AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Kelvingrove: Why It Occurs and How to Avoid It
Keep your engine and ignition off then call 0333 366 0103 first — the rest can wait if AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. A drain plus a thorough flush, carried out right where the car sits in Kelvingrove, is normally what it needs when caught before the engine runs. The rest of this page covers why it takes place and how to make sure it doesn't — handy if you're reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel motor, and its separate tank
Plenty of modern diesels on the roads round Kelvingrove and Hillhead carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the engine. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Each tank has its own filler. Under one flap, next to each other: that's the layout on many cars. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler is under the bonnet or in the boot instead. Topping up the diesel side at the pump happens constantly. Rarely filled, AdBlue normally goes in out of a bottle, poured by a driver who must stop and think which cap it needs. The mistake grows in the gap between the two.
How does AdBlue in the diesel tank happen around Kelvingrove?
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
On a drive off Argyle Street before work, or in the car park at The Butchershop heading home: that's where the hurried top-up happens. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue runs low the vehicle tells you, and once it's gone, limp mode follows.
Next, the hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old car — because a hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers somewhere your last one didn't.
Nothing halts the pour after it has started, because a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. Whether it happens in Yorkhill or the middle of Kelvingrove, it's the same few seconds.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Check these first, on a forecourt around Kelvingrove or a drive over in Kelvingrove Park. A few seconds, no more.
- Check the cap instead of going by where it sits: AdBlue ones are often blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones normally aren't.
- Plenty of vehicles give AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- Open the filler flap and check for a label — many motors show which goes in which inlet just there.
- The handbook. If the filler isn't by the diesel cap, it is in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The previous driver knows. Check as you collect a rental or fleet car — from Exhibition Centre's car park, say — rather than when the light appears.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
The day the light goes on, anywhere in Glasgow City, follow this routine.
- Not in a rush on the side of Sauchiehall Street, not on a slope, not with your motor running: park and switch off first.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it works.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave the car on.
- Stop once the tank fills or the bottle runs dry; until then, tip slowly using its own spout.
- Shut the cap, and look once more — making sure the diesel filler stayed shut the whole time. After that, start the car.
Stop there if you find, at stage two or three, that you have already poured into your diesel side. Step five is off limits.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, around Kelvingrove?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start your motor. On plenty of diesels your ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so don't switch it on. Filling up with diesel won't thin it: instead, AdBlue sinks to the bottom of the tank, just where fuel is taken from.
If you are on a forecourt, whether it's the Sainsbury's or the BP, ask the staff to help roll the vehicle away from the pump. Leave it where it is if you're on your own drive in Kelvingrove.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if the engine has already run. The next exit is where to come off if you're on the M8, under a mile from Kelvingrove. About how far did it go? Hopping across Kelvingrove is less a job than a run of under 3 miles towards Glasgow, so tell us.
Our arrival in Kelvingrove, and what takes place next
By the local primary school, close to Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum or on your own driveway: wherever your car has stopped, our engineers come to it. Both the work and our quote rest on three replies — which liquid, which amount, and if it has run — so our engineers ask. You get that quote on the phone, before anyone sets off.
Emptying the tank comes next, then a thorough flush of your system. With AdBlue that counts more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not wash out on its own. Testing comes at the end: before that, fresh diesel goes in, and your filter is cleaned or changed if necessary. Before we leave, our technicians fire it up and confirm that it is running correctly.
Most jobs are finished in about half an hour after our technicians get there, as long as the motor has not run — and the pumps we use are fine on a busy forecourt and quiet after dark beside a house. Payment is on the day, not upfront, and you are given the paperwork your insurer asks for: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. It's worth looking at your insurance as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover comes with plenty of policies.
About Kelvingrove itself
Kelvingrove is a suburban area in Glasgow City, situated on the banks of the River Kelvin. Kelvingrove sits at an elevation of 29 metres, with nearby neighbourhoods including Yorkhill, Finnieston, and Kelvinhaugh. Kelvingrove is characterized by its predominantly flat-type housing, and is located approximately 2.1 miles from Glasgow city centre. Kelvingrove is part of the larger Glasgow urban area, with a population of around 12,617 residents.
AdBlue drains across Glasgow City, Kelvingrove included
Finnieston and Kelvinhaugh are among the places near Kelvingrove, a residential suburb, that the same teams cover, throughout G postcodes. Quote a postcode that starts G3 8, and our van arrives quickest.
Moving the car isn't needed. Anywhere it stands — near Vital Spark, on a lay-by en route to Kelvingrove Park, on a drive — that is where it gets cleared. Ring and ask rather than guessing if you are near a border, or somewhere hard to describe, like the back of Relief Map of the West End of Glasgow.
In short, for Kelvingrove motorists
Before you tip, read the cap. AdBlue in the diesel tank after all? Leave the car switched off and call 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, across Glasgow City.