Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Flanshaw: Why It Happens
Stop reading a minute if the diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, then phone 0333 366 0103. Caught before the motor runs, it's normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is around Flanshaw. The rest of this page covers why it occurs and how to make sure it does not — handy if you are reading ahead of time.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel car
No single liquid but two: that is what plenty of newer diesels near Flanshaw and Alverthorpe carry, with diesel feeding the motor. Your exhaust, not the engine, is where AdBlue ends up: dosed into the gas to clean it, from a separate tank.
There's a filler on each tank. On a lot of vehicles the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is fuelled at the pump all the time. Much less frequently, the AdBlue side gets filled — normally from a bottle, by a person thinking about where it goes. The error lives in that gap.
Flanshaw: how AdBlue in your diesel tank happens
It's hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a message from the vehicle, and letting it run dry means limp mode — so a rushed top-up, maybe before work off Flanshaw Avenue, or outside The Flanshaw Hotel on the way home that evening.
New-to-you vehicles are second, as well. Rentals, new cars and company vehicles place their fillers in new places, and habit goes for the cap used on the old one.
Lastly, the bottle goes in: a diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it slides in as easily, and after the pour starts, no part stops it. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Flanshaw or out in New Scarborough.
The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart
A couple of seconds is all these take — so check them before you pour anything, on a drive in Brooks Bank or a forecourt around Flanshaw.
- Blue and lettering: an AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap normally does not. Go by the cap, not its position.
- Many motors give AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- Look inside the fuel flap: many vehicles have a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If your filler isn't by your diesel cap, it is 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 — when you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park outside Wakefield Westgate.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
The day the light goes on, wherever around West Yorkshire, use this routine.
- Switch off once parked — level ground, engine off, and not in a rush by Flanshaw Road on the verge.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and say the name "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew it. It seems silly. 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.
- Finish once the tank fills or the bottle is empty; before that, tip gently through the own spout.
- Close the cap, and look once more — confirm your diesel filler remained shut throughout. Only then, start the vehicle.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Stage five stays out.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, around Flanshaw?
The short order of things, beginning with no starting the engine. Keep your ignition off too, because on plenty of diesels switching it on alone starts your pump. Diluting it with extra diesel fails, because AdBlue settles to the base instead of mixing — and that is where the fuel is pulled from.
If you're on a forecourt, whether it is the Morrisons or the Co-op, ask the attendants to help roll your car clear of the petrol pump. Leave it where it is if you're on your own driveway around Flanshaw.
If your engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. On the M1, under 3 miles from Flanshaw, that means the next junction. Roughly how far did it go? Crossing Flanshaw is smaller a job than a trip of under 3 miles to Wakefield, so say.
Our arrival around Flanshaw, and what takes place next
Our van reaches the vehicle anywhere it stopped — your own drive, near Flanshaw United Reformed Church, or outside Wakefield Flanshaw Junior and Infant School. We ask what got in, roughly how much, and if it has run, since the replies settle the work and our price. On the phone call itself, you hear the quote — before anything else.
The fuel system is then cleaned thoroughly, after that tank is drained. More than with petrol, it matters with AdBlue: crystals build up, certain metals corrode, and none of that washes away on its own, however long it is left. A test is at the end: before that, clean diesel goes in, and the fuel filter is cleaned or changed as needed. The engine is fired up next and checked to confirm it runs correctly, all before we head off.
Most jobs are finished in about half an hour after our technicians arrive, provided your motor hasn't run — and the pumps we use are fine on a live forecourt and quiet after dark outside a house. Paying happens on the day, not upfront, and you receive the paperwork an insurer wants: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Flanshaw, briefly
Flanshaw is a suburban area located on the riverside in West Yorkshire, with an elevation of 38 metres and situated approximately 1.2 miles from Wakefield. Flanshaw has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are the most predominant. Flanshaw is close to other nearby places such as New Scarborough, Borough Corner, and Westgate Common. Flanshaw is about 161.4 miles from London, making it a relatively distant suburb from the capital city.
Flanshaw and West Yorkshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Throughout WF postcodes, our vans covering Flanshaw — a residential suburb — work the surrounding locations too, Westgate Common and Borough Corner among them. A postcode starting WF2 9 gets our van to you fastest.
Moving the vehicle isn't necessary. Our engineers drain it where it is — a side street close to Balne Lane Community Centre, a lay-by on the way to Grasmere Road Play Area, a drive. Tricky to pin down, like the back of The Lupset Mining Memorial? Close to a border? Asking is better than guessing, and so ring.
For Flanshaw drivers, the short version
Read the cap before you pour. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank all the same, leave the car off and ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel clears it where it sits, anywhere in West Yorkshire.