Fiskerton: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Avoid It?
Leave the engine and ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103 now — the rest can wait when AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. In Fiskerton, catching it before your motor turns usually means draining and a thorough flush on the spot. The rest of this page covers why it occurs and how to ensure it doesn't — handy if you're reading before it has happened.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
Many modern diesels around Heighington, as well as Fiskerton, run on two fluids; your motor takes only your diesel. Kept in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into your exhaust stream and cleans it.
Separate tanks, separate fillers. Other motors put the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; plenty of others place the two together under one flap. Topping up the diesel side at the petrol pump happens all the time. Seldom filled, AdBlue normally comes from a bottle, poured by a driver who must stop and think which filler to use. It is in that gap that the slip happens.
Fiskerton: how AdBlue in your diesel tank takes place
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
Hurry follows from the warning. The vehicle tells you as AdBlue runs low, and an empty tank sends the vehicle into limp mode — so the top-up gets done quickly, before work on a driveway off High Street, or on the way home in the car park at Carpenters Arms.
Then the vehicle is new. A hire car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers where your last one didn't, and the hand hits for the cap it would have used on the old one.
No part halts the tip once it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. It's seconds, whether in Cherry Willingham or bang in the centre of Fiskerton.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
A few seconds is all these take — so run through them before you tip anything, on a drive in Washingborough or a forecourt in Fiskerton.
- Position misleads; the cap does not. AdBlue ones tend to be blue or carry the name "AdBlue" — diesel ones usually don't.
- Look at the size: the smaller neck is, on plenty of motors, the AdBlue one.
- A label inside your fuel flap often shows which fuel goes where, on many cars. Look for it.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that is where your filler sits if it is not by the diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- Picking up a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park outside Lincoln Central? Check with the person who drove the car last before leaving, rather than once the light goes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
On the day the warning appears — wherever it is across Lincolnshire — a simple routine to use.
- Park and switch off. Not on a slope, not with the engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Blacksmith Road.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly and it works.
- The diesel cap stays on. Where the two share a flap, confirm it's closed before the bottle comes up.
- Gently does it, through the bottle's own spout, until it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Shut the cap, then check again — making sure your diesel cap stayed shut the whole time. Only then, start the vehicle.
Spot at stage two or three that it's already gone into your diesel side? So stop just there. Don't go on to stage five.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, in Fiskerton?
Don't start the engine: that is where the short order of things begins. Do not switch the ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where the fuel is pulled from — so do not top up with diesel to thin it.
The attendants at UK, JET or another forecourt will normally lend a hand to push your car clear when you ask. If you are on your own drive in Fiskerton, leave it where it sits.
If your motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. Fiskerton sits under 25 miles from the M180; there, take the first exit. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Lincoln, under 5 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Fiskerton.
Fiskerton: what occurs when we get there
Our van comes to the vehicle anywhere it has come to rest — your own drive, near St Clement of Rome, or outside Fiskerton Church of England Primary School. Which liquid got in, the quantity, and if it ran: our engineers ask since those replies set the work and price. During the call itself, you hear the price — before dispatch.
The system is then rinsed thoroughly, after that tank is cleared. Much more than with petrol, it counts with AdBlue: crystals build up, certain metals corrode, and nothing clears away unaided, however long it is left. After the filter has been cleaned — or renewed, if needed — fresh diesel is added, and then the car is tested. The engine is fired up next and tested to confirm it runs properly, all before our technicians head off.
Most jobs are finished in roughly half an hour after our engineers arrive, as long as the motor has not run — and the pumps our engineers use are fine on a busy forecourt yet quiet after dark beside a house. Nothing in advance; you settle up that day. Afterwards, the VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for the insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Fiskerton itself
Fiskerton is a village situated on the banks of the River Witham in Lincolnshire, with a low elevation of around 8 metres above sea level. Fiskerton lies close to the city of Lincoln, approximately 4.5 miles to the southwest, and is surrounded by other nearby villages such as Cherry Willingham and Reepham. Fiskerton has a population of around 819 residents, predominantly living in detached housing. Fiskerton is located in a rural area, with the East Midlands region providing a wider geographical context.
AdBlue drains around Fiskerton and across Lincolnshire
As a village, Fiskerton has the same vans as surrounding areas — Reepham, Branston Booths — right through LN postcodes and the surrounding area around them. The van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting LN3 4.
Your car stays put. Draining takes place right there, whether a driveway, a road by Fiskerton Village Hall, or a lay-by towards Washingborough Playing Field. Tricky to pin down, like the back of Lincoln Red? Close to a county line? Checking is better than assuming, so ring.
In short, for Fiskerton motorists
Before you tip, read the cap. AdBlue in the diesel tank regardless? Leave it switched off and phone 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, across Lincolnshire.