Why It Occurs and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Collingham
Leave the motor and ignition off then call 0333 366 0103 first — reading can wait when AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. A drain and a full flush, carried out just where your car sits in Collingham, is usually what it takes when found before your motor runs. Not happened yet? Further down, the rest of the page explains the why it occurs and the how to prevent it for good.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel motor
Plenty of modern diesels in Langford, like those in Collingham, run on two liquids; the motor takes just the diesel. The exhaust, not the motor, is where AdBlue goes: sprayed into the fumes to fresh them, from its own tank.
Separate tanks, separate fillers. On a lot of motors the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. At the petrol pump, your diesel side gets filled all the time. Seldom topped up, AdBlue usually goes in from a bottle, poured by a driver who has to stop and think which cap it needs. The mistake lives in that gap.
Collingham: how AdBlue in your diesel tank occurs
It's rarely carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the car tells you, and if it runs out altogether, your vehicle goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a drive off Temperance Lane before work, or in the car park outside Royal Oak on the way home.
Next, the hand goes for the cap it knew on the old car — because a rental car, a new car or a company car places the fillers somewhere your last one didn't.
No part halts the tip after it has started, because a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. It takes seconds, whether out in South Scarle or bang in the centre of Collingham.
Telling the AdBlue filler from the diesel filler
A couple of seconds is all these take — so check them before you tip anything, on a driveway in Brough or a forecourt in Collingham.
- Blue and lettering: an AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap normally does not. Go by the cap, not its position.
- Many vehicles fit AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Many motors say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook shows where it lives if your filler is not next to the diesel cap: your boot, or under the bonnet.
- Whoever had it before knows. Check as you collect a rental or fleet car — at the nearest station's car park, perhaps — rather than once the warning appears.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
On the day the warning comes on — anywhere it is around Nottinghamshire — a routine to follow.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with your motor running, and not in a rush on the side of White Hart Lane.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and say the name "AdBlue" out loud as unscrewing it. It seems silly. It does the trick.
- The diesel cap stays on. When the two sit under a flap, confirm it's shut before the bottle comes up.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check a second time. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start your car.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Do not go on to stage five.
Collingham: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
What follows is a short order of things, beginning with no starting your engine. The fuel pump starts on many diesels as soon as your ignition goes on — so leave it off. Thinning it with extra diesel fails, since AdBlue sinks to the base instead of blending — and that's where your fuel is drawn from.
The staff at BP, Welcome Break or another forecourt will normally lend a hand to push the vehicle away when asked. Leave it where it is if you are on your own driveway around Collingham.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if your engine has already run. On the Doncaster By-Pass, under 25 miles from Collingham, that means the next junction. Distance matters — a short hop across Collingham is a smaller job than heading under 15 miles towards Lincoln — so say roughly how far it went.
Collingham: what happens when we arrive
Outside John Blow Primary School, near Jubilee Room or on your own drive: wherever the vehicle has stopped, our engineers come to it. Which fluid got in, the amount, and whether it ran: we ask because those answers set the work and price. During the phone call itself, you hear the quote — ahead of dispatch.
Draining that tank comes next, then a thorough flush of the system. Unlike petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and attacks certain fuel-system metals, and neither washes out unaided. Hence it matters more. A test comes at the end: before that, fresh diesel is added, and your filter is cleaned or replaced as needed. The engine is started next and tested to make sure it runs correctly, all before our engineers head off.
Most jobs are done in roughly half an hour once our engineers get there, provided the engine hasn't run — and the pumps we use are safe on a live forecourt yet quiet after dark outside a house. The insurer will ask for an engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and both are yours once this job is done. Payment comes on the day, with no deposit. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Collingham and where it is
Collingham is a village in Nottinghamshire, situated near the River Trent and close to the city of Lincoln. Collingham has a population of around 1209 people and is characterized by its predominantly detached housing. Collingham sits in a low-lying area, with an elevation of approximately 15 metres above sea level, and is surrounded by nearby places such as South Scarle and Besthorpe.
Collingham and Nottinghamshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Redmay Corner and Besthorpe are among the towns around Collingham, a rural village, that the same vans cover, over NG postcodes. Quote a postcode beginning NG23 7, and the van arrives quickest.
No need to shift the car. Our technicians drain it where it is — a side street close to Collingham Library, a lay-by on the way to RSPB Langford Lowlands, a driveway. Ring and ask instead of guessing if you are near a border, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of All Saints.
Collingham people: the short version
First, the cap; after that, the tip. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless, leave the vehicle off then phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel clears it where it waits, anywhere around Nottinghamshire.