Why It Occurs and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Enniskillen
Keep your engine and ignition off and call 0333 366 0103 first — reading can wait if AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. In Enniskillen, catching it before your motor turns normally leaves draining and a full flush where it stands. The remainder of this page covers why it happens and how to make sure it doesn't — useful if you are reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel car: two tanks, two fillers
Many modern diesels in Arney, as well as Enniskillen, carry on two liquids; the motor gets only the diesel. Kept in a tank of its own, AdBlue is sprayed into the exhaust gas to clean it.
There's a filler on every tank. Under one flap, next to each other: that's the arrangement on a lot of cars. On others, AdBlue's filler is under the bonnet or in the boot instead. The diesel side is filled at the pump all the time. Rarely filled, AdBlue normally goes in out of a bottle, tipped by someone who has to stop and think what cap it needs. It's in that gap that the mistake lives.
How does AdBlue in the diesel tank happen around Enniskillen?
It's seldom carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a drive off Crown Street before work, or in the car park at the pub in the village on the way home: that's where the hurried top-up takes place. Why the rush? As AdBlue runs low your car warns you, and once it's gone, limp mode follows.
New-to-you vehicles come second, as well. Rentals, new motors and company vehicles put their fillers differently, and the hand reaches for the cap used on the old one.
Lastly, the bottle goes in: a diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it slides in just as readily, and after the tip starts, no part halts it. It takes a few seconds, whether out in Tamlaght or right in the heart of Enniskillen.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Check these before pouring, at a forecourt in Enniskillen or a driveway over in Skea. A few seconds, no more.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap usually isn't. Read it instead of going by where it sits.
- The size. On plenty of vehicles the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Plenty of vehicles say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If your filler is not by the diesel cap, it's in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The person who drove the vehicle last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park at the nearest station, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
On the day the warning comes on — wherever you are around County Fermanagh — a routine to follow.
- Pull in somewhere level, motor off, with time to spare — not hurried on the side of Crom Street.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after finding the AdBlue filler and reading it. Daft, perhaps, yet it works.
- The two under a single flap? Then make sure the cap on the diesel side stays closed ahead of lifting the bottle.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check a second time. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Leave out step five entirely.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Enniskillen?
The short order of things, beginning with not starting the motor. Leave your ignition off too, since on many diesels it by itself runs your fuel pump. Do not top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where your fuel is pulled from.
If you're on a forecourt, whether it's the the nearest petrol station or the another forecourt nearby, ask the attendants to help roll your car clear of the pump. Leave it where it is if you're on your own driveway around Enniskillen.
If the engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. Enniskillen sits over 50 miles from the M77; there, use the first exit. About how far did it go? Hopping across Enniskillen is less a job than a trip of under 50 miles towards Armagh, so tell us.
Enniskillen: what occurs when our technicians arrive
The van comes to the vehicle anywhere it stopped — your own driveway, beside the centre, or by the local primary school. What liquid got in, the quantity, and whether it ran: our technicians ask because the replies decide the work and quote. That price is given on the call, before any van leaves.
Draining your tank comes next, then a thorough flush of the fuel system. With AdBlue that matters more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it doesn't wash out on its own. A test is at the end: before that, clean diesel goes in, and your filter is cleaned or changed as needed. Before we go, our engineers start the car and check that it is running correctly.
Most jobs are finished in roughly half an hour after we arrive, as long as your engine has not run — and the pumps we use are fine on a busy forecourt and quiet at night outside a house. Your insurer usually wants the engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and you get both at the end. Payment is on the day, with no deposit. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Enniskillen
Enniskillen is a town in County Fermanagh, situated inland near the shores of Lough Erne, with a population of around 7294 people. Enniskillen sits at an elevation of 59 metres, approximately 39 miles from Armagh, and is surrounded by smaller settlements like Tamlaght, Trory, and Bellanaleck. Enniskillen has a predominance of detached housing, reflecting its character as a rural town in Northern Ireland. Enniskillen is located about 368 miles northwest of London, making it a significant urban centre in the region.
AdBlue drains around Enniskillen and across County Fermanagh
Enniskillen is a town, and the vans that cover it also work the towns around it, Trory and Bellanaleck among them, across the BT postcode area. Our van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting BT74 7.
There's no need to shift the car. Our technicians drain it where it is — a side street near a street just off the centre, a lay-by on the way to the green space at the edge of the village, a drive. Ring and ask instead of guessing if you're close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of the far end of the built-up part.
For Enniskillen drivers, the short version
Read the cap before you tip. AdBlue in the diesel tank regardless? Leave it switched off and ring 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, across County Fermanagh.