AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Dalkeith: How It Happens and How to Avoid It
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave your engine and your ignition off then ring 0333 366 0103. In Dalkeith, finding it before the engine turns normally leaves draining and a thorough flush on the spot. If you're reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it occurs and how to make sure it does not.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel vehicle
Diesel goes to the engine — but many current diesels driven about Dalkeith and Lasswade carry a second liquid as well. Kept in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into the exhaust stream to clean it.
Every tank has one filler of its own. Many of cars have a single flap for both, whereas others put the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. Diesel gets filled on each filling station visit, week in, week out. Much less commonly, the AdBlue side gets topped up — normally from a bottle, by someone thinking about where it goes. The error lives in that gap.
How AdBlue in the diesel tank happens in Dalkeith
It is rarely carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
Hurry follows from the warning. The car warns you as AdBlue runs low, and an empty tank puts it into limp mode — so the top-up gets done quickly, before work on a drive off Lasswade Road, or heading home in the car park outside Justinlees Inn.
The old car's filler is where the hand reaches — but a rental car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers somewhere else. That's the second factor: a strange vehicle.
Lastly, the spout fits: diesel filler or AdBlue one, it slides in just as easily, and once the tip starts, no part halts it. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Dalkeith or out in Eskbank.
Telling the AdBlue filler from the diesel filler
Before you pour anything, whether on a drive in Eldindean or a forecourt around Dalkeith, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Check the cap instead of going by where it sits: AdBlue ones are commonly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones normally are not.
- The size. On plenty of motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- Lift the filler flap and check for a label — many motors show which goes in which inlet right there.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that is where your filler sits if it's not by the diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- The person who drove the vehicle last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park at Eskbank, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
The day the light comes on, wherever across Midlothian, follow this routine.
- Pull in somewhere level, engine off, with time to spare — never hurried on the side of A6094.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after you find the AdBlue filler and reading it. Silly, yes, yet it does the trick.
- The two behind a single flap? So confirm the cap on the diesel side is still shut before lifting the bottle.
- Slowly does it, through the bottle's own spout, till it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Before you start the vehicle, close the cap and check again that your diesel cap never opened off.
Spot at stage two or three that it has already gone into your diesel side? Then stop just there. Never go on to stage five.
Dalkeith: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
What follows is a short order of things, starting with not starting your motor. On many diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so don't switch it on. Do not top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is drawn from.
The staff at the nearest petrol station, Tesco or another forecourt will normally lend a hand pushing the car clear if asked. On your own drive around Dalkeith? So your car stays where it is.
Already started? Pull over once it's sensible, then turn off. Leave the M8 — under 10 miles out of Dalkeith — at the next junction. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Edinburgh, under 10 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Dalkeith.
Dalkeith: what occurs when we turn up
We come to the car wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside the local primary school, close to Three Craws or on your own drive. Those replies decide this work and our price, and so our engineers ask what went in, about how much, and if it's run. On the phone call itself, you are told our quote — ahead of dispatch.
After that: a drain, then a thorough flush of the entire system. Much more than with petrol, it counts here: crystals form, certain metals corrode, and nothing washes away on its own, no matter how long it is left. Once the fuel filter is cleaned — or renewed, where required — clean diesel goes in, and finally your vehicle is tested. We do not leave until it has been fired up and is running properly.
With pumps fine on a working forecourt and quiet enough for use outside a house at night, most jobs where your motor hasn't run need about half an hour after we arrive. The insurer usually wants the engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and both are yours at the end. Payment comes on the day, with no deposit. Before we get there, have a look at your insurance documents; plenty include cover for misfuelling.
About Dalkeith, for a moment
Dalkeith is a town situated on the River Esk in Midlothian, with a mix of flat and other types of housing. Dalkeith sits at an elevation of 69 metres, close to the city of Edinburgh, which is approximately 6 miles away. Dalkeith is part of the wider Edinburgh urban area, with nearby places including Eskbank, Lugton, and Newbattle. Dalkeith has a population of around 8242 people, making it a significant settlement in the region.
AdBlue drains about Dalkeith, and Midlothian beyond
Lugton and Newbattle are among the places around Dalkeith, a riverside town, that the same vans cover, over EH postcodes. A postcode starting EH22 3 gets our van to you fastest.
Your car remains where it is. Anywhere it sits — near St David's, on a lay-by heading to Ironmills Park, on a drive — that is where it is cleared. If you are near a border, or somewhere hard to explain like the back of Dalkeith And Cowdenfoot Collieries Miners Memorial, ring and ask instead of assuming.
In short, for Dalkeith motorists
Before you pour, read the cap. Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, anywhere across Midlothian, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless — so leave it off and ring 0333 366 0103.