How It Occurs and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Knutton
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave the engine and the ignition off and call 0333 366 0103. A drain and a thorough flush, done just where your vehicle sits in Knutton, is normally what it needs if caught before the motor runs. The remainder of this page covers why it occurs and how to ensure it doesn't — handy if you're reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel car: two tanks, two fillers
Many newer diesels on the roads about Knutton and The Brampton carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your motor. Kept in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into your exhaust stream to clean it.
Separate tanks, different fillers. On a lot of motors the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is filled at the petrol pump all the time. Rarely topped up, AdBlue normally goes in out of a bottle, tipped by someone who must stop and think what cap it needs. That gap is where the slip lives.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Knutton: how it takes place
Carelessness rarely explains it. Instead is three things lining up at once.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a message from your car, and running dry means limp mode — hence a hurried top-up, perhaps before work off Lawson Terrace, or at Mason's Arms on the way home after work.
The old car's filler is where your hand goes — yet a rental car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers elsewhere. That's a second thing: an unfamiliar car.
Third, the bottle fits: a diesel filler or AdBlue one, it goes in as readily, and once the pour starts, no part stops it. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Knutton or out in Cross Heath.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you tip anything, whether on a drive in Church Fields or a forecourt in Knutton, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Read the cap rather than going by where it sits: AdBlue caps are frequently blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps usually are not.
- The size. On plenty of motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Many cars say there which fuel goes where.
- Can't find it beside your diesel filler? In that case look below the bonnet or inside your boot — the handbook will say which.
- Collecting a hire or company car, say at the car park outside Longport? Check with the person who drove the vehicle last before you set off, rather than once the light goes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
Wherever around Staffordshire the light comes on, this is a routine for that day.
- Turn off after you park — level ground, engine stopped, and never in a rush by John Street on the verge.
- Find the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and say the name "AdBlue" out loud while unscrewing it. It sounds daft. It works.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Only then, start the car: close the cap, check a second time, and make sure the diesel cap was never opened.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Step five stays out.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Knutton?
Don't start your motor: that is where the short order of things starts. Don't switch your ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where your fuel is pulled from — so do not top up with diesel to thin it.
The staff at Morrisons, Sainsbury's or another forecourt will normally lend a hand to push the car clear when asked. Leave it where it is if you're on your own drive around Knutton.
If your engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. Knutton lies under 3 miles from the M6; there, take the next exit. Distance counts — a quick hop across Knutton is a smaller job than driving under 5 miles towards Stoke-on-Trent — so tell us about how far it went.
Knutton: what happens when our technicians get there
Outside Knutton St Marys CofE Academy, near St. Mary's Church or on your own drive: wherever the car has stopped, our engineers come to it. We ask what got in, about how much, and if it has run, since those answers decide the work and our quote. The price is given on the call, before any van leaves.
The system is then flushed thoroughly, after that tank is emptied. Much more than with petrol, it counts with AdBlue: crystals build up, certain metals are attacked, and nothing washes away unaided, no matter how long it sits. Your filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the car is tested. We don't leave until it has been started and is running smoothly.
With pumps safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough for use outside a house at night, most jobs where the engine has not run need roughly half an hour once our engineers arrive. 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. Wrong-fuel cover is part of plenty of insurance policies — and so make use of the wait to look at yours.
About Knutton itself
Knutton is a suburban area in Staffordshire, situated on the outskirts of Stoke-on-Trent, near the River Trent. Knutton sits at an elevation of around 135 metres, with nearby residential areas including Cross Heath and Poolfields. Knutton is characterized by its semi-detached housing stock, typical of many suburban areas in the West Midlands. Knutton is located approximately 3.1 miles from Stoke-on-Trent city centre, making it a convenient residential location.
AdBlue drains around Knutton and across Staffordshire
Knutton is a residential suburb, and our vans that cover it also work the places around it, Poolfields and Silverdale among them, across the ST postcode area. A postcode starting ST5 6 gets the van to you fastest.
Shifting the car isn't necessary. Anywhere it sits — beside Gordon Banks Sports Centre, in a layby en route to Knutton Recreation Centre, on a drive — that is where it is cleared. Awkward to explain, like the back of Mining Memorial Monument? By a border? Asking beats assuming, so ring.
Knutton motorists: the short version
Read the cap before you tip. Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, anywhere in Staffordshire, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank all the same — and so leave the vehicle off then phone 0333 366 0103.