Croftfoot: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Prevent It?
Stop reading for a moment when the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, then call 0333 366 0103. Caught before the engine runs, it's normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Croftfoot. Nothing happened yet? Below, the page covers the reasons it happens and the how to prevent it altogether.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
Many modern diesels on the roads round Croftfoot and High Crosshill carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the engine. AdBlue's own tank holds it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, where a spray treats the gas.
There's a filler for every tank. Other motors put the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; a lot more place both side by side behind one flap. Topping up the diesel side at the pump goes on constantly. Far less regularly, the AdBlue side gets filled — normally from a bottle, by a person working out where it goes. It's in that gap that the error lives.
How AdBlue in your diesel tank takes place in Croftfoot
Carelessness rarely causes it. Instead is three things coming up at once.
Hurry follows from the warning. The car warns you as AdBlue runs low, and a dry tank puts the vehicle into limp mode — so the top-up gets done quickly, before work on a driveway off Castlemilk Crescent, or heading home in the car park outside The Croft Bar & Restaurant.
Then, your hand goes for the cap it would have used on the old car — because a rental car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers where your last one didn't.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, so nothing stops the pour after it has started. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Croftfoot or out in Spittal.
Telling the AdBlue filler from your diesel filler
Before you tip anything, whether on a drive in Mt Florida or a forecourt in Croftfoot, check these. They take a few seconds.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap normally is not. Read it instead of going by where it sits.
- Many motors give AdBlue the smaller neck of the two.
- Look inside the fuel flap: many vehicles carry a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- Can't see it beside the diesel filler? Then look below the bonnet or in your boot — the owner's manual says which.
- Collecting a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park outside the nearest station? Check with whoever drove the car last before leaving, not once the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
The day the light goes on, wherever around Glasgow City, follow this routine.
- Park and switch off. Not on a slope, not with the motor running, and not in a rush on the side of Castlemilk Road.
- Find the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and say the word "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew it. It seems daft. It works.
- 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, pour slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check once more. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
Discover during the second or third stage that the bottle went in the wrong filler? That's where you stop. Stage five is out.
Croftfoot: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
What follows is a short order of things, beginning with no starting the engine. The fuel pump runs on many diesels the moment the ignition goes on — and so keep it off. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where your fuel is sucked from — so don't top up with diesel to thin it.
On a forecourt — Esso, BP or another — the staff will normally help push your car away, if you ask. On your own drive around Croftfoot? So your car remains where it is.
When the motor has run by now, stop safely and turn the vehicle off. Leave the M74 — under 3 miles out of Croftfoot — at the first junction. A short hop across Croftfoot is a smaller job than a run towards Glasgow, under 5 miles away, and so tell us roughly how far it went.
Croftfoot: what takes place when our technicians turn up
Our engineers come to the vehicle wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside the local primary school, near Croftfoot Parish Church or on your own driveway. Both the work and our quote depend on three answers — which liquid, which quantity, and if it has run — so our technicians ask. No one sets off until you've had our quote by phone.
Draining your tank comes next, followed by a full flush of your system. Unlike petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and eats at some fuel-system metals, and neither clears out unaided. That is why it matters more. Your filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. After that we start the car and check it runs properly before leaving.
Most jobs are finished in about half an hour once our technicians get there, provided your engine hasn't run — and the pumps our engineers use are safe on a live forecourt yet quiet after dark outside a house. Your insurer usually wants the engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and both are yours once the job is done. Payment is on the day, with no deposit. Wrong-fuel cover is part of many insurance policies — and so make use of the wait to check yours.
About Croftfoot and where it is
Croftfoot is a suburban area situated near the River Clyde in Glasgow City, with a mix of residential flats and local amenities. Croftfoot lies close to the city centre, approximately 3.2 miles from Glasgow, and is surrounded by other suburban areas such as Spittal and Bankhead. Croftfoot has a relatively low elevation of 33 metres above sea level, typical of the riverside setting in this part of Scotland. Croftfoot is home to around 8424 people, living primarily in flat-style housing.
AdBlue drains in Croftfoot and across Glasgow City
Over G postcodes, our teams covering Croftfoot — a residential suburb — work the surrounding spots too, Kings Park and Bankhead among them. The van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting G44 5.
No need to shift the car. A driveway, a lay-by on the way to Croft Park, a side street close to Saint Oswald's Scottish Episcopal Church: our technicians drain it where it stands. If you're near a border, or somewhere hard to describe like the back of King's Park Parish Church, ring and ask rather than assuming.
Croftfoot drivers: the short version
Before you pour, read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank regardless, leave the car off and call 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it waits, anywhere around Glasgow City.