Why It Occurs and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Hope
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave the motor and the ignition off then call 0333 366 0103. Usually, if the motor has not run, it is emptied and fully cleaned where your vehicle sits in Hope. Nothing happened yet? Further down, the rest of the page explains the reasons it occurs and the ways to avoid it altogether.
AdBlue in a diesel motor: two tanks, two fillers
Plenty of current diesels on the roads about Hope and Castleton carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the engine. Kept in a tank of its own, AdBlue is sprayed into your exhaust stream and cleans it.
Each tank has its own filler. 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 gets filled constantly. Much less frequently, the AdBlue side is topped up — normally from a bottle, by a person working out where it goes. It is in that gap that the mistake happens.
AdBlue in the diesel tank around Hope: how it takes place
Carelessness rarely explains it. Instead is three things lining up at once.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a warning from your car, and running dry leads to limp mode — so a rushed top-up, perhaps before work off Station Road, perhaps at The Old Hall Hotel on the way home after work.
The old car's filler is where the hand reaches — but a rental car, a new motor or a company car keeps the fillers elsewhere. That is a second thing: an unfamiliar vehicle.
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 once it has started. Aston or the heart of Hope: it is the same few seconds either way.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you pour anything, whether on a driveway in Bradwell or a forecourt around Hope, check these. They take a few seconds.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap usually is not. Read it rather than going by where it sits.
- On plenty of motors, the size tells: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Plenty of vehicles say there which fuel goes where.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that's where your filler sits if it's not by your diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- Picking up a hire or company car, say at the car park at Hope (Derbyshire)? Ask whoever drove the vehicle last before leaving, not once the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
For the day the warning comes on — wherever you are around Derbyshire — a simple routine to follow.
- Stop on level, motor off, with time in hand — never hurried on the side of Castleton Road.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once you find the AdBlue filler and read it. Daft, yes, yet it does the trick.
- The diesel cap remains on. Where the two sit under a flap, confirm it's shut before the bottle comes up.
- Finish when the tank fills or the bottle is empty; before that, pour gently using its own spout.
- Shut the cap, and look once more — making sure the diesel filler remained shut the whole time. Only then, start the car.
Stop there if you find, at stage two or three, that you've already poured into the diesel side. Never carry on to step five.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, in Hope?
Do not start your engine: that is where the short order of things begins. The fuel pump starts on many diesels the moment the ignition is switched on — and so keep it off. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where your fuel is pulled from — so don't top up with diesel to thin it.
If you are at a forecourt, whether it is the the nearest petrol station or the UK, ask the staff to help roll your car clear of the petrol pump. Leave it where it is if you are on your own drive in Hope.
If your engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. On the M67, under 15 miles from Hope, that means the next exit. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Sheffield, under 15 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Hope.
When we get there in Hope, what happens?
Our technicians come to the car wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside Hope Primary School, near St Peter's, Hope or on your own drive. The answers determine the work and the price, and so we ask what was put in, about how much, and whether it has run. You get that quote on the phone, before anyone sets off.
Draining that tank comes next, then a thorough flush of your system. Unlike petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and attacks certain fuel-system metals, and none of that washes away by itself. That is why it matters more. Once your filter has been flushed — or replaced, where needed — fresh diesel is added, and then your car gets tested. The engine is fired up next and tested to be sure it runs properly, all before our engineers head off.
Unrun cars mostly need a half-hour job from the moment we arrive. The kit is safe on a busy forecourt, and quiet enough for a driveway after dark. No money upfront; you settle up that day. Afterwards, the VAT invoice and a report from the engineer are handed to you for the insurer. While we travel, have a look at your insurance documents; plenty include cover for misfuelling.
About Hope and where it is
Hope is a village in Derbyshire, situated on the banks of the River Noe in the East Midlands region of England. Hope sits at an elevation of 171 metres, surrounded by rolling hills and scenic countryside, with nearby villages including Aston, Brough, and Smalldale. Hope is located approximately 11.5 miles from the city of Sheffield and 144.2 miles from London, with a population of around 849 residents living in predominantly semi-detached housing.
AdBlue drains about Hope, and Derbyshire beyond
Hope is a village, and the vans that cover it also work the places around it, Brough and Smalldale among them, across the S postcode area. Give a postcode that starts S33 6, and the van gets there fastest.
The vehicle stays where it is. Our technicians drain it where it is — a side street close to Loxley Hall, a lay-by on the way to Top Plantation, a drive. Ring and ask instead of assuming if you're close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to describe, like the back of Hope Methodist Church.
In short, for Hope people
Always, the cap; then, the tip. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank anyway, leave the vehicle off and ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel clears it where it stands, anywhere around Derbyshire.