Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Insch: Why It Occurs
Stop here for a moment if your diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, and phone 0333 366 0103. A drain and a thorough flush, carried out right where the car stands in Insch, is usually what it takes when caught before the motor runs. The remainder of this page covers why it takes place and how to ensure it does not — useful if you are reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Plenty of modern diesels around Upper Boddam, like those in Insch, carry on two liquids; your motor takes only the 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.
There's a filler for every tank. Many of motors have a single flap for both, while others move the AdBlue filler to your boot or under the bonnet. Filling the diesel side at the petrol pump happens constantly. A driver who has to stop and think where it goes usually tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less commonly. That gap is where the mistake lives.
Insch: how AdBlue in your diesel tank takes place
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the vehicle tells you, and if it runs out completely, your vehicle drops into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a driveway off Commerce Street before work, or in the car park outside The Commercial Hotel on the way home.
Unfamiliar cars are second, too. Rentals, new motors and company cars put their fillers in new places, and the hand goes for the cap it used on the old one.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, so nothing stops the pour after it has started. It takes a few seconds, whether out in Rothney or bang in the centre of Insch.
Telling the AdBlue filler from your diesel filler
Check these before pouring, at a forecourt in Insch or a drive out in Kirkton. A few seconds, that's all.
- Where it sits misleads; the cap does not. AdBlue caps tend to be blue or bear the word "AdBlue" — diesel ones normally do not.
- Many vehicles give AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Plenty of cars say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook shows where it lives if the filler is not next to your diesel cap: your boot, or under the bonnet.
- Check with the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — when you pick up a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park outside the nearest station.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
When the light comes on, anywhere in Aberdeenshire, follow this routine.
- Stop somewhere level, motor off, with time in hand — not hurried on the side of Commercial Road.
- Silly as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" aloud as you unscrew the cap works — after you have located your filler and read the cap.
- Both behind a single flap? Then confirm the cap on the diesel side stays closed ahead of raising the bottle.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap, and look once more — making sure the diesel filler stayed closed the whole time. Only then, start your car.
Find during the second or third stage that AdBlue went in the diesel filler? That's where you stop. Never go on to stage five.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Insch?
Do not start the engine: that's how the short order of things begins. The fuel pump runs on plenty of diesels the moment the ignition is switched on — and so leave it off. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where your fuel is pulled from — so don't top up with diesel to thin it.
If you're at a forecourt, whether it's the the nearest petrol station or the another forecourt nearby, ask the staff to help roll the vehicle away from the petrol pump. If you are on your own driveway around Insch, leave the car where it sits.
Already run? Pull over once it is safe, then switch off. The next exit means the place to come off if you are on the M90, over 50 miles from Insch. A short hop across Insch is a smaller job than a run towards Aberdeen, under 25 miles away, so tell us about how far it went.
When we turn up in Insch, what occurs?
Wherever the car has stopped, whether outside the local primary school, beside Insch Library or at home, the van travels to it. Our technicians ask what was put in, roughly how much, and if it's run, since the replies decide this work and our price. That quote comes over the phone, ahead of any van leaving.
Then your tank is emptied and the system cleaned thoroughly. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not wash out on its own — which is why that counts more here than with petrol. The filter cleaned or, if needed, swapped; clean diesel in; then a test of your vehicle. We don't leave until it has been started and is running properly.
If your motor has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we are there, using pumps that are fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Insch and where it is
Insch is a village in Aberdeenshire, situated on the banks of a river at an elevation of around 128 metres. Insch lies approximately 23 miles west of Aberdeen and is surrounded by smaller settlements such as Rothney and Knockenbaird. Insch has a population of around 1663 people, predominantly living in detached houses. Insch is located in a rural area, with the nearest major city being Aberdeen.
AdBlue drains around Insch and across Aberdeenshire
Insch is a village, and the vans that cover it also work the towns near it, Knockenbaird and Ardoyne among them, across the AB postcode area. Our van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting AB52 6.
No need to move the vehicle. Our technicians drain it where it is — a side street close to Insch Institute Bowls Club, a lay-by on the way to Insch Meadows Wildlife Area, a driveway. Ring and ask rather than assuming if you're close to a border, or somewhere hard to describe, like the back of St. Drostan's Episcopal Church.
In short, for Insch motorists
Before you pour, read the cap. Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, anywhere around Aberdeenshire, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank anyway — so leave the car off then call 0333 366 0103.