How It Happens and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Grange
Pause reading for a moment when your diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, and phone 0333 366 0103. A drain and a full flush, done right where the vehicle stands around Grange, is normally what it takes if caught before the motor runs. The remainder of this page covers why it takes place and how to make sure it doesn't — useful if you are reading ahead of time.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel motor need its own filler?
Plenty of current diesels on the roads around Grange and Ribbleton carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your engine. AdBlue's own tank keeps it, and from there it is sent to the exhaust, where spraying treats the fumes.
There is a filler on every tank. Under one flap, side by side: that is the arrangement on many vehicles. On others, AdBlue's filler is under the bonnet or in your boot instead. Diesel gets filled at each forecourt visit, again and again. The AdBlue side is topped up far less often, normally from a bottle, and normally by a person who has to stop and think where it goes. That gap is where the slip lives.
How AdBlue in the diesel tank happens in Grange
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
Hurry comes from the warning. The vehicle tells you as AdBlue runs low, and a dry tank sends the vehicle into limp mode — so the top-up gets done in a rush, before work on a driveway off Glen Grove, or heading home in the car park outside The Gamull.
The old car's filler is where the hand reaches — yet a hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers somewhere else. That is the second factor: a strange vehicle.
Lastly, the spout fits: a diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it slides in as readily, and after the tip begins, no part stops it. It's a few seconds, whether in Red Scar or right in the centre of Grange.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Check these first, on a forecourt in Grange or a drive out in Cow Hill. Seconds, no more.
- Position can mislead; the cap doesn't. AdBlue ones tend to be blue or bear the name "AdBlue" — diesel ones normally don't.
- The size. On plenty of cars the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- A label inside the fuel flap often shows which fuel goes where, on plenty of vehicles. Check for it.
- The handbook says which it is when the filler isn't next to your diesel cap: your boot, or under the bonnet.
- Collecting a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park outside Preston? Check with the person who drove the vehicle last before you set off, not once the light goes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
The day the light goes on, anywhere around Lancashire, use this routine.
- Switch off once parked — flat ground, engine stopped, and not in a rush by Longridge Road at the roadside.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it works.
- Leave the diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Only then, start the car: close the cap, check a second time, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened.
Stop there if you find, at stage two or three, that you've already poured into your diesel side. Don't carry on to stage five.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Grange?
Short list, then. First: your engine stays off. Keep your ignition off as well, since on many diesels switching it on alone starts your fuel pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is sucked from — so don't top up with diesel to thin it.
On a forecourt — Shell, Tesco or another — the attendants will usually help push the vehicle clear, if you ask. Leave it where it is if you are on your own drive around Grange.
Already started? Stop once it is sensible, then turn off. On the Preston Bypass, under a mile from Grange, that means the next junction. A short hop across Grange is a smaller job than a run towards Preston, under 3 miles away, and so tell us roughly how far it went.
What occurs when our technicians arrive around Grange
The van reaches your car wherever it has come to rest — your own driveway, beside Saint Maria Goretti, or by Preston Grange Primary School. Both the work and our quote depend on three answers — what liquid, what quantity, and if it has run — so our engineers ask. The price comes on the call, ahead of any van leaving.
Then the tank is cleared and the fuel system rinsed thoroughly. With AdBlue that matters more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own. Testing is at the end: before that, fresh diesel goes in, and the filter is cleaned or replaced as needed. Before leaving, our technicians fire it up and check that it is running smoothly.
With pumps safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs in which your engine hasn't run take about half an hour after our engineers arrive. No money upfront; you settle up that day. Afterwards, a VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for the insurer. While we travel, have a look at your policy; plenty include cover for misfuelling.
About Grange
Grange is a suburban area located on the riverside in Lancashire, with an elevation of 58 metres and situated approximately 2.4 miles from Preston. Grange has a population of around 3765 people and is characterised by semi-detached housing. Grange is part of the wider Preston urban area, with nearby places including Red Scar, Brookfield, and Ribbleton Hall.
AdBlue drains across Lancashire, Grange included
As a residential suburb, Grange has the same vans as surrounding areas — Brookfield, Ribbleton Hall — all the way across PR postcodes and the surrounding area around them. A postcode starting PR2 6 gets the van to you fastest.
Your car does not need to shift. Draining happens right there, whether a drive, a street near Greenlands Labour Club, or a layby towards Grange Park. Ring and ask instead of guessing if you are close to a border, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of Ribbleton Library.
Grange drivers: the short version
Always, the cap; then, the tip. Even so AdBlue in the diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel will empty it wherever it stands, anywhere across Lancashire: switch the vehicle off and ring 0333 366 0103.