AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Heathryfold: Why It Happens and How to Avoid It
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave the motor and the ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103. Normally, if the engine has not run, it is emptied and thoroughly rinsed where your vehicle sits around Heathryfold. The remainder of this page explains why it takes place and how to ensure it doesn't — useful if you're reading ahead of time.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel car need its own filler?
Diesel goes to the engine — but plenty of current diesels seen round Heathryfold and Cummings Park carry a second liquid too. AdBlue's own tank keeps it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, where spraying cleans the fumes.
Each tank has its own filler. Other vehicles put the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; plenty more place the two side by side under one flap. Topping up the diesel side at the pump happens all the time. A driver who has to stop and think where it goes normally fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less often. Mistakes happen in that gap between them.
How does AdBlue in the diesel tank take place in Heathryfold?
Carelessness seldom causes it. What does is three things lining up together.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a message from your car, and running dry means limp mode — hence a rushed top-up, perhaps before work off Provost Rust Drive, perhaps at The Lord Byron on the way home after work.
Next, your hand reaches for the cap it knew on the old car — since a rental car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers somewhere your last one didn't.
Lastly, the bottle goes in: a diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it goes in just as readily, and once the pour starts, no part halts it. It takes a few seconds, whether in Northfield or bang in the heart of Heathryfold.
Telling the AdBlue filler from your diesel filler
Whether a Heathryfold forecourt or a driveway out in Mastrick, spend a couple of seconds over these before any goes in.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap usually is not. Read it rather than going by position.
- The size. On many vehicles the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- Look inside your fuel flap: plenty of cars have a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If the filler isn't by your diesel cap, it's in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Check with the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — when you pick up a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park outside Dyce.
Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up
Anywhere around Aberdeen City the light comes on, here is a routine for that day.
- Not in a rush on the side of Marchburn Court Road, not on a slope, not with the engine running: park then switch off first.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and 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.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the vehicle.
Find at stage two or three that it has already gone into your diesel side? Then stop just there. Skip stage five altogether.
Heathryfold: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Don't start the engine: that's where the short order of things begins. The fuel pump runs on plenty of diesels the moment the ignition goes on — so leave it off. Don't top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is pulled from.
The staff at Esso, Tesco Extra or any forecourt will usually lend a hand pushing the vehicle clear if asked. On your own drive around Heathryfold? Then your car remains put.
Already started? Pull over when it is safe, then turn off. Come off the M90 — over 50 miles out of Heathryfold — at the next junction. About how far did it go? Hopping across Heathryfold is smaller a job than a run of under 5 miles to Aberdeen, and so tell us.
Heathryfold: what occurs when our engineers turn up
The van comes to the vehicle wherever it has come to rest — your own driveway, near 47 ABD, or by the local primary school. What fluid got in, the amount, and if it ran: our technicians ask because the answers decide both work and quote. You get that quote by phone, before anyone heads out.
After that: draining, then a thorough flush of the entire system. Not like petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and attacks certain fuel-system metals, and neither washes out unaided. Hence it matters more. Filter flushed or, where needed, swapped; clean diesel in; then a test of the vehicle. Before we leave, our engineers fire it up and confirm that it is running properly.
With pumps fine on a working forecourt and quiet enough for use outside a house at night, most jobs where your engine has not run take roughly half an hour once our technicians are there. The insurer usually wants the engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and both are yours at the end. Payment comes on the day, with no deposit. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Heathryfold, for a moment
Heathryfold is a suburban area situated on the riverside in Aberdeen City, with a mix of terraced housing and local amenities. Heathryfold sits approximately 3 miles from Aberdeen city centre, at an elevation of around 102 metres, and is close to nearby places such as Northfield and Bucksburn. Heathryfold has a population of around 5654 residents, who enjoy easy access to the city and its surrounding areas. Heathryfold is also relatively distant from major English cities, being around 399.7 miles from London.
AdBlue drains around Heathryfold and across Aberdeen City
Heathryfold is a residential suburb, and the vans that cover it also work the towns near it, Bucksburn and Middlefield among them, across the AB postcode area. Quickest of all: give a AB16 7 postcode to the van.
No need to move your car. Draining happens right there, whether a drive, a street by 46 ABD, or a lay-by on the way to Auchmill Golf Course. If you're near a border, or somewhere hard to explain like the back of Northfield Parish Church of Scotland, ring and ask rather than guessing.
For Heathryfold people, the short version
Before you tip, read the cap. AdBlue in your diesel tank regardless? Keep it switched off and call 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, across Aberdeen City.