Darnley: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Avoid It?
Stop here for a moment if your diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, and phone 0333 366 0103. Normally, if the motor hasn't turned, it is emptied and thoroughly cleaned where the car is around Darnley. Reading in advance? In that case what follows explains how it happens and how to stop it happening at all.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel vehicle need its own filler?
No single fluid but two: that is how many modern diesels around Darnley and Kennishead carry, with diesel for your engine. Its own tank keeps it, and from there it goes to your exhaust, and there spraying treats the fumes.
Each tank has its own filler. On a lot of cars 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 pump, your diesel side gets filled all the time. Rarely topped up, AdBlue normally goes in from a bottle, tipped by a driver who must stop and think what cap to use. That gap is where the mistake lives.
How does AdBlue in the diesel tank take place in Darnley?
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
On a driveway off Glen Livet Place before work, or in the car park outside the pub in the village heading home: that's where the hurried top-up takes place. Why the rush? As AdBlue runs low your car tells you, and if it's gone, limp mode kicks in.
The old car's cap is where your hand reaches — yet a rental car, a new car or a company car keeps the fillers elsewhere. That's the second factor: an unfamiliar motor.
Lastly, the spout goes in: a diesel filler or AdBlue one, it goes in as easily, and once the tip begins, no part halts it. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Darnley or out in Arden.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
A couple of seconds is all the checks take — so run through them before you tip anything, on a drive in Priesthill or a forecourt in Darnley.
- Blue and lettering: an AdBlue cap is often blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap usually doesn't. Trust the cap, not where it sits.
- On many cars, size tells: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- A label inside the fuel flap frequently shows which fuel goes where, on many cars. Check for it.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that is where the filler sits if it is not by the diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- Collecting a hire or company car, say at the car park at Priesthill & Darnley? Check with the person who drove it last before you set off, rather than when the light goes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up
When the light goes on, anywhere in Glasgow City, use this routine.
- Park and switch off. Not on a slope, not with the engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Glen Loy Place.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it does the trick.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave the vehicle on.
- Finish once the tank is topped up or the bottle runs dry; until then, tip slowly through its own spout.
- Only then, start the car: close the cap, check again, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened.
Spot at stage two or three that it has already gone into your diesel side? Then stop right there. Never carry on to step five.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, in Darnley?
Then the order of things is short. Do not start your engine. On plenty of diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so do not switch the car on. Do not top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where the fuel is sucked from.
Ask the attendants to help roll the car away from the pump if you're on a forecourt — the Sainsbury's, the EG On the Move or anywhere else. If you're on your own drive around Darnley, leave the vehicle where it is.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if your motor has already run. Leave the M77 — under a mile out of Darnley — at the first exit. Roughly how far did it go? Hopping across Darnley is less work than a run of under 10 miles to Glasgow, so say.
Darnley: what takes place when our engineers turn up
Our van reaches the vehicle wherever it stopped — your own drive, near Darnley United Free Church of Scotland, or by the local primary school. Both the work and our quote rest on three answers — what liquid, what amount, and whether it's run — so we ask. No one heads out until you've had our price over the phone.
The fuel system is then cleaned thoroughly, after that tank is cleared. Not like petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and eats at some fuel-system metals, and none of it washes away by itself. That is why it counts more. A test comes at the end: before that, fresh diesel goes in, and the fuel filter is cleaned or replaced as needed. The engine is fired up next and tested to be sure it runs properly, all before our engineers go.
Using pumps safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs where the engine has not run take about half an hour once we arrive. Your insurer usually wants the engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and you get both once this job is done. Payment is on the day, with no deposit. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Darnley itself
Darnley is a suburban area situated on the riverside in Glasgow City, with a mix of semi-detached housing and local amenities. Darnley lies approximately 5.5 miles from Glasgow city centre and is close to nearby places such as Arden and South Nitshill. Darnley has a population of around 5127 people and is characterised by its relatively low elevation of 31 metres above sea level. Darnley is part of the wider Glasgow urban area, with easy access to the city's facilities and services.
Darnley and Glasgow City: AdBlue drains across the area
South Nitshill and Southpark Village are among the places near Darnley, a residential suburb, that the same vans cover, throughout G postcodes. Give a postcode beginning G53 7, and our van arrives fastest.
Moving the vehicle isn't needed. Anywhere it stands — near Darnley Community Centre, in a layby heading to Priesthill Park, at home — that is where it gets emptied. Tricky to explain, like the back of Darnley Bowling Club? Close to a county line? Checking beats guessing, so ring.
The short version for Darnley drivers
Always, the cap; then, the pour. AdBlue in the diesel tank after all? Keep the vehicle switched off and call 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, throughout Glasgow City.