Why It Occurs and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Hey
Stop reading for a moment when the diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, then ring 0333 366 0103. Usually, if the motor has not run, it is emptied and thoroughly purged where the vehicle is around Hey. The remainder of this page covers why it happens and how to ensure it does not — useful if you are reading before it has happened.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Many modern diesels on the roads about Hey and County End carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the motor. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into your exhaust stream and cleans it.
Separate tanks, separate fillers. On a lot of motors 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 constantly. The AdBlue side is filled far less often, usually from a bottle, and usually by a person who has to stop and think where it goes. The error lives in that gap.
Hey: how AdBlue in the diesel tank happens
It's hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a driveway off Greaves Street before work, or in the car park at The Grapes on the way home: that's where the hurried top-up happens. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low your car tells you, and if it is empty, limp mode kicks in.
The old car's filler is where the hand reaches — yet a rental car, a new motor or a company car keeps the fillers elsewhere. That is a second thing: an unfamiliar vehicle.
No part halts the tip after it has started, because a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Hey or out in Sun Hill.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Check these first, at a forecourt in Hey or a driveway over in Leesfield. Seconds, no more.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is often blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap usually is not. Read it rather than going by where it sits.
- The size. On many motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- Check inside your fuel flap: plenty of cars carry a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- Cannot find it beside the diesel inlet? Then look beneath the bonnet or inside your boot — the handbook says which.
- Check with the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — if you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park at Mossley (Manchester).
How to top up without AdBlue in the diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever across Greater Manchester that is.
- Park and switch off. Not on a slope, not with your engine running, and not in a rush on the side of John Knott Street.
- Find the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and say the name "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew it. It seems daft. It does the trick.
- Leave the diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Finish when that tank is topped up or the bottle is empty; until then, tip gently using the own spout.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Never go on to stage five.
Put AdBlue in your diesel tank around Hey already?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start the motor. The fuel pump runs on many diesels as soon as your ignition goes on — so leave it off. Don't top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where your fuel is drawn from.
If you are on a forecourt, whether it's the Gulf or the Shell, ask the attendants to help push the vehicle away from the pump. Your own drive around Hey is where it stays.
Where the engine has been run by now, pull over somewhere safe and switch it off. Hey lies under 5 miles from the Broadway; on it, take the first exit. A short hop across Hey is a smaller job than a run towards Manchester, under 10 miles away, so tell us roughly how far it went.
What occurs when our technicians arrive in Hey
Our technicians come to your car wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside St Edwards Roman Catholic Primary, a Voluntary Academy, near St John the Baptist Church or on your own driveway. Which fluid went in, the amount, and if it ran: our engineers ask because those replies set both work and quote. During the phone call itself, you are told the price — ahead of dispatch.
Next: a drain, then a full flush of the whole system. Much more than with petrol, it matters here: crystals form, certain metals corrode, and none of that washes away unaided, however long it sits. After the filter is flushed — or renewed, if required — clean diesel goes in, and finally the vehicle is tested. We do not leave until it has been started and is running correctly.
Most jobs are done in roughly half an hour once our engineers get there, as long as the engine has not run — and the pumps our technicians use are safe on a busy forecourt and quiet after dark beside a house. No money upfront; you settle up on the day. At the end, the VAT invoice and a report from the engineer are handed to you for your insurer. Misfuelling cover is included in plenty of insurance policies — and so use the wait to look at yours.
About Hey and where it is
Hey is a suburban area in Greater Manchester, situated on the riverside and characterised by its terraced housing. Hey sits at an elevation of 196 metres, approximately 8.4 miles from Manchester, and is surrounded by nearby places such as Sun Hill, Lees, and Taylor Green. Hey is home to a population of around 7133 residents, who enjoy a relatively quiet location close to the city. Hey benefits from its proximity to Manchester, while also maintaining a distinct local identity.
AdBlue drains across Greater Manchester, Hey included
As a residential suburb, Hey has the same vans as surrounding places — Lees, Taylor Green — right through OL postcodes and the surrounding area around them. Quickest of all: quote a OL4 3 postcode to our van.
Your car stays where it is. Anywhere it stands — near Saint John the Baptist Church Hall, on a layby heading to Lees Park, on a drive — that is where it is emptied. If you're near a border, or somewhere hard to explain like the back of Springhead Community Centre, ring and ask instead of guessing.
In short, for Hey drivers
Always, the cap; after that, the pour. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank regardless, leave it off and phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it waits, anywhere across Greater Manchester.