AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Dimsdale: Why It Happens and How to Avoid It
Pause reading for a moment if your diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, then call 0333 366 0103. In Dimsdale, finding it before the engine turns normally leaves a drain and a full flush where it stands. The rest of this page covers why it occurs and how to ensure it doesn't — handy if you're reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Diesel goes to the motor — but plenty of current diesels seen round Dimsdale and Wishaw carry a second liquid as well. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is sprayed into your exhaust stream and cleans it.
There is a filler on every tank. Under one flap, side by side: that is the layout on a lot of vehicles. On others, AdBlue's filler is beneath the bonnet or in your boot instead. At the pump, your diesel side is topped up all the time. Rarely topped up, AdBlue usually goes in from a bottle, poured by someone who must stop and think what filler it needs. It is in the gap that the mistake happens.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Dimsdale: how it occurs
It's hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a warning from the vehicle, and running out leads to limp mode — hence a hurried top-up, maybe before work off Sneddon Avenue, perhaps outside The Wishaw Malt on the way home after work.
Then the vehicle is strange. A hire car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers where your last one didn't, and the hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old one.
Nothing stops the tip once it has started, because a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. Whether it takes place in Waterloo or the middle of Dimsdale, it's the same few seconds.
Telling the AdBlue filler from your diesel filler
A few seconds is all these take — so run through them before you tip anything, on a driveway in Overtown or a forecourt in Dimsdale.
- Check the cap rather than going by where it sits: AdBlue caps are frequently blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps usually aren't.
- Plenty of vehicles fit AdBlue the smaller neck of the two.
- Look inside your fuel flap: plenty of vehicles have a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- The handbook says where it is if the filler is not next to your diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- Whoever had it before knows. Ask as you pick up a hire car or company car — at Wishaw's car park, perhaps — rather than once the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
Anywhere around North Lanarkshire the light comes on, this is a routine for the day.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with your engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Dimsdale Crescent.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it works.
- The diesel cap stays on. Where both sit under a flap, confirm it's shut before the bottle comes up.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start your car.
Spot at stage two or three that it's already gone into the diesel side? So stop right there. Never go on to stage five.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, in Dimsdale?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start your engine. The fuel pump starts on many diesels the moment your ignition goes on — so keep it off. Do not top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where your fuel is drawn from.
At a forecourt — Morrisons, BP or another — the attendants will usually help push the car away, if you ask. If you're on your own drive around Dimsdale, leave it where it stands.
If your engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. On the M74, under 3 miles from Dimsdale, that means the next exit. Roughly how far did it go? Hopping across Dimsdale is smaller work than a trip of under 15 miles to Glasgow, and so tell us.
Dimsdale: what takes place when our technicians arrive
Anywhere the vehicle has stopped, be it by the local primary school, beside Waterloo Community Centre or at home, our van comes to it. Both the work and the price rest on three answers — what liquid, which quantity, and whether it's run — so our engineers ask. You get that price on the phone, before anyone heads out.
Then your tank is cleared and your system purged thoroughly. With AdBlue that counts more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and your car is tested. The motor is fired up next and tested to confirm it runs smoothly, all before our technicians head off.
Using pumps fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough for use outside a house at night, most jobs in which the motor hasn't run take roughly half an hour once we are there. Payment is on the day, not upfront, and you receive the paperwork an insurer asks for: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Misfuelling cover is included in plenty of insurance policies — so use the wait to look at yours.
About Dimsdale
Dimsdale is a suburban area in North Lanarkshire, situated inland at an elevation of 151 metres, with terraced housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Dimsdale lies approximately 14 miles from Glasgow, and its residents have access to nearby places such as Waterloo, Greenhead, and Pather. Dimsdale is home to around 3772 people, making it a relatively small but established community. Dimsdale is located a significant distance from London, at around 332 miles away.
Dimsdale and North Lanarkshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Being a residential suburb, Dimsdale has the same vans as nearby places — Greenhead, Pather — right through ML postcodes and the surrounding area beyond. A postcode starting ML2 8 gets our van to you fastest.
Moving the car isn't needed. We drain it where it is — a side street close to War Memorial, a lay-by on the way to Greenhead Moss Community Nature Park, a driveway. Guessing won't help behind The Unknown Soldier, close to a boundary, or somewhere awkward to pin down; phone and check.
For Dimsdale motorists, the short version
Before you pour, read the cap. Even so AdBlue in your diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel can empty it where it is, anywhere across North Lanarkshire: keep the vehicle off then phone 0333 366 0103.