AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Clayton: Why It Happens and How to Prevent It
Stop here for a moment when your diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, then phone 0333 366 0103. A drain plus a full flush, done just where your vehicle sits around Clayton, is normally what it takes when caught before the motor runs. Reading in advance? In that case what follows covers how it comes about and what to stop it happening at all.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel motor
Plenty of current diesels on the roads round Clayton and Bradford carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your motor. Kept in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into your exhaust stream and cleans it.
Every tank has one filler of its own. Plenty of vehicles have a single flap for both, whereas others put the AdBlue filler to your boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is filled at the pump all the time. Rarely filled, AdBlue normally comes out of a bottle, poured by a driver who must stop and think which filler to use. That gap is where the slip lives.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Clayton: how it takes place
Carelessness seldom explains it. Instead is three things lining up together.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a warning from the car, and running out means limp mode — so a hurried top-up, maybe before work off Clayton Street, perhaps outside Grove Inn on the way home that evening.
The old car's cap is where your hand reaches — but a rental car, a new motor or a company car keeps the fillers somewhere else. That is a second thing: a strange vehicle.
A spouted bottle finds no obstacle at a diesel filler any more than at an AdBlue one. And so the pour, after started, carries on. It takes seconds, be it out in Openshaw or bang in the centre of Clayton.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Be it a Clayton forecourt or a driveway out in Greenside, spend a couple of seconds on these before any goes in.
- Where it sits misleads; the cap does not. AdBlue ones tend to be blue or carry the name "AdBlue" — diesel caps usually don't.
- Check the size: the smaller filler neck is, on many cars, the AdBlue one.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Many vehicles say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook says which it is when the filler is not next to your diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- Whoever had it before knows. Ask as you collect a rental or company car — from Ashburys's car park, perhaps — rather than when the light comes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
When the light goes on, anywhere around Greater Manchester, use this routine.
- Turn off once parked — level ground, engine stopped, and never in a rush by North Road at the roadside.
- Silly as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew the cap works — after you have located your filler and read it.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave it on.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Shut the cap, and check again — confirm your diesel cap remained closed throughout. After that, start your car.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Stage five stays off limits.
Put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Clayton already?
The short order of things, beginning with no starting your motor. Do not switch the ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Thinning it with extra diesel fails, since AdBlue sinks to the base rather than mixing — and that is where the fuel is drawn from.
The staff at Asda, Morrisons or any forecourt will usually help to push the car clear if you ask. Leave it where it is if you are on your own driveway around Clayton.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if your motor has already run. On the Mancunian Way, under 3 miles from Clayton, that means the next exit. Roughly how far did it go? Crossing Clayton is less work than a trip of under 3 miles to Manchester, and so tell us.
Our arrival in Clayton, and what happens next
The van reaches the car wherever it stopped — your own drive, near Clayton Library, or by Ravensbury Community School. Our technicians ask what was put in, roughly how much, and if it's run, because those replies decide the work and our quote. Nobody heads out until you've heard the quote over the phone.
The fuel system is then cleaned thoroughly, after your tank is emptied. More than with petrol, it matters here: the crystals build up, some metals are attacked, and nothing clears out on its own, no matter how long it sits. A test is at the end: before that, fresh diesel goes in, and the fuel filter is cleaned or replaced if necessary. Before we leave, we start it and confirm that it's running correctly.
Using pumps fine on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs in which the engine has not run need roughly half an hour once our engineers are there. Payment is on the day, not upfront, and you receive the paperwork your insurer asks for: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. It is worth checking your policy as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover comes with plenty of policies.
About Clayton
Clayton is a suburban area in Greater Manchester, situated near the River Medlock and close to the city of Manchester. Clayton sits at an elevation of around 80 metres, with terraced housing being the predominant type of accommodation in the area. Clayton is located near several other suburban areas, including Openshaw, Newton Heath, and Beswick, and is approximately 2.6 miles from Manchester city centre. Clayton has a population of around 7416 people, according to recent estimates.
AdBlue drains across Greater Manchester, Clayton included
Throughout M postcodes, the teams that cover Clayton — a residential suburb — work the nearby locations too, Beswick and Newton Heath among them. Our van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting M11 4.
Your car remains where it is. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Clayton Park, a side street close to St Cross Church: our engineers drain the vehicle where it stands. If you're near a boundary, or somewhere hard to describe like the back of Clayton Hall, ring and ask rather than guessing.
In short, for Clayton motorists
Before you tip, read the cap. Still AdBlue in your diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel can drain it wherever it is, wherever around Greater Manchester: switch it off and call 0333 366 0103.