Why It Happens and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Humberstone
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? In that case set this page aside for now, keep the ignition and motor off, and call 0333 366 0103. Around Humberstone, finding it before your motor turns normally means draining and a thorough flush on the spot. Reading in advance? In that case the rest explains how it comes about and how to prevent it ever happening.
AdBlue in a diesel car: two tanks, two fillers
Not one liquid but two: that is what plenty of newer diesels near Humberstone and Nether Hall run, with diesel feeding the motor. AdBlue's own tank holds it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, where spraying cleans the gas.
There is a filler on each tank. Under one flap, next to each other: that is the arrangement on a lot of vehicles. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler is under the bonnet or in the boot instead. Diesel gets filled at every forecourt visit, week in, week out. A driver who has to stop and think where it goes normally fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less regularly. It is in that gap that the mistake happens.
How does AdBlue in the diesel tank occur in Humberstone?
Carelessness rarely causes it. Instead is three things lining up at once.
Hurry comes from the warning. Your car tells you as AdBlue runs low, and a dry tank sends the vehicle into limp mode — so the top-up gets done quickly, before work on a driveway off Humberstone Drive, or on the way home in the car park at The Humber Stone.
Then, the hand goes for the cap it would have used on the old car — because a hire car, a new vehicle or a company car places the fillers somewhere your last one didn't.
A spouted bottle meets no resistance at a diesel filler any more than at an AdBlue one. And so the tip, after started, carries on. It's seconds, be it out in North Evington or right in the heart of Humberstone.
The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart
Before you tip anything, whether on a drive in Spinney Hills or a forecourt in Humberstone, check these. They take a few seconds.
- Check the cap rather than going by position: AdBlue ones are frequently blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones usually are not.
- On plenty of motors, size gives it away: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- Check inside the fuel flap: many vehicles carry a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- The handbook shows where it lives when your filler isn't next to the diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- Collecting a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park at Leicester? Check with the person who drove the vehicle last before leaving, not when the light comes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in the diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever across Leicestershire that is.
- Switch off after you park — flat ground, motor off, and never rushed beside Albermarle Close on the verge.
- Daft as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" aloud as you unscrew the cap works — once you've found the filler and read the cap.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Slowly does it, through the bottle's own spout, till it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Before you start the car, shut the cap and look a second time that the diesel cap never came off.
Find at the second or third stage that the bottle went in the diesel tank? That is where you stop. Step five is off limits.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, around Humberstone?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start your engine. The fuel pump starts on many diesels as soon as the ignition is switched on — so leave it off. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where your fuel is sucked from — so don't top up with diesel to dilute it.
At a forecourt — Shell, Tesco or another — the staff will usually help roll the car clear, if you ask. Leave it where it is if you are on your own drive in Humberstone.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if the motor has already run. Humberstone sits under 10 miles from the M1; there, use the first junction. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Leicester, under 3 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Humberstone.
Our arrival in Humberstone, and what happens next
By Falcons Primary School, near Uppingham Road Methodist Church or on your own drive: wherever the vehicle has stopped, we come to it. Those replies decide this work and our price, and so our engineers ask what was put in, about how much, and whether it has run. The price comes over the phone, before any van leaves.
Emptying that tank comes next, followed by a thorough flush of your system. Much more than with petrol, it matters here: the crystals build up, certain metals corrode, and none of that washes away unaided, no matter how long it sits. The filter flushed or, where needed, replaced; clean diesel in; and then a check of your vehicle. Your engine is started next and tested to confirm it runs correctly, all before we leave.
Most jobs are finished in about half an hour once our technicians get there, as long as the engine hasn't run — and the pumps we use are safe on a live forecourt and quiet at night beside a house. Paying is on the day, not upfront, and you receive the paperwork an insurer asks for: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. While we travel, have a look at your insurance documents; plenty carry cover for misfuelling.
About Humberstone
Humberstone is a suburban area in Leicestershire, situated near the River Soar and close to the city of Leicester. Humberstone has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are predominant, and the area is relatively low-lying at an elevation of 71 metres. Humberstone is located near several other suburban areas, including North Evington and Crown Hills, and is also home to the Humberstone Garden. Humberstone is about 2.2 miles from Leicester city centre and 88.5 miles from London.
AdBlue drains about Humberstone, and Leicestershire beyond
Being a residential suburb, Humberstone has the same vans as nearby areas — Crown Hills, Humberstone Garden — right across LE postcodes and the wider area around them. Our van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting LE5 0.
The car stays where it is. Draining happens on the spot, be it a driveway, a road by St Mary, or a layby towards Humberstone Community Gardens. Guessing doesn't help behind Gurdwara Sahib, close to a boundary, or anywhere hard to describe; phone and check.
The short version for Humberstone motorists
Before you pour, read the cap. AdBlue in the diesel tank regardless? Keep it off and call 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, across Leicestershire.