AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Glusburn Green: How It Happens and How to Stop It
Stop here a minute when the diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, and ring 0333 366 0103. Normally, if the engine hasn't turned, it's drained and thoroughly cleaned where your car sits around Glusburn Green. Here in advance? In that case the rest covers why it comes about and what to prevent it ever happening.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel car need its own filler?
Plenty of modern diesels around Aire View, like those in Glusburn Green, run on two liquids; the engine gets only your diesel. AdBlue goes to your exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to clean it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Separate tanks, different fillers. Some motors put the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; plenty of others place both side by side behind one flap. The diesel side is fuelled at the petrol pump all the time. Rarely topped up, AdBlue normally comes from a bottle, tipped by a driver who has to stop and think what cap to use. The mistake grows in that gap between the two.
How does AdBlue in your diesel tank happen in Glusburn Green?
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
Haste comes from the warning. Your car tells you as AdBlue runs low, and an empty tank sends it into limp mode — so the top-up happens in a rush, before work on a drive off Old Hall Road, or heading home in the car park outside Dog & Gun Inn.
Unfamiliar motors are next, as well. Rentals, new motors and company vehicles put their fillers in new places, and the hand reaches for the cap it 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, so nothing stops the pour once it has started. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Glusburn Green or out in Glusburn.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you pour anything, whether on a drive in Farnhill or a forecourt in Glusburn Green, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap usually isn't. Read it instead of going by position.
- The size. On plenty of cars the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Plenty of motors say there which fuel goes where.
- Can't see it next to your diesel filler? Then look beneath the bonnet or inside the boot — the owner's manual will say which.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park outside Cononley, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in the diesel tank
The day the light comes on, anywhere in North Yorkshire, follow this routine.
- Not in a rush on the side of Old Hall Close, not on a slope, not with your engine running: park and switch off properly.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after finding the AdBlue filler and read it. Silly, perhaps, but it works.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Finish once the tank is topped up or the bottle is empty; before that, tip gently through its built-in spout.
- Close the cap and check once more. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start your car.
Spot at stage two or three that it has already gone into your diesel side? Then stop just there. Skip step five entirely.
Glusburn Green: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Do not start the motor: that is where the short order of things starts. On plenty of diesels your ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so don't switch the vehicle on. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is sucked from — so do not top up with diesel to dilute it.
The attendants at BP, Asda or another forecourt will usually lend a hand to push the vehicle away when asked. If you are on your own driveway in Glusburn Green, leave it where it stands.
Where the engine has run already, stop somewhere safe then switch the vehicle off. Glusburn Green sits under 10 miles from the M65; there, use the next exit. About how far did it go? Hopping across Glusburn Green is smaller a job than a trip of under 15 miles to Bradford, so say.
Glusburn Green: what takes place when our engineers turn up
The van comes to the car anywhere it stopped — your own drive, beside Glusburn Community & Arts Centre, or by Glusburn Community Primary School. Which fluid went in, the amount, and if it ran: we ask since those answers set the work and price. You hear that price on the phone, before anyone sets off.
The system is then flushed thoroughly, once your tank is drained. Much more than with petrol, it matters with AdBlue: the crystals form, certain metals corrode, and nothing clears away unaided, no matter how long it sits. Testing comes at the end: before that, clean diesel is added, and the fuel filter is cleaned or changed as needed. Before leaving, we fire it up and make sure that it's running correctly.
Using pumps fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough for use outside a house at night, most jobs where the engine has not run need about half an hour once our engineers arrive. No money in advance; you settle up that day. Afterwards, a VAT invoice and the report from the engineer go to you for your insurer. It's worth looking at your insurance as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover is included with plenty of policies.
About Glusburn Green, briefly
Glusburn Green is a suburban area situated on the riverside in North Yorkshire, with a mix of detached housing and local amenities. Glusburn Green sits at an elevation of 116 metres, near the towns of Glusburn and Sutton-in-Craven. Glusburn Green is located close to Cross Hills and is approximately 12.7 miles from Bradford, making it a commuter base for the city. Glusburn Green has a population of around 1821 residents.
Glusburn Green and North Yorkshire: AdBlue drains across the area
As a residential suburb, Glusburn Green shares its vans surrounding places — Sutton-in-Craven, Cross Hills — all the way through BD postcodes and the surrounding area around them. Fastest of all: quote a BD20 8 postcode to the van.
Your car doesn't need to move. Our technicians drain it where it is — a side street near South Craven Baptist Church, a lay-by on the way to Lyndhurst woods, a drive. Awkward to pin down, like the back of St Peter's Methodist Church? By a border? Checking beats assuming, so phone.
Glusburn Green motorists: the short version
Pour nothing until you've read the cap. AdBlue in the diesel tank regardless? Keep the vehicle off then phone 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, throughout North Yorkshire.