How It Occurs and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Kingstown
Leave the motor and ignition off and phone 0333 366 0103 now — the rest can wait when AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. Normally, if the motor has not turned, it's emptied and fully rinsed where the car is around Kingstown. The remainder of this page covers why it happens and how to make sure it doesn't — handy if you are reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Diesel feeds your motor — but many modern diesels seen around Kingstown and Cargo hold a second fluid too. AdBlue goes to your 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 a lot of vehicles. On others, AdBlue's filler sits under the bonnet or in your boot instead. The diesel side is fuelled at the pump all the time. Far less commonly, the AdBlue side is filled — mostly from a bottle, by a person thinking about where it goes. That gap is where the error lives.
How does AdBlue in the diesel tank occur in Kingstown?
Rarely is it carelessness: normally three things line up.
On a drive off Blackdyke Road before work, or in the car park at Coach And Horses on the way home: that is where the hurried top-up happens. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue runs low your car tells you, and if it's gone, limp mode kicks in.
Then, your hand goes for the cap it would have used on the old motor — since a rental car, a new car or a company car places the fillers where your last one didn't.
Lastly, the bottle fits: a diesel filler or AdBlue one, it goes in as easily, and once the pour begins, no part halts it. Kingmoor House or the middle of Kingstown: it is the same few seconds in both.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Before you pour anything, whether on a drive in Etterby or a forecourt in Kingstown, check these. They take a few seconds.
- Colour and lettering: an AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap normally doesn't. Trust the cap, not where it sits.
- The size. On many cars the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Plenty of motors say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook shows where it is if your filler is not next to your diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- The previous driver will know. Check as you collect a hire car or company car — from Carlisle's car park, say — rather than once the light appears.
How to top up without AdBlue in the diesel tank
The day the light comes on, wherever in Cumbria, follow this routine.
- Not in a rush on the side of Kingstown Broadway, not on a slope, not with your engine running: park then switch off properly.
- Silly as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew the cap does the trick — after you've found the filler and read it.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Finish once your tank fills or the bottle is empty; before that, tip gently through its own spout.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the vehicle.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you've already poured into your diesel side. Never go on to stage five.
Kingstown: already put AdBlue in your diesel tank?
The short order of things, starting with not starting the motor. Keep the ignition off too, since on many diesels it alone runs the fuel pump. Topping up with diesel will not thin it: instead, AdBlue drops to the base of that tank, right where the fuel is drawn from.
If you're at a forecourt, whether it's the the nearest petrol station or the Calor Centre, ask the attendants to help roll the vehicle clear of the pump. If you are on your own driveway around Kingstown, leave the car where it sits.
Already started? Stop when it's safe, then turn off. The next exit is the place to leave if you're on the M6, under a mile from Kingstown. Mileage matters — a quick hop across Kingstown is a smaller job than heading under 3 miles to Carlisle — so tell us about how far it went.
Kingstown: what happens when our engineers arrive
Our engineers come to your car wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside Kingmoor Junior School, near St. Peter's, Kingmoor or on your own driveway. We ask what went in, about how much, and whether it's run, because those answers decide this work and our quote. During the call itself, you are told the quote — before anything else.
The fuel system is then rinsed thoroughly, once that tank is emptied. Unlike petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and attacks some fuel-system metals, and neither washes away by itself. That is why it matters more. Once the filter has been cleaned — or replaced, where needed — fresh diesel is added, and finally your vehicle gets tested. The engine is fired up next and checked to confirm it runs smoothly, all before our technicians leave.
If the motor hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there, using pumps that are fine on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night. Nothing in advance; you settle up on the day. At the end, the VAT invoice and a report from the engineer go to you for your insurer. It is worth looking at your insurance while we travel to you: misfuelling cover is included with many policies.
About Kingstown
Kingstown is a suburban area located on the riverside in Cumbria, with a mix of detached housing and a population of around 844 residents. Kingstown sits near the city of Carlisle, approximately 2.4 miles away, and is close to nearby places such as Kingmoor House and Belah. Kingstown's elevation is around 31 metres above sea level, and it is situated in a region with a strong sense of community. Kingstown is also relatively distant from London, at around 263.4 miles away.
AdBlue drains across Cumbria, Kingstown included
Over CA postcodes, the teams covering Kingstown — a residential suburb — work the surrounding places too, Houghton and Belah included. Fastest of all: quote a CA3 0 postcode for the van.
There's no need to shift the car. Our engineers drain it where it is — a side street close to Carlisle Driving Range, a lay-by on the way to Kingmoor North Nature Reserve, a driveway. Ring and ask instead of assuming if you are close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of Stone Acorn.
Kingstown motorists: the short version
Before you tip, read the cap. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, anywhere around Cumbria, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless — so leave the vehicle off then call 0333 366 0103.