue caps tend to be blue or carry the word "AdBlue" — diesel caps normally do not.
- Many vehicles give AdBlue the smaller neck of the two.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Plenty of motors say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook says which it lives when the filler isn't next to your diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- Whoever had it before knows. Ask when you collect a rental or fleet car — at Romiley's car park, perhaps — not once the warning appears.
How to top up without AdBlue in the diesel tank
On the day the light appears — wherever it is across Greater Manchester — a routine to follow.
- Park and switch off. Not on a slope, not with the engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Alamein Drive.
- Daft as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" aloud as you unscrew the cap does the trick — once you've found your filler and read the cap.
- 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 is full or the bottle is empty.
- Only then, start the car: close the cap, check again, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened.
Stop there if you find, at stage two or three, that you have already poured into the diesel side. Step five stays out.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, around Cherry Tree?
The short order of things, starting with not starting your motor. On plenty of diesels your ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so do not switch it on. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is drawn from — so don't top up with diesel to thin it.
Ask the staff to help roll the vehicle clear of the petrol pump if you're on a forecourt — the Esso, the Texaco or somewhere else. Your own driveway in Cherry Tree is where it should stay.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if the engine has already run. Leave the M60 — under 3 miles out of Cherry Tree — at the first junction. A short hop across Cherry Tree is a smaller job than a run towards Manchester, under 10 miles away, and so tell us roughly how far it went.
What takes place when we turn up around Cherry Tree
Our engineers come to the car wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside Romiley Primary School, near The Scout Association or on your own drive. Our engineers ask what got in, about how much, and whether it's run, because the replies settle this work and our quote. During the call itself, you hear our price — before dispatch.
Then your tank is cleared and the fuel system rinsed thoroughly. With AdBlue that matters more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not wash out on its own. The filter flushed or, where it must be, replaced; fresh diesel in; and then a check of your vehicle. After that we fire it up and confirm it runs properly before leaving.
If your engine has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we are there, using pumps that are fine on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night. The insurer will ask for an engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and both are yours at the end. Payment comes on the day, with no money upfront. While we travel, take a look at your insurance documents; plenty carry cover for misfuelling.
About Cherry Tree
Cherry Tree is a suburban area in Greater Manchester, situated near the River Goyt and close to the Peak District National Park. Cherry Tree has a mix of semi-detached housing and local amenities, with nearby Compstall and Lane Ends providing additional services. Cherry Tree sits at an elevation of 133 metres, overlooking the surrounding countryside. Cherry Tree is located approximately 8.6 miles from Manchester, making it a commuter-friendly location.
AdBlue drains about Cherry Tree, and Greater Manchester beyond
Cherry Tree is a residential suburb, and our teams that cover it also work the places around it, Lane Ends and Greave among them, across the SK postcode area. The van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting SK6 4.
Moving the car is not needed. We drain it where it is — a side street close to Romiley Cricket Club, a lay-by on the way to Redbrow Wood, a drive. Ring and ask instead of assuming if you're close to a border, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of St Paul.
The short version for Cherry Tree drivers
Before you tip, read the cap. Even so AdBlue in the diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel will drain it where it is, wherever in Greater Manchester: keep the car off then call 0333 366 0103.