Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Coves: Why It Occurs

Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel vehicle

Plenty of modern diesels in Ravenscraig, like those in Coves, run on two liquids; the engine takes just the diesel. Kept in a tank of its own, AdBlue is sprayed into the exhaust stream to clean it.

There's a filler on every tank. Plenty of cars have a single flap for the two, whereas others move the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. At the pump, your diesel side is topped up constantly. Someone who has to stop and think where it goes normally fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less often. That gap is where the mistake lives.

Telling the AdBlue filler from the diesel filler

Look at these first, on a forecourt around Coves or a drive out in Branchton. A few seconds, no more.

• Where it sits misleads; the cap does not. AdBlue caps tend to be blue or bear the word "AdBlue" — diesel ones normally do not.
• Look at the size: the smaller neck is, on many cars, the AdBlue one.
• Look inside the fuel flap: many cars carry a label there saying which fuel goes where.
• The handbook. If the filler is not by the diesel cap, it's in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
• Picking up a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park outside Branchton? Ask whoever drove the car last before leaving, not once the light goes on.

When our technicians turn up in Coves, what occurs?

We come to the vehicle wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside the local primary school, close to St. Andrew's Parish Church or on your own driveway. Our engineers ask what was put in, about how much, and if it's run, because the answers decide this work and our quote. During the phone call itself, you hear the price — ahead of dispatch.

Next: a drain, then a thorough flush of the entire system. Much more than with petrol, it counts with AdBlue: the crystals form, some metals are attacked, and none of it clears out on its own, no matter how long it is left. Filter flushed or, if needed, swapped; clean diesel in; then a check of your car. We do not leave until it has been started and is running smoothly.

Using pumps safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs where your engine hasn't run take about half an hour after our engineers are there. No money upfront; you settle up on the day. Afterwards, the VAT invoice and a report from the engineer go to you for the insurer. Wrong-fuel cover is part of many insurance policies — and so make use of the wait to look at yours.