Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in East Whitwell: Why It Happens
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave the engine and the ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103. Around East Whitwell, finding it before the engine runs usually means a drain and a full flush where it stands. The remainder of this page covers why it happens and how to ensure it does not — handy if you are reading before it has happened.
AdBlue in a diesel motor: two tanks, two fillers
Plenty of modern diesels on the roads round East Whitwell and Hollin Busk carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your engine. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is sprayed into the exhaust gas and cleans it.
Each tank has its own filler. Many of vehicles have a single flap for both, whereas some put the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. At the petrol pump, the diesel side gets filled all the time. Rarely topped up, AdBlue usually goes in out of a bottle, poured by a driver who has to stop and think what filler it needs. Mistakes happen in the gap between the two.
East Whitwell: how AdBlue in your diesel tank takes place
It is hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
Haste 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 in a rush, before work on a drive off Cedar Close, or on the way home in the car park at The Red Grouse.
Then, your hand goes for the cap it knew on the old motor — since a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car places the fillers somewhere your last one didn't.
A spout-topped bottle meets no obstacle at a diesel filler any more than at an AdBlue one. And so the tip, after started, keeps on. Pot House or the middle of East Whitwell: it is the same few seconds in both.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Check these before pouring, on a forecourt around East Whitwell or a driveway out in Bracken Moor. A few seconds, that's all.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap normally is not. Read it rather than going by position.
- Check the size: the smaller filler neck is, on plenty of motors, the AdBlue one.
- Check inside your fuel flap: many vehicles carry a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- The handbook says which it is if your filler isn't next to your diesel cap: your boot, or under the bonnet.
- Whoever had it before will know. Ask as you collect a rental or company car — at Penistone's car park, perhaps — rather than when the light comes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
The day the light goes on, wherever across South Yorkshire, use this routine.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with the motor running, and not in a rush on the side of Chestnut Avenue.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it does the trick.
- The diesel cap remains on. Where both share a flap, make sure it is closed before the bottle comes up.
- Stop when that tank fills or the bottle is empty; until then, pour slowly through its own spout.
- Before you start the car, shut the cap and look again that the diesel cap was never came off.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you've already poured into your diesel side. Don't go on to stage five.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank around East Whitwell already?
Short order, then. Top of that: your engine remains unstarted. On plenty of diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so don't switch it on. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where your fuel is sucked from — so do not top up with diesel to dilute it.
Ask the staff to help roll the car clear of the petrol pump if you're at a forecourt — the JET, the Murco or anywhere else. Leave it where it is if you are on your own driveway around East Whitwell.
Already run? Pull over when it is sensible, then switch off. On the M1, under 10 miles from East Whitwell, that means the next exit. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Sheffield, under 10 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across East Whitwell.
Our arrival around East Whitwell, and what occurs next
The van comes to the vehicle wherever it has come to rest — your own drive, near Stocksbridge Christian Centre, or outside Stocksbridge Junior School. Which fluid went in, the amount, and if it ran: our technicians ask because those replies set the work and price. No one sets off before you've had the price by phone.
Then that tank is emptied and the fuel system cleaned thoroughly. With AdBlue that matters more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not wash out on its own. A test is last: before that, fresh diesel goes in, and your filter is cleaned or replaced as needed. Your engine is started next and checked to confirm it runs smoothly, all before we go.
With pumps safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs where the motor has not run need about half an hour after our technicians are there. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. While we travel, have a look at your policy; many carry cover for misfuelling.
About East Whitwell
East Whitwell is a suburban area situated in South Yorkshire, approximately 8 miles from Sheffield, and is characterized by its semi-detached housing stock. East Whitwell sits inland, at an elevation of 256 metres, and is close to nearby places such as Pot House, Spink Hall, and Shay House. East Whitwell has a population of around 3941 residents and is located within commuting distance of major cities, including Sheffield. East Whitwell is also relatively far from London, at a distance of 149 miles.
AdBlue drains in East Whitwell and across South Yorkshire
As a residential suburb, East Whitwell shares its vans surrounding places — Spink Hall, Shay House — all the way through S postcodes and the surrounding area around them. Fastest of all: quote a S36 1 postcode to our van.
There's no need to shift your car. Wherever it stands — beside Stocksbridge Rugby Club, in a layby en route to Cedar Pocket Park, on a drive — that is where it is drained. If you are near a border, or somewhere hard to describe like the back of The Salvation Army - Stocksbridge, ring and ask instead of assuming.
The short version for East Whitwell drivers
Pour nothing till you've read the cap. Still AdBlue in the diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel can empty it where it stands, anywhere across South Yorkshire: switch the car off then ring 0333 366 0103.