AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Eccleston Park: How It Happens and How to Prevent It
Pause reading a minute when your diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, then call 0333 366 0103. Around Eccleston Park, finding it before the motor runs usually means draining and a thorough flush on the spot. Not happened yet? Below, the page explains the reasons it takes place and the how to avoid it for good.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Many modern diesels around Holt, like those in Eccleston Park, carry on two liquids; the motor takes only your diesel. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Each tank has its own filler. Under one flap, side by side: that is the arrangement on a lot of motors. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler is beneath the bonnet or in the boot instead. The diesel side is filled at the petrol pump all the time. Seldom topped up, AdBlue usually comes from a bottle, poured by someone who must stop and think what cap it needs. The mistake grows in that gap between the two.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Eccleston Park: how it occurs
Seldom is it carelessness: normally three things coincide.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the car tells you, and if it runs out completely, your vehicle drops into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a drive off Fairholme Avenue before work, or in the car park outside The Wellington on the way home.
Then, the hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old car — because a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers where your last one didn't.
A spout-topped bottle meets no resistance at a diesel filler any more than at an AdBlue one. So the tip, after begun, carries on. It takes seconds, whether in Eccleston Lane Ends or right in the heart of Eccleston Park.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Look at these before pouring, on a forecourt in Eccleston Park or a driveway out in Grange Park. A few seconds, that's all.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is regularly blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap normally is not. Read it rather than going by where it sits.
- The size. On many vehicles the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- A label inside your fuel flap often says which fuel goes where, on many vehicles. Look for it.
- The handbook. If the filler isn't by your diesel cap, it's in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Check with the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — if you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park outside the nearest station.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
Anywhere in Merseyside the light comes on, here is a routine for that day.
- Not in a rush on the side of Old Lane, not on a slope, not with your motor running: park then switch off properly.
- Daft as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" aloud as you unscrew the cap works — once you have located your filler and read it.
- The diesel cap stays on. Where both share a flap, make sure it is shut before the bottle comes up.
- Finish when your tank fills or the bottle runs dry; until then, tip slowly using the built-in spout.
- Close the cap and check a second time. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the vehicle.
Spot at step two or three that it has already gone into your diesel side? Then stop just there. Don't carry on to step five.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank in Eccleston Park already?
Brief order, then. Top of that: the motor stays off. On many diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so do not switch it on. Topping up with diesel won't weaken it: instead, AdBlue sinks to the bottom of the tank, right where fuel is drawn from.
If you're on a forecourt, whether it's the Texaco or the Tesco, ask the attendants to help roll the vehicle clear of the pump. Your own driveway in Eccleston Park is the place it should stay.
Where the motor has run already, stop safely then turn the vehicle off. On the M57, under 3 miles from Eccleston Park, that means the next junction. About how far did it go? Crossing Eccleston Park is less a job than a trip of under 10 miles to Liverpool, so say.
Eccleston Park: what happens when our technicians get there
The van comes to the vehicle anywhere it stopped — your own drive, beside St James, or outside Eccleston Lane Ends Primary School. Those answers decide the work and our price, and so our engineers ask what was put in, roughly how much, and whether it has run. Nobody sets off before you've had the quote over the phone.
The system is then cleaned thoroughly, after the tank is cleared. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it doesn't wash out on its own — which is why that matters more with AdBlue than with petrol. The filter flushed or, if it must be, swapped; fresh diesel in; and then a test of the car. Then our technicians start the car and confirm it runs smoothly before we go.
If your engine hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there, using pumps that are safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night. Payment is on the day, not upfront, and you receive the paperwork an insurer wants: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. While we travel, have a look at your policy; plenty carry cover for misfuelling.
About Eccleston Park, for a moment
Eccleston Park is a suburban area in Merseyside, situated approximately 8 miles east of Liverpool, with Eccleston Park being one of the residential communities in the region. Eccleston Park sits at an elevation of around 72 metres, in an area of gently sloping land near Eccleston Lane Ends and Prescot. Eccleston Park is characterized by its predominantly semi-detached housing stock, reflecting the typical residential development patterns of the North West region. Eccleston Park is also located near Portico, another local neighbourhood.
AdBlue drains in Eccleston Park and across Merseyside
As a residential suburb, Eccleston Park shares its vans nearby areas — Portico, Prescot — all the way through L postcodes and the surrounding area around them. The van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting L34 2.
Moving the car isn't necessary. A driveway, a lay-by on the way to Henley Park, a side street near Prescot Soccer Centre: our technicians drain the vehicle where it stands. Guessing doesn't help at the back of The Salvation Army, close to a boundary, or anywhere awkward to pin down; ring and check.
The short version for Eccleston Park people
Read the cap before you pour. AdBlue in your diesel tank after all? Leave the car off then phone 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, throughout Merseyside.