AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Kirkby Lonsdale: How It Happens and How to Stop It
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? In that case set this page down a moment, leave your ignition and motor off, and ring 0333 366 0103. Usually, if the engine hasn't turned, it's emptied and thoroughly flushed where your vehicle is in Kirkby Lonsdale. If you're reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it takes place and how to make sure it doesn't.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel vehicle
Diesel goes to the engine — but many current diesels seen round Kirkby Lonsdale and Kearstwick carry a second fluid as well. Your exhaust, not the motor, is where AdBlue ends up: dosed into the fumes to fresh it, from its own tank.
Different tanks, different fillers. Under one flap, next to each other: that is the arrangement on a lot of vehicles. On others, AdBlue's filler is under the bonnet or in your boot instead. Diesel gets filled on each filling station visit, again and again. Rarely topped up, AdBlue usually goes in from a bottle, tipped by someone who has to stop and think what cap to use. The error lives in that gap.
How does AdBlue in the diesel tank happen in Kirkby Lonsdale?
Carelessness rarely causes it. What does is three things lining up together.
Hurry follows from the warning. The car warns you as AdBlue runs low, and an empty tank puts the vehicle into limp mode — so the top-up happens quickly, before work on a drive off Main Street, or heading home in the car park at The Snooty Fox.
Next, the hand goes for the cap it would have used on the old vehicle — because a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers somewhere your last one did not.
No part stops the pour once it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. Low Biggins or the middle of Kirkby Lonsdale: it takes the same few seconds either way.
The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart
Whether a Kirkby Lonsdale forecourt or a drive over in Casterton, spend a few seconds on these before any is poured in.
- Check the cap rather than going by where it sits: AdBlue caps are regularly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps usually are not.
- On many cars, the size gives it away: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- A label inside your fuel flap frequently says which fuel goes where, on plenty of cars. Check for it.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that's where the filler is if it is not by your diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- Collecting a hire or company car, say at the car park at Wennington? Check with the person who drove it last before you set off, rather than when the light goes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up
For the day the light appears — anywhere you are around Cumbria — a simple routine to follow.
- Not in a rush on the side of New Road, not on a slope, not with your motor running: park then switch off first.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after you find the AdBlue filler and reading it. Silly, perhaps, but it does the trick.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave the car on.
- Stop when your tank fills or the bottle is empty; before that, pour slowly through the built-in spout.
- Only then, start your car: close the cap, check again, and make sure the diesel cap was never opened.
Stop there if you find, at stage two or three, that you've already poured into your diesel side. Don't carry on to step five.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank in Kirkby Lonsdale?
What follows is a short order of things, beginning with not starting your engine. The fuel pump runs on many diesels the moment the ignition is switched on — so keep it off. Diluting it with more diesel fails, since AdBlue sinks to the base instead of mixing — and that is where the fuel is sucked from.
On a forecourt — Texaco, Town End Garage or any other — the staff will normally help roll the vehicle away, when you ask. Your own drive around Kirkby Lonsdale is the place it should stay.
If your motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. The next junction means where to come off if you are on the M6, under 10 miles from Kirkby Lonsdale. Distance counts — a short hop across Kirkby Lonsdale is a smaller job than heading under 15 miles towards Lancaster — so say about how far it went.
When our technicians arrive around Kirkby Lonsdale, what happens?
The van reaches the car wherever it stopped — your own driveway, near Kirkby Lonsdale Thursday Market, or by St Mary's CofE Primary School. The replies settle the work and the price, so our technicians ask what was put in, roughly how much, and whether it's run. That price comes over the phone, before any van leaves.
The fuel system is then purged thoroughly, after that tank is drained. Unlike petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and attacks some fuel-system metals, and neither washes out unaided. Hence it counts more. After your filter is cleaned — or replaced, if needed — fresh diesel goes in, and finally your car gets tested. Next our technicians start the engine and make sure it runs smoothly before we go.
Unrun vehicles usually need a half-hour job after the moment we arrive. The kit is fine on a busy filling station, and quiet enough for a driveway late at night. The insurer will ask for the engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and both are yours at the end. Payment is on the day, with no money upfront. It is worth checking your insurance as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover comes with plenty of policies.
About Kirkby Lonsdale
Kirkby Lonsdale is a small town in the Lune Valley, situated on the River Lune in Cumbria, with a population of around 1965 people. Kirkby Lonsdale sits at an elevation of 68 metres, near the villages of Low Biggins and High Biggins, and is characterized by its semi-detached housing stock. Kirkby Lonsdale is located approximately 13 miles from Lancaster and 212 miles from London, making it a relatively rural but accessible community. Kirkby Lonsdale has a scenic riverside setting, with the surrounding countryside offering opportunities for outdoor activities.
Kirkby Lonsdale and Cumbria: AdBlue drains across the area
High Biggins and High Casterton are among the places near Kirkby Lonsdale, a riverside town, that the same vans cover, throughout LA postcodes. Quickest of all: quote a LA6 2 postcode to our van.
Moving the vehicle isn't necessary. We drain it where it is — a side street close to Kirkby Lonsdale Library, a lay-by on the way to Biggins Wood, a driveway. Tricky to explain, like the back of St Mary's? By a border? Checking beats assuming, so ring.
In short, for Kirkby Lonsdale drivers
Pour no AdBlue until you have read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank anyway, leave it off and call 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it waits, anywhere across Cumbria.