AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Edwalton: Why It Happens and How to Avoid It
Stop here for a moment when your diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, then ring 0333 366 0103. A drain and a thorough flush, carried out right where the car stands in Edwalton, is usually what it needs when found before your motor runs. Reading before the event? Then what follows explains why it happens and what to stop it happening at all.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Plenty of current diesels on the roads round Edwalton and Ruddington carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your motor. Its own tank holds it, and from there it is sent to the exhaust, where spraying treats the fumes.
Separate tanks, separate fillers. Many of vehicles share a single flap for the two, while others put the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. Filling the diesel side at the petrol pump happens constantly. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less commonly, usually from a bottle, and usually by a person who has to stop and think where it goes. Mistakes happen in that gap between the two.
Edwalton: how AdBlue in your diesel tank takes place
It's hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a drive off Village Street before work, or in the car park at Meadow Covert on the way home: that is where the hurried top-up takes place. Why the rush? As AdBlue runs low your car tells you, and once it's empty, limp mode kicks in.
Next, the hand goes for the cap it would have used on the old car — because a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car places the fillers somewhere your last one did not.
No part halts the tip once it has started, because a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. It's a few seconds, be it out in Tollerton or right in the heart of Edwalton.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Look at these first, on a forecourt in Edwalton or a driveway out in West Bridgford. Seconds, no more.
- Colour and marking: an AdBlue cap is often blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap usually does not. Go by the cap, not where it sits.
- On many motors, the size gives it away: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Plenty of motors say there which fuel goes where.
- Can't see it beside the diesel filler? In that case check below the bonnet or inside your boot — the owner's manual will say where.
- The person who drove the vehicle last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park at Nottingham, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
On the day the light comes on — wherever you are in Nottinghamshire — a simple routine to follow.
- Not in a rush on the side of Birkdale Close, not on a slope, not with the motor running: park and switch off properly.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after you find the AdBlue filler and read it. Daft, yes, yet it does the trick.
- Leave the diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Before you start the car, close the cap and check again that the diesel cap was never opened off.
Find at the second or third stage that the bottle went in the diesel tank? That is where you stop. Never go on to stage five.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, in Edwalton?
What follows is a short order of things, beginning with not starting the engine. The fuel pump starts on plenty of diesels as soon as the ignition goes on — and so keep it off. Filling up with diesel won't thin it: rather than mixing, AdBlue sinks to the base of your tank, just where fuel is taken from.
If you are at a forecourt, whether it's the Morrisons or the Asda, ask the attendants to help push your car away from the pump. Your own drive in Edwalton is the place it stays.
If your engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. The next junction is where to leave if you're on the M1, under 10 miles from Edwalton. Distance matters — a short hop across Edwalton is a smaller job than driving under 5 miles towards Nottingham — so tell us about how far it went.
Our arrival around Edwalton, and what takes place next
Wherever the car came to rest, whether by Rosecliffe Spencer Academy, beside The Church of the Holy Rood or at home, the van comes to it. Our technicians ask what got in, about how much, and if it's run, because the replies settle this work and our quote. You hear that quote by phone, before anybody heads out.
Draining the tank comes next, followed by a full flush of the fuel system. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own — which is why that matters more with AdBlue than with petrol. The filter cleaned or, if needed, replaced; fresh diesel in; then a check of the vehicle. The engine is started next and checked to make sure it runs properly, all before we head off.
Most jobs are finished in roughly half an hour after we arrive, provided the engine has not run — and the pumps our engineers use are fine on a live forecourt yet quiet after dark outside a house. Payment is on the day, not upfront, and you receive the documents an insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Edwalton, briefly
Edwalton is a small village in Nottinghamshire, situated approximately 3.4 miles from Nottingham city centre. Edwalton lies in a low-lying area at around 50 metres above sea level, near the villages of Tollerton, Gamston, and Plumtree. Edwalton has a population of around 1260 people, predominantly living in detached houses.
AdBlue drains across Nottinghamshire, Edwalton included
Edwalton is a rural village, and the vans that cover it also work the towns near it, Gamston and Plumtree among them, across the NG postcode area. Give a postcode that starts NG12 4, and the van arrives quickest.
Your car doesn't need to move. The drain happens on the spot, whether a driveway, a street by Edwalton Community Church, or a layby towards Miss Machin's Field. Guessing doesn't help behind Notts Gymnastics Centre, on a border, or somewhere awkward to describe; ring and check.
For Edwalton drivers, the short version
Before you pour, read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank all the same, leave the car off then call 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, anywhere around Nottinghamshire.