Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Hornsea: Why It Happens
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? Then set this page aside for now, leave your ignition and motor off, and phone 0333 366 0103. A drain and a full flush, done just where your vehicle sits around Hornsea, is usually what it takes when caught before your engine runs. If you are reading before it has happened, the rest of this page is about why it happens and how to make sure it doesn't.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
Plenty of modern diesels in Goxhill, like those in Hornsea, run on two fluids; your motor takes just the diesel. Your exhaust, not your engine, is where AdBlue ends up: sprayed into the fumes to clean them, from its own tank.
Different 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. Diesel gets filled on every forecourt call-out, again and again. Much less commonly, the AdBlue side gets filled — normally from a bottle, by a person thinking about where it goes. Mistakes happen in that gap between the two.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Hornsea: how it occurs
It is seldom carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a message from the vehicle, and letting it run out means limp mode — hence a hurried top-up, perhaps before work off Newbegin, or at Stackhouse on the way home that evening.
The old car's filler is where the hand reaches — but a hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers somewhere else. That's the second thing: an unfamiliar car.
Nothing stops the pour after it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. It's seconds, whether out in Hornsea Burton or bang in the centre of Hornsea.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you pour anything, whether on a driveway in Seaton or a forecourt around Hornsea, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Read the cap rather than going by position: AdBlue caps are often blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones usually are not.
- The size. On plenty of vehicles the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- Look inside your fuel flap: many motors have a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- Cannot see it beside your diesel filler? Then look below the bonnet or in the boot — the owner's manual says where.
- Collecting a hire or company car, say at the car park at Arram? Ask whoever drove the car last before you set off, rather than once the light comes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever across East Riding of Yorkshire that is.
- Not in a rush on the side of Grosvenor Road, not on a slope, not with the engine running: park then switch off properly.
- Daft as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew the cap does the trick — after you have located the filler and read the cap.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave the vehicle on.
- Stop when your tank is topped up or the bottle is empty; before that, tip slowly through its own spout.
- Shut the cap, then look again — confirm the diesel cap stayed shut throughout. Only then, start the car.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Leave out step five altogether.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank around Hornsea?
Do not start your engine: that is where the short order of things begins. Leave your ignition off as well, since on plenty of diesels switching it on alone starts your fuel pump. Thinning it with more diesel won't work, since AdBlue sinks to the bottom rather than blending — and that is where your fuel is pulled from.
Ask the staff to help roll the car away from the petrol pump if you're at a forecourt — the Tesco, the Pace or somewhere else. If you're on your own driveway in Hornsea, leave the vehicle where it sits.
When your motor has been run already, pull over somewhere safe then turn the car off. The next exit means where to come off if you are on the M62, under 25 miles from Hornsea. About how far did it go? Crossing Hornsea is less work than a run of under 15 miles to Kingston upon Hull, and so say.
What takes place when our technicians arrive in Hornsea
The van comes to your car wherever it has come to rest — your own driveway, near Hornsea Town Hall, or by Hornsea Community Primary School. What liquid went in, the quantity, and if it ran: our engineers ask since those answers set the work and quote. You get that quote on the phone, before anybody heads out.
Emptying your tank comes next, followed by a full flush of the system. Not like petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and eats at some fuel-system metals, and none of that clears out unaided. Hence it counts more. Testing is last: before that, clean diesel is added, and the fuel filter is flushed or changed if necessary. We don't go until it has been started and is running properly.
If your motor hasn't run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we are there, using pumps that are safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house after dark. Your insurer will ask for the engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and you get both at the end. Payment is on the day, with no deposit. It is worth checking your insurance as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover is included with plenty of policies.
About Hornsea, for a moment
Hornsea is a coastal town in the East Riding of Yorkshire, situated approximately 13 miles south-east of Kingston upon Hull. Hornsea sits at a low elevation of around 9 metres above sea level, looking out over the North Sea. Hornsea has a population of around 8425 people, with a predominance of detached housing. Hornsea is close to several nearby villages, including Hornsea Burton, Rolston, and Atwick.
AdBlue drains across East Riding of Yorkshire, Hornsea included
As a coastal town, Hornsea has the same vans as nearby areas — Rolston, Atwick — right through HU postcodes and the surrounding area beyond. Our van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting HU18 1.
Shifting the car isn't necessary. The drain happens right there, be it a driveway, a road near Boyes, or a layby towards Memorial Gardens. Guessing doesn't help at the back of Hornsea Resource Centre, close to a boundary, or anywhere awkward to describe; phone and check.
For Hornsea people, the short version
Read the cap before you tip. AdBlue in the diesel tank regardless? Leave the vehicle switched off and ring 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, across East Riding of Yorkshire.