Why It Happens and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Guilsborough
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? Then put this page down a moment, keep the ignition and motor off, and ring 0333 366 0103. Caught before the motor runs, it is generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Guilsborough. Reading before the event? In that case what follows explains why it comes about and how to stop it happening at all.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Diesel feeds the engine — but many current diesels seen round Guilsborough and Ravensthorpe hold another liquid too. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Each tank has its own filler. Plenty of vehicles share a single flap for both, while some put the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. At the pump, your diesel side is topped up constantly. Seldom topped up, AdBlue usually goes in out of a bottle, tipped by someone who has to stop and think what cap it needs. The slip lives in that gap.
How AdBlue in the diesel tank happens in Guilsborough
Carelessness seldom causes it. What does is three things lining up at once.
On a drive off Ashby Court before work, or in the car park at The Witch and Sow heading home: that's where the hurried top-up happens. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue runs low your car warns you, and once it is gone, limp mode kicks in.
The old car's filler is where the hand reaches — yet a rental car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers elsewhere. That's the second thing: an unfamiliar vehicle.
Lastly, the bottle goes in: diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it goes in as readily, and after the pour starts, no part halts it. Coton or the heart of Guilsborough: it takes the same few seconds either way.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Whether a Guilsborough forecourt or a drive over in Creaton, take a couple of seconds on these before any is poured in.
- Position misleads; the cap does not. AdBlue ones tend to be blue or carry the name "AdBlue" — diesel ones normally do not.
- Check the size: the smaller neck is, on plenty of vehicles, the AdBlue one.
- Check inside your fuel flap: plenty of cars carry a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- The handbook shows which it is when your filler isn't next to the diesel cap: your boot, or under the bonnet.
- The person who drove the vehicle last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park outside Long Buckby, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever across Northamptonshire that is.
- Stop somewhere level, engine off, with time in hand — never rushing on the side of High Street.
- Find the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and speak the word "AdBlue" out loud as unscrewing it. It sounds silly. It does the trick.
- The diesel cap remains on. Where both share a flap, make sure it is closed before the bottle comes up.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check a second time. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the vehicle.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Never go on to stage five.
Guilsborough: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Brief list, then. Top of that: the engine remains unstarted. Do not switch the ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Do not top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is sucked from.
Ask the attendants to help roll the car clear of the petrol pump if you are at a forecourt — the Inver, the MURCO or anywhere else. At home around Guilsborough? So the car stays put.
If your engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. Guilsborough lies under 10 miles from the M1; there, take the first exit. Distance counts — a short hop across Guilsborough is a smaller job than driving under 25 miles towards Leicester — so tell us roughly how far it went.
When our engineers arrive around Guilsborough, what takes place?
By Guilsborough Church of England Primary School, near Guilsborough Village Sign or on your own drive: wherever the car has stopped, our engineers come to it. Which liquid was put in, the quantity, and if it ran: we ask because those replies decide both work and quote. That price comes over the phone, before any van leaves.
Next: a drain, then a full flush of the whole system. With AdBlue that counts more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not wash out on its own. After the fuel filter is flushed — or renewed, if needed — fresh diesel is added, and finally the vehicle is tested. After that our engineers fire it up and check it runs correctly before leaving.
Unrun vehicles usually mean a half-hour visit from arrival. The equipment is safe on a live filling station, and hushed enough for a residential street after dark. Paying is on the day, not upfront, and you are given the paperwork your insurer wants: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. It is worth checking your policy while we travel to you: misfuelling cover is included with many policies.
About Guilsborough and where it is
Guilsborough is a small village in Northamptonshire, situated in the East Midlands region of England, with a population of around 733 people. Guilsborough sits at an elevation of 173 metres, approximately 20 miles from Leicester and 69.5 miles from London. Guilsborough is characterised by its predominantly detached housing stock, and is located near other villages such as Coton, Hollowell, and Thornby. Guilsborough remains a quiet, rural community with a strong sense of local identity.
Guilsborough and Northamptonshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Throughout NN postcodes, the teams covering Guilsborough — a rural village — work the surrounding locations too, Thornby and Hollowell among them. Give a postcode beginning NN6 8, and the van arrives fastest.
Shifting the vehicle is not needed. Our engineers drain it where it is — a side street close to Guilsborough Village Hall, a lay-by on the way to Dripwell Spinney, a driveway. Awkward to pin down, like the back of St Etheldreda? By a border? Checking is better than guessing, and so ring.
In short, for Guilsborough people
Tip nothing until you've read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank anyway, leave the vehicle off then phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it sits, anywhere around Northamptonshire.