AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Hooley Brow: How It Happens and How to Stop It
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave the motor and your ignition off and call 0333 366 0103. In Hooley Brow, catching it before your motor runs normally leaves draining and a thorough flush on the spot. If you are reading before it has happened, the rest of this page is about why it occurs and how to make sure it does not.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel car need its own filler?
Plenty of modern diesels in Bottom o th Brow, like those in Hooley Brow, run on two fluids; your engine takes just your diesel. AdBlue goes to your exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to clean it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Different tanks, different fillers. On a lot of cars the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. Diesel gets filled on every forecourt call-out, week in, week out. The AdBlue side is filled far less commonly, normally from a bottle, and normally by somebody who has to stop and think where it goes. The mistake grows in the gap between them.
Hooley Brow: how AdBlue in the diesel tank happens
Seldom is it carelessness: usually three things line up.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a warning from the vehicle, and running out leads to limp mode — so a hurried top-up, maybe before work off River Street, or outside The Edwin Waugh on the way home that evening.
New-to-you cars come next, too. Rentals, new cars and company cars put their fillers in new places, and habit goes for the cap it used on the old one.
Third, the bottle goes in: a diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it slides in as readily, and once the pour starts, nothing halts it. Whether it takes place in Back o th Moss or the middle of Hooley Brow, it is the same few seconds.
The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart
Before you tip anything, whether on a drive in Crimble or a forecourt around Hooley Brow, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap normally isn't. Read it rather than going by position.
- The size. On many motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- Open the filler flap and look for a label — many motors show which belongs in which filler just there.
- The handbook. If your 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 — if you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park outside Castleton.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
On the day the light appears — wherever you are in Greater Manchester — a routine to use.
- Not in a rush on the side of Melrose Avenue, not on a slope, not with your motor running: park and 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 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 fills or the bottle is empty; until then, pour gently using the built-in spout.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the vehicle.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you've already poured into your diesel side. Don't go on to step five.
Hooley Brow: already put AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Don't start your motor: that is how the short order of things begins. Don't switch the ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where your fuel is pulled from — so do not top up with diesel to dilute it.
The staff at Morrisons, Esso or any forecourt will normally lend a hand to push the car clear if you ask. At home around Hooley Brow? Then the vehicle remains put.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if the motor has already run. The next exit means where to come off when you are on the M62, under 3 miles from Hooley Brow. A short hop across Hooley Brow is a smaller job than a run towards Manchester, under 10 miles away, so tell us roughly how far it went.
What happens when we arrive around Hooley Brow
Our van reaches the vehicle anywhere it has come to rest — your own driveway, near Heywood Sports Village, or by St Luke's Church of England Primary School. We ask what went in, about how much, and if it has run, because those replies settle this work and the quote. On the phone call itself, you are told the quote — before dispatch.
The system is then cleaned thoroughly, once the tank is drained. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it doesn't wash out on its own — which is why the flush matters more with AdBlue than with petrol. Testing comes last: before that, fresh diesel goes in, and the fuel filter is flushed or replaced if necessary. Next our engineers fire it up and confirm it runs correctly before leaving.
Unstarted cars usually mean a half-hour visit after arrival. The equipment is fine on a live forecourt, and hushed enough for a residential street after dark. Nothing in advance; you settle up on the day. Afterwards, a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer are handed to you for the insurer. It is worth looking at your policy while we travel to you: misfuelling cover is included with many policies.
About Hooley Brow, briefly
Hooley Brow is a suburban area in Greater Manchester, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 114 metres. Hooley Brow lies approximately 8.4 miles from Manchester and 169.2 miles from London, with nearby places including Back o th Moss, Hooley Bridge, and Heywood. Hooley Brow has a population of around 3642 people and is characterised by predominantly terraced housing.
AdBlue drains around Hooley Brow and across Greater Manchester
Hooley Bridge and Heywood are among the places around Hooley Brow, a residential suburb, that the same teams cover, throughout OL postcodes. The van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting OL10 4.
The vehicle remains put. Anywhere it stands — near Heywood Cricket Club, on a lay-by heading to Queen's Park, on a drive — that is where it is emptied. Guessing doesn't help behind Saint Michael's Church, Bamford, close to a boundary, or somewhere awkward to pin down; phone and ask.
In short, for Hooley Brow drivers
Tip no AdBlue until you've read the cap. Still AdBlue in the diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel will empty it wherever it is, wherever in Greater Manchester: switch it off then ring 0333 366 0103.