Why It Occurs and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Dingle
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave the engine and the ignition off and call 0333 366 0103. In Dingle, finding it before the engine runs usually leaves draining and a full flush where it stands. The remainder of this page covers why it occurs and how to make sure it does not — handy if you're reading before it has happened.
AdBlue in a diesel motor: two tanks, two fillers
Diesel feeds the motor — but plenty of newer diesels driven round Dingle and Sefton Park carry another liquid as well. The exhaust, not the motor, is where AdBlue ends up: sprayed into the fumes to fresh it, from its own tank.
Different tanks, different fillers. Under one flap, side by side: that is the layout on a lot of cars. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler sits beneath the bonnet or in your boot instead. The diesel side is fuelled at the pump all the time. Rarely filled, AdBlue normally comes out of a bottle, tipped by someone who has to stop and think which filler to use. Mistakes happen in that gap between them.
How does AdBlue in your diesel tank happen in Dingle?
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a warning from the vehicle, and running out leads to limp mode — hence a hurried top-up, maybe before work off Dingle Brow, perhaps outside Wilson's Tavern on the way home that evening.
The old car's filler is where your hand goes — yet a hire car, a new vehicle or a company car keeps the fillers somewhere else. That's a second factor: an unfamiliar motor.
A spouted bottle finds no resistance at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. And so the pour, once begun, keeps on. It's seconds, be it out in St Michaels Hamlet or right in the heart of Dingle.
The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart
A couple of seconds is all the checks take — so check them before you pour anything, on a driveway in Fulwood Park or a forecourt in Dingle.
- Read the cap rather than going by where it sits: AdBlue caps are regularly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones usually are not.
- Many motors fit AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- A label inside your fuel flap frequently shows which fuel goes where, on plenty of vehicles. Look for it.
- Cannot see it beside your diesel inlet? In that case look beneath the bonnet or inside the boot — the handbook says where.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park at St Michaels, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
Wherever in Merseyside the light comes on, here is a routine for the day.
- Not in a rush on the side of Bosnia Street, not on a slope, not with your motor running: park and switch off first.
- 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 — and leave the car on.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
Spot at step two or three that it's already gone into the diesel side? Then stop just there. Step five stays off limits.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Dingle?
Brief order, then. First: your engine stays off. The fuel pump runs on plenty of diesels as soon as your ignition is switched on — so leave it off. Topping up with diesel will not weaken it: instead, AdBlue sinks to the bottom of your tank, right where fuel is taken from.
On a forecourt — Shell, Esso or another — the staff will normally help roll the vehicle clear, if you ask. If you are on your own driveway in Dingle, leave the vehicle where it is.
When the motor has run by now, stop safely then switch the car off. Come off the M62 — under 5 miles out of Dingle — at the first junction. Distance matters — a short hop across Dingle makes a smaller job than driving under 3 miles to Liverpool — so tell us about how far it went.
Dingle: what takes place when our engineers get there
Outside St Finbar's Catholic Primary School, close to Ancient Chapel of Toxteth or on your own drive: wherever the vehicle has stopped, our technicians come to it. What fluid was put in, the quantity, and whether it ran: our technicians ask because the replies decide both work and price. On the call itself, you are told our price — before dispatch.
Emptying the tank comes next, then a thorough flush of the fuel system. Much more than with petrol, it matters with AdBlue: the crystals build up, certain metals are attacked, and none of that clears out unaided, no matter how long it is left. Once the fuel filter is cleaned — or renewed, if needed — fresh diesel goes in, and finally the vehicle is tested. We don't leave until it has been fired up and is running properly.
Using pumps fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs in which the engine hasn't run need about half an hour after we are there. No money in advance; you settle up on the day. Afterwards, a VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for your insurer. Before we get there, have a look at your policy; plenty carry cover for misfuelling.
About Dingle itself
Dingle is a coastal suburban area in Merseyside, situated near the city of Liverpool, with a mix of terraced housing and local amenities. Dingle is characterized by its proximity to the sea and its relatively low elevation of 37 metres, giving it a distinctive coastal feel. Dingle is close to other nearby places such as St Michaels Hamlet, Toxteth, and Princes Park, and is about 2.2 miles from Liverpool city centre.
AdBlue drains across Merseyside, Dingle included
Toxteth and Princes Park are among the towns near Dingle, a residential suburb, that the same teams cover, over L postcodes. A postcode starting L8 9 gets the van to you fastest.
Your car remains where it is. Our engineers drain it where it is — a side street near The Belvedere Community Activity Centre, a lay-by on the way to Starr Fields, a drive. Ring and ask instead of assuming if you are near a border, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of St Cleopas.
For Dingle drivers, the short version
Before you tip, read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank anyway, leave it off and phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it waits, anywhere across Merseyside.