Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Finningley: Why It Happens
Stop reading a minute when the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, then phone 0333 366 0103. In Finningley, finding it before the motor turns normally means draining and a thorough flush where it stands. Reading before the event? In that case what follows covers how it comes about and how to prevent it happening at all.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel car need its own filler?
Many modern diesels in Auckley, as well as Finningley, carry on two liquids; the motor gets only your diesel. AdBlue goes to your exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Separate tanks, different fillers. On a lot of cars the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is fuelled at the petrol pump all the time. Rarely topped up, AdBlue usually comes from a bottle, tipped by a driver who must stop and think which filler it needs. The mistake grows in that gap between the two.
Finningley: how AdBlue in your diesel tank happens
Rarely is it carelessness: usually three things coincide.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a warning from your car, and running dry leads to limp mode — hence a hurried top-up, perhaps before work off The Green, perhaps at Harvey Arms on the way home after work.
Then the car is new. A hire car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not, and the hand hits for the cap it would have used on the old one.
Lastly, the spout fits: diesel filler or AdBlue one, it slides in just as readily, and once the tip starts, no part halts it. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Finningley or out in Blaxton.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Be it a Finningley forecourt or a drive out in Branton, spend a couple of seconds over these before any is poured in.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap normally is not. Read it rather than going by position.
- On many cars, size gives it away: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- Open the filler flap and check for a label — plenty of motors mark what goes in which filler right there.
- Can't find it beside the diesel inlet? In that case look below the bonnet or inside the boot — the owner's manual will say which.
- The person who drove the vehicle last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park at Kirk Sandall, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
On the day the light appears — anywhere it is across South Yorkshire — a routine to follow.
- Not in a rush on the side of Lindley Road, not on a slope, not with your engine running: park and switch off first.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly 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 it on.
- Stop once that tank fills or the bottle is empty; until then, tip slowly through its built-in spout.
- Only then, start your car: close the cap, check again, and make sure the diesel cap was never opened.
Find at stage two or three that it has already gone into your diesel side? Then stop just there. Leave out step five altogether.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, in Finningley?
Do not start the motor: that's where the short order of things begins. The fuel pump runs on plenty of diesels as soon as your ignition is switched on — so leave it off. Don't top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is sucked from.
Ask the attendants to help push your car clear of the petrol pump if you are at a forecourt — the Esso, the Asda or somewhere else. Your own drive in Finningley is the place it stays.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if your engine has already run. Finningley sits under 3 miles from the M18; there, use the next exit. A short hop across Finningley is a smaller job than a run towards Doncaster, under 10 miles away, so tell us roughly how far it went.
Our arrival in Finningley, and what happens next
We come to the car wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside St Oswald's CofE Academy, near Holy Trinity or on your own driveway. Our engineers ask what was put in, roughly how much, and if it's run, because the answers settle this work and our quote. The quote comes over the phone, ahead of any van leaving.
Your system is then rinsed thoroughly, once the tank is drained. 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. After your filter is flushed — or renewed, if required — clean diesel is added, and then your car is tested. The engine is fired up next and checked to be sure it runs properly, all before our technicians leave.
Most jobs are done in about half an hour after our engineers arrive, as long as your motor has not run — and the pumps our engineers use are fine on a busy forecourt and quiet after dark outside a house. Nothing upfront; you settle up that day. Afterwards, a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer go to you for your insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Finningley and where it is
Finningley is a small village in South Yorkshire, situated near the town of Doncaster and close to the villages of Blaxton and Lidget. Finningley lies in a low-lying area, with an elevation of around 8 metres, and is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock. Finningley is located approximately 6 miles from Doncaster and 141 miles from London, making it a commuter base for those working in the nearby city. Finningley has a population of around 1542 residents, according to recent estimates.
AdBlue drains in Finningley and across South Yorkshire
Over DN postcodes, our vans that cover Finningley — a rural village — work the nearby spots too, Hayfield Green and Lidget among them. Quickest of all: quote a DN9 3 postcode to the van.
Shifting your car is not needed. We drain it where it is — a side street close to Vulcan XH558, a lay-by on the way to Mosham Wood, a driveway. Tricky to pin down, like the back of Boeing 727-2S2F? Close to a border? Checking beats guessing, so ring.
Finningley drivers: the short version
Always, the cap; after that, the tip. Even so AdBlue in your diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel can empty it wherever it is, anywhere across South Yorkshire: keep the car off then call 0333 366 0103.