Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Gerards Bridge: Why It Happens
Stop reading a minute when your diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, then ring 0333 366 0103. In Gerards Bridge, finding it before your engine runs normally leaves a drain and a thorough flush where it stands. Not happened yet? Below, the page covers the reasons it happens and the how to prevent it for good.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel car need its own filler?
Plenty of modern diesels on the roads about Gerards Bridge and Green Leach carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your engine. AdBlue's own tank holds it, and from there it is sent to the exhaust, where spraying cleans the gas.
There's a filler on every tank. Under one flap, side by side: that's the arrangement on many cars. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler sits under the bonnet or in your boot instead. Topping up your diesel side at the pump happens constantly. Seldom topped up, AdBlue usually comes from a bottle, poured by someone who must stop and think which cap to use. The mistake lives in that gap.
Gerards Bridge: how AdBlue in the diesel tank happens
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
Haste follows from the warning. Your car warns you as AdBlue runs low, and a dry tank puts it into limp mode — so the top-up happens in a rush, before work on a drive off City Road, or on the way home in the car park at Sophie's Lounge.
Then the vehicle is new. A hire car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not, and the hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old one.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, and so nothing stops the tip once it has started. It's a few seconds, be it in Cowley Hill or bang in the heart of Gerards Bridge.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Check these first, on a forecourt in Gerards Bridge or a drive out in Haresfinch. A few seconds, no more.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is often blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap normally is not. Read it rather than going by position.
- The size. On many motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- Open the flap and look for a label — plenty of vehicles show which goes in each inlet right there.
- Can't see it beside the diesel filler? In that case look beneath the bonnet or inside your boot — the handbook will say which.
- The person who drove it last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park outside St Helens Central, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
When the light comes on, anywhere across Merseyside, use this routine.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with the motor running, and not in a rush on the side of Oldfield Street.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after you find the AdBlue filler and reading it. Daft, yes, yet it does the trick.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave it on.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check once more. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you've already poured into the diesel side. Never carry on to step five.
Gerards Bridge: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Do not start your engine: that's how the short order of things begins. Keep your ignition off too, because on many diesels it alone starts the pump. Thinning it with more diesel fails, because AdBlue sinks to the bottom instead of mixing — and that is where your fuel is pulled from.
The attendants at Asda petrol station, Asda or another forecourt will normally help pushing the car away if asked. Your own driveway around Gerards Bridge is where it stays.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if the motor has already run. The next junction means where to come off when you are on the M62, under 5 miles from Gerards Bridge. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Liverpool, under 15 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Gerards Bridge.
When our engineers turn up around Gerards Bridge, what occurs?
We come to your car wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside Rivington Primary School, near St Mark or on your own driveway. Our engineers ask what was put in, about how much, and if it's run, since those answers decide this work and our quote. You hear that quote on the phone, before anyone heads out.
Then your tank is emptied and the system rinsed thoroughly. Much more than with petrol, it matters here: crystals build up, certain metals are attacked, and nothing clears away on its own, however long it is left. A test comes at the end: before that, clean diesel is added, and the filter is flushed or changed if necessary. We do not leave until it has been started and is running correctly.
Unstarted vehicles mostly need a half-hour job from the moment we arrive. The kit is fine on a busy forecourt, and hushed enough for a driveway late at night. The insurer usually wants the engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and both are yours at the end. Payment comes on the day, with no money upfront. While we travel, take a look at your policy; plenty include cover for misfuelling.
About Gerards Bridge, briefly
Gerards Bridge is a suburban area in Merseyside, situated on the riverside with a mix of terraced housing and local amenities. Gerards Bridge sits at an elevation of 51 metres, approximately 10 miles from Liverpool, and is close to nearby places such as Cowley Hill and St Helens. Gerards Bridge is part of the larger North West region, with London around 174 miles to the south. Gerards Bridge has a population of around 3858 people, living in a predominantly residential community.
AdBlue drains around Gerards Bridge, and Merseyside beyond
St Helens and Windlehurst are among the places near Gerards Bridge, a residential suburb, that the same teams cover, over WA postcodes. A postcode starting WA10 2 gets the van to you fastest.
Moving the vehicle is not necessary. The drain takes place on the spot, whether a drive, a street near St Mary, Lowe House, or a lay-by on the way to Victoria Park. Awkward to explain, like the back of St Helens Sea Cadets? By a county line? Asking beats assuming, and so ring.
For Gerards Bridge people, the short version
First, the cap; after that, the pour. AdBlue in the diesel tank regardless? Keep it off and call 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, across Merseyside.