AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Invergowrie: How It Happens and How to Avoid It
Stop reading a minute if the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, then ring 0333 366 0103. Around Invergowrie, catching it before the motor runs usually means draining and a thorough flush on the spot. The rest of this page explains why it happens and how to make sure it doesn't — useful if you're reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Plenty of newer diesels in Menzieshill, like those in Invergowrie, run on two liquids; the engine takes only the diesel. Your exhaust, not your motor, is where AdBlue ends up: dosed into the gas to clean them, from a separate tank.
Every tank has a filler of its own. Many of cars have a single flap for both, whereas some put the AdBlue filler to your boot or under the bonnet. At the pump, your diesel side is topped up all the time. Rarely topped up, AdBlue normally goes in out of a bottle, poured by a driver who must stop and think what filler to use. It's in the gap that the slip happens.
How AdBlue in your diesel tank takes place in Invergowrie
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a message from the vehicle, and running dry leads to limp mode — so a rushed top-up, maybe before work off Dryburgh Terrace, perhaps outside Invergowrie Inn on the way home that evening.
Then your car is strange. A hire car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers where your last one didn't, and your hand gets to for the cap it would have 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 tip after it has started. Kingoodie or the middle of Invergowrie: it is the same few seconds either way.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you tip anything, whether on a drive in Charleston or a forecourt around Invergowrie, check these. They take a few seconds.
- Colour and lettering: an AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap normally doesn't. Trust the cap, not where it sits.
- On many motors, size gives it away: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- Check inside the fuel flap: plenty of motors carry a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that's where the filler is if it's not by your diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- The previous driver knows. Check as you collect a hire car or fleet car — from the nearest station's car park, say — rather than once the warning appears.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever in Perth and Kinross that is.
- Not in a rush on the side of Hunter Crescent, not on a slope, not with the motor running: park then switch off properly.
- Silly as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew the cap does the trick — once you've found the filler and read it.
- The diesel cap remains on. When both share a flap, confirm it's closed before the bottle comes up.
- Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check once more. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the vehicle.
Discover during the second or third step that the bottle went in the diesel tank? That's where you stop. Step five is off limits.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank in Invergowrie already?
The short order of things, beginning with no starting the motor. On plenty of diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so do not switch the car on. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is pulled from — so do not top up with diesel to dilute it.
The attendants at BP, Tesco or any forecourt will normally lend a hand pushing your car away when you ask. Your own drive in Invergowrie is where it should stay.
If the motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. The next junction is the place to leave when you're on the M90, under 15 miles from Invergowrie. Roughly how far did it go? Hopping across Invergowrie is less a job than a trip of under 5 miles towards Dundee, so say.
When our technicians turn up around Invergowrie, what takes place?
Our technicians come to the car wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside the local primary school, close to Invergowrie Parish Church or on your own driveway. What fluid went in, the quantity, and whether it ran: our engineers ask since the replies decide the work and price. You get that price by phone, before anyone heads out.
After that: a drain, then a full flush of the whole system. Unlike petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and attacks some fuel-system metals, and neither clears away unaided. Hence it matters more. Once your filter has been flushed — or renewed, where required — clean diesel goes in, and finally the vehicle is tested. Then we start it and check it runs correctly before we go.
With pumps safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough for use outside a house at night, most jobs in which the engine has not run need about half an hour once our technicians arrive. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Wrong-fuel cover is included in plenty of insurance policies — so use the wait to look at yours.
About Invergowrie
Invergowrie is a coastal village in eastern Scotland, situated near the city of Dundee and close to the Firth of Tay. Invergowrie has a relatively low elevation of 18 metres and is surrounded by nearby places such as Kingoodie and Ninewells. Invergowrie is predominantly composed of flat housing and has a population of approximately 1488 residents. Invergowrie is located about 3.4 miles from Dundee, making it a commuter-friendly village.
AdBlue drains across Perth and Kinross, Invergowrie included
Being a coastal village, Invergowrie shares its vans surrounding areas — Ninewells, Denhead of Gray — right through DD postcodes and the wider area beyond. Quickest of all: quote a DD2 5 postcode to our van.
The vehicle stays put. Draining happens on the spot, whether a drive, a street by All Souls' Invergowrie Episcopal Church, or a lay-by on the way to Invergowrie War Memorial Park. Ring and ask instead of assuming if you're close to a border, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of Invergowrie New War Memorial.
In short, for Invergowrie drivers
Read the cap before you tip. AdBlue in your diesel tank after all? Leave the car switched off and ring 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, throughout Perth and Kinross.