How It Occurs and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Heslington
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? In that case put this page aside a moment, leave your ignition and engine off, then phone 0333 366 0103. A drain plus a full flush, done just where the car sits in Heslington, is normally what it takes when found before your engine runs. If you are reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it happens and how to make sure it doesn't.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel motor need its own filler?
Plenty of newer diesels on the roads around Heslington and Tang Hall carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your motor. Your exhaust, not the motor, is where AdBlue ends up: sprayed into the gas to clean them, from its own tank.
Each tank has its own filler. On a lot of cars the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. At the pump, your diesel side is topped up all the time. Far less regularly, the AdBlue side gets filled — normally from a bottle, by a person thinking about where it goes. The mistake grows in that gap between them.
Heslington: how AdBlue in the diesel tank takes place
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a warning from the car, and running dry means limp mode — hence a rushed top-up, perhaps before work off Main Street, or outside Charles XII on the way home that evening.
Then the vehicle is unfamiliar. A hire car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not, and your hand hits for the cap it would have 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, and so nothing stops the pour after it has started. It takes seconds, be it in University or bang in the centre of Heslington.
Telling the AdBlue filler from the diesel filler
Before you pour anything, whether on a drive in Foss Islands or a forecourt in Heslington, check these. They take a few seconds.
- Read the cap rather than going by position: AdBlue ones are often blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones usually are not.
- On plenty of motors, the size tells: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- Open the flap and check for a label — many cars show which goes in each inlet just there.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that is where your filler sits if it's not by your diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park at York, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up
On the day the warning comes on — anywhere it is across North Yorkshire — a simple routine to follow.
- Switch off once parked — flat ground, engine stopped, and never rushed beside Field Lane at the roadside.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly and it works.
- Both behind one flap? Then make sure the lid on your diesel filler is still closed before raising the bottle.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check a second time. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start your car.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Step five is off limits.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank in Heslington?
Don't start the engine: that is where the short order of things begins. Keep the ignition off as well, because on plenty of diesels switching it on alone runs the pump. Don't top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is sucked from.
The attendants at Shell, BP or any forecourt will normally lend a hand to push your car away when you ask. Your own drive in Heslington is the place it should stay.
If the engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. Heslington lies under 15 miles from the A1(M); there, use the next exit. A short hop across Heslington is a smaller job than a run towards York, under 3 miles away, so tell us about how far it went.
Our arrival in Heslington, and what takes place next
Outside Lord Deramore's Primary School, near Heslington Village Sign or on your own driveway: wherever the car has stopped, our engineers come to it. What liquid was put in, the quantity, and if it ran: our engineers ask because the answers set the work and quote. You get that quote on the phone, before anyone sets off.
Draining the tank comes next, followed by a full flush of the fuel system. Much more than with petrol, it counts here: the crystals form, some metals corrode, and nothing clears out unaided, however long it sits. Once your filter has been flushed — or replaced, where needed — clean diesel goes in, and then your vehicle gets tested. Your engine is fired up next and tested to be sure it runs smoothly, all before our technicians head off.
Most jobs are done in roughly half an hour after our technicians arrive, as long as the engine has not run — and the pumps our technicians use are fine on a busy forecourt and quiet after dark beside a house. Your insurer usually wants an engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and both are yours at the end. Payment comes on the day, with no money upfront. Wrong-fuel cover is part of many insurance policies — so make use of the wait to check yours.
About Heslington itself
Heslington is a village situated on the outskirts of York, near the lakeside and Walmgate Stray, with a mix of housing types including a predominance of detached homes. Heslington sits at a relatively low elevation of 16 metres, close to the University of York. Heslington is located approximately 1.9 miles from York city centre and about 172.8 miles from London. Heslington has a population of around 4139 residents.
AdBlue drains across North Yorkshire, Heslington included
Over YO postcodes, our teams covering Heslington — a village — work the nearby spots too, Osbaldwick and Walmgate Stray among them. Fastest of all: give a YO10 5 postcode for our van.
Shifting your car isn't needed. Anywhere it stands — beside Dryad, in a lay-by en route to Heslington Hall Lawn, at home — that is where it gets drained. Assuming doesn't help at the back of Aspiration, on a boundary, or somewhere hard to pin down; phone and ask.
Heslington people: the short version
Always, the cap; after that, the pour. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank anyway, leave the car off and call 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it sits, anywhere in North Yorkshire.