Why It Happens and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Howard Hill
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave your engine and the ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103. In Howard Hill, catching it before your motor runs usually leaves a drain and a thorough flush where it stands. The remainder of this page explains why it occurs and how to ensure it doesn't — useful if you're reading before it has happened.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel vehicle need its own filler?
No single liquid but two: that's what plenty of newer diesels near Howard Hill and Walkley carry, with diesel for your engine. Your exhaust, not the engine, is where AdBlue ends up: dosed into the fumes to fresh it, from a separate tank.
There's a filler on every tank. Many of cars share a single flap for the two, while some move the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. At the petrol pump, the diesel side is topped up all the time. Far less frequently, the AdBlue side is filled — mostly from a bottle, by a person working out where it goes. The slip lives in that gap.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Howard Hill: how it happens
It's rarely carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a message from the vehicle, and letting it run dry means limp mode — so a rushed top-up, maybe before work off Duncombe Street, or outside The Princess Royal on the way home that evening.
Then your car is unfamiliar. A hire car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not, and the hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old one.
Third, the spout goes in: diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it slides in just as readily, and after the tip begins, nothing stops it. It takes a few seconds, be it out in Birkendale or right in the centre of Howard Hill.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Before you pour anything, whether on a drive in Upperthorpe or a forecourt around Howard Hill, check these. They take a few seconds.
- Check the cap instead of going by position: AdBlue ones are frequently blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps normally aren't.
- On many vehicles, size tells: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- A label inside the fuel flap often shows which fuel goes where, on plenty of vehicles. Look for it.
- Cannot see it next to the diesel filler? Then look below the bonnet or inside your boot — the handbook will say which.
- Picking up a hire or company car, say at the car park at Sheffield? Ask whoever drove it last before leaving, not once the light goes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
On the day the warning comes on — anywhere you are around South Yorkshire — a simple routine to follow.
- Pull in somewhere level, motor off, with time in hand — not hurried on the side of Matlock Road.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after you find the AdBlue filler and read it. Silly, perhaps, yet it does the trick.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave it on.
- Stop when the tank is topped up or the bottle is empty; until then, pour gently through its built-in spout.
- Before you start the car, shut the cap and check a second time that your diesel cap was never came off.
Discover during the second or third step that the bottle went in the wrong tank? That is where you stop. Do not go on to step five.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, around Howard Hill?
What follows is a short order of things, beginning with no starting your motor. The fuel pump starts on plenty of diesels as soon as your ignition goes on — so leave it off. Diluting it with more diesel fails, because AdBlue sinks to the bottom instead of blending — and that is where the fuel is pulled from.
If you are on a forecourt, whether it's the JET or the Morrisons, ask the attendants to help push your car clear of the petrol pump. Leave it where it is if you are on your own drive around Howard Hill.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if the motor has already run. The next junction means where to come off if you're on the M1, under 5 miles from Howard Hill. A short hop across Howard Hill is a smaller job than a run towards Sheffield, under 3 miles away, and so tell us roughly how far it went.
Howard Hill: what occurs when our technicians turn up
Outside St Mary's Church of England Primary School, close to St. Mary's Church or on your own driveway: wherever your car has stopped, our technicians come to it. Those replies decide the work and our quote, so our technicians ask what went in, about how much, and if it has run. During the call itself, you hear our quote — ahead of dispatch.
Then the tank is drained and the system flushed thoroughly. Much more than with petrol, it counts with AdBlue: the crystals build up, some metals corrode, and nothing clears out on its own, however long it is left. The filter flushed or, where it must be, swapped; clean diesel in; and then a check of the vehicle. We do not go until it has been fired up and is running correctly.
Unstarted vehicles mostly mean a half-hour job from the moment we arrive. The equipment is fine on a busy filling station, and quiet enough for a driveway after dark. No money upfront; you settle up on the day. Afterwards, the VAT invoice and a report from the engineer go to you for the insurer. Wrong-fuel cover is part of plenty of insurance policies — and so make use of the wait to check yours.
About Howard Hill and where it is
Howard Hill is a suburban area situated near the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, with a mix of terraced housing and local amenities. Howard Hill sits at an elevation of 174 metres, close to nearby places such as Birkendale and Steel Bank. Howard Hill is located approximately 1.4 miles from Sheffield city centre, making it a convenient residential area for those working in the city. Howard Hill has a population of around 14865 people, with a range of local services and facilities available.
AdBlue drains about Howard Hill, and South Yorkshire beyond
Steel Bank and Crookesmoor are among the towns around Howard Hill, a residential suburb, that the same teams cover, throughout S postcodes. Quote a postcode that starts S6 3, and the van gets there fastest.
Your car stays where it is. The drain takes place on the spot, whether a drive, a road by Walkley Community Centre, or a lay-by on the way to Matlock Green. Assuming won't help at the back of St. Mary's Community Hall, on a boundary, or anywhere hard to describe; ring and ask.
The short version for Howard Hill drivers
Always, the cap; after that, the tip. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, anywhere across South Yorkshire, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank anyway — and so leave the vehicle off and call 0333 366 0103.