Why It Happens and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Darley Hillside
Pause here a minute if the diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, and call 0333 366 0103. Normally, if your engine has not turned, it is emptied and fully rinsed where the car sits in Darley Hillside. Reading before the event? In that case what follows covers why it happens and what to prevent it ever happening.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel vehicle need its own filler?
Diesel goes to your engine — yet plenty of newer diesels seen about Darley Hillside and Northwood carry a second fluid too. AdBlue's own tank holds it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, where a spray cleans the fumes.
There is a filler on each tank. Under one flap, side by side: that's the arrangement on a lot of motors. On others, AdBlue's filler is beneath the bonnet or in the boot instead. Filling your diesel side at the petrol pump goes on constantly. Seldom filled, AdBlue usually goes in from a bottle, tipped by someone who has to stop and think which filler to use. That gap is where the slip lives.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Darley Hillside: how it happens
Carelessness seldom explains it. What does is three things lining up together.
Haste comes from the warning. The vehicle tells you as AdBlue runs low, and a dry tank puts the vehicle into limp mode — so the top-up gets done in a rush, before work on a drive off Long Hill, or on the way home in the car park at The Grouse Inn.
Unfamiliar cars are second, as well. Hire cars, new vehicles and company cars put their fillers in new places, and habit goes for the cap it used on the old one.
Third, the spout fits: a diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it goes in as easily, and after the tip starts, no part halts it. It takes seconds, whether out in Darley Dale or right in the centre of Darley Hillside.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you tip anything, whether on a driveway in Warrencarr or a forecourt in Darley Hillside, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Read the cap instead of going by where it sits: AdBlue caps are often blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones normally are not.
- On plenty of cars, the size tells: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- Check inside your fuel flap: many vehicles have a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- Cannot find it next to your diesel filler? Then look below the bonnet or in the boot — the handbook will say which.
- The previous driver will know. Ask when you collect a hire car or fleet car — at Matlock's car park, perhaps — rather than once the warning appears.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
For the day the warning appears — wherever it is in Derbyshire — a routine to use.
- Turn off after you park — level ground, engine off, and not in a rush by Peveril Close on the verge.
- Silly as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap does the trick — once you've found the 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.
- Stop once your tank is topped up or the bottle runs dry; before that, tip gently using its own spout.
- Before starting your car, close the cap and look again that your diesel cap was never came off.
Spot at step two or three that it has already gone into the diesel side? So stop right there. Never go on to stage five.
Darley Hillside: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start your engine. Leave the ignition off too, since on plenty of diesels it by itself runs the pump. Filling up with diesel won't weaken it: rather than mixing, AdBlue sinks to the base of your tank, right where fuel is drawn from.
On a forecourt — Texaco, A6 Truck Stop or any other — the attendants will usually help roll the car away, when you ask. Your own drive in Darley Hillside is where it should stay.
When your motor has run by now, stop somewhere safe and switch the vehicle off. Darley Hillside sits under 15 miles from the M1; on it, use the next junction. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Sheffield, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Darley Hillside.
What happens when our engineers arrive around Darley Hillside
By Darley Churchtown Church of England Primary School, near Darley Hillside Methodist Church or on your own drive: wherever the vehicle has stopped, we come to it. We ask what went in, about how much, and whether it's run, since the answers decide this work and the price. The price comes over the phone, ahead of any van leaving.
The system is then rinsed thoroughly, after your tank is cleared. With AdBlue that counts more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not wash out on its own. After the filter has been cleaned — or replaced, if required — fresh diesel is added, and then your vehicle is tested. The engine is fired up next and checked to be sure it runs properly, all before our engineers head off.
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 about half an hour after we are there. No money in advance; you settle up that day. Afterwards, a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer go to you for the insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Darley Hillside itself
Darley Hillside is a locality situated in the riverside area of Derbyshire, with a population of around 1187 residents. Darley Hillside has a mix of housing, but predominantly features detached homes, and is located near the communities of Darley Dale, Two Dales, and Churchtown. Darley Hillside sits at an elevation of 172 metres, approximately 15.7 miles from Sheffield and 130.3 miles from London. Darley Hillside is part of the wider East Midlands region, with its scenic riverside setting being a notable feature.
Darley Hillside and Derbyshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Two Dales and Churchtown are among the places around Darley Hillside, a small village, that the same vans cover, throughout DE postcodes. Quote a postcode that starts DE4 2, and our van arrives fastest.
Your car doesn't need to move. Draining takes place on the spot, whether a drive, a road by Dale Road Methodist Church, or a layby on the way to Whitworth Park. Guessing doesn't help at the back of Sir Joseph Whitworth, on a border, or anywhere awkward to describe; ring and ask.
For Darley Hillside drivers, the short version
Pour nothing until you've read the cap. Still AdBlue in your diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel can drain it where it stands, anywhere in Derbyshire: switch it off and phone 0333 366 0103.