Why It Occurs and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Gorebridge
Stop reading for a moment when the diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, and phone 0333 366 0103. Around Gorebridge, finding it before your motor turns normally means a drain and a thorough flush on the spot. If you're reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it takes place and how to make sure it does not.
AdBlue in a diesel motor: two tanks, two fillers
Diesel goes to your engine — yet many current diesels seen around Gorebridge and Monkswood hold another fluid as well. Its own tank holds it, and from there it goes to the exhaust, and there spraying treats the gas.
There is a filler for each tank. On a lot of vehicles 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 filled at the pump all the time. Far less regularly, the AdBlue side is filled — mostly from a bottle, by a person thinking about where it goes. The mistake grows in the gap between them.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Gorebridge: how it takes place
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the car tells you, and if it runs out completely, your vehicle goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a driveway off Gore Avenue before work, or in the car park outside Wilmo's on the way home.
New-to-you motors are second, too. Rentals, new cars and company cars put their fillers differently, and the hand goes for the cap it used on the old one.
Lastly, the bottle fits: a diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it slides in as readily, and once the pour begins, no part stops it. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Gorebridge or out in Arniston.
Telling the AdBlue filler from the diesel filler
Be it a Gorebridge forecourt or a drive out in Newlandrig, spend a couple of seconds over these before any is poured in.
- Blue and lettering: an AdBlue cap is often blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap usually doesn't. Trust the cap, not where it sits.
- Plenty of motors give AdBlue the smaller neck of the two.
- A label inside your fuel flap often shows which fuel goes where, on plenty of vehicles. Look for it.
- The handbook shows where it is if your filler is not next to your diesel cap: your boot, or under the bonnet.
- The person who drove the vehicle last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park at the nearest station, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
Wherever across Midlothian the light comes on, this is a routine for the day.
- Not in a rush on the side of Castle Avenue, not on a slope, not with the engine running: park and switch off properly.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and speak the word "AdBlue" aloud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly. It does the trick.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Gently does it, through the bottle's own spout, till it is full or the bottle runs out.
- Before starting your car, close the cap and check a second time that the diesel cap was never came off.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Leave out step five entirely.
Put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Gorebridge already?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start the engine. On many diesels your ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so do not switch the vehicle on. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where your fuel is sucked from — so do not top up with diesel to thin it.
Ask the attendants to help roll your car clear of the pump if you are at a forecourt — the Shell, the BP or somewhere else. Your own driveway around Gorebridge is the place it should stay.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if the motor has already run. Gorebridge sits under 15 miles from the M8; on it, use the next junction. A short hop across Gorebridge is a smaller job than a run towards Edinburgh, under 10 miles away, and so tell us about how far it went.
Our arrival around Gorebridge, and what occurs next
Our technicians come to the vehicle wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside the local primary school, near United Free Church of Scotland or on your own drive. We ask what was put in, about how much, and if it's run, since those answers decide this work and our price. Nobody heads out before you have had our price by phone.
Then the tank is emptied and the fuel system flushed thoroughly. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own — which is why the flush counts more with AdBlue than with petrol. The fuel filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Before we leave, we fire it up and confirm that it's running properly.
Most jobs are finished in about half an hour after our engineers get there, as long as the engine has not run — and the pumps we use are safe on a busy forecourt and quiet at night outside a house. The insurer usually wants the engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and you get both at the end. Payment comes on the day, with no money upfront. Before we get there, take a look at your insurance documents; plenty include cover for misfuelling.
About Gorebridge itself
Gorebridge is a village in Midlothian, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 169 metres, with semi-detached housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Gorebridge lies approximately 9 miles from Edinburgh, Scotland's capital city, and is surrounded by nearby places such as Arniston, Birkenside, and Gowkshill. Gorebridge has a population of around 2553 residents, making it a small but established community. Gorebridge is located in a scenic area, with the River Gore flowing through it.
AdBlue drains around Gorebridge and across Midlothian
As a village, Gorebridge shares its vans surrounding areas — Birkenside, Gowkshill — all the way through EH postcodes and the wider area beyond. The van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting EH23 4.
Your car stays where it is. Anywhere it stands — near Newbyres Park, in a layby heading to Auld Gala Park, on a drive — that's where it gets cleared. Tricky to explain, like the back of War Memorial? Close to a county line? Checking beats guessing, so ring.
For Gorebridge motorists, the short version
Always, the cap; after that, the pour. AdBlue in your diesel tank regardless? Leave the car switched off and phone 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, across Midlothian.