Why It Occurs and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Larkhall
Stop reading a minute if the diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, then call 0333 366 0103. Caught before the engine runs, it is normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is in Larkhall. Nothing happened yet? Below, the page covers the why it happens and the ways to prevent it altogether.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Diesel feeds the engine — but many current diesels driven around Larkhall and Lower Swainswick carry another fluid as well. The exhaust, not your engine, is where AdBlue goes: dosed into the gas to clean them, from its own tank.
Every tank comes with a filler of its own. Plenty of cars share a single flap for the two, whereas some move the AdBlue filler to your boot or under the bonnet. At the petrol pump, the diesel side is topped up all the time. Far less often, the AdBlue side is topped up — mostly from a bottle, by a person thinking about where it goes. It is in that gap that the error happens.
How does AdBlue in your diesel tank happen in Larkhall?
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
On a driveway off Worcester Buildings before work, or in the car park outside The Larkhall Inn on the way home: that is where the rushed top-up happens. Why the rush? As AdBlue gets low the car warns you, and if it's empty, limp mode follows.
New-to-you motors are next, too. Hire cars, new vehicles and company cars place their fillers differently, and habit goes for the cap it 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 pour after it has started. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Larkhall or out in Fairfield Park.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
A few seconds is all these take — so check them before you tip anything, on a driveway in Bailbrook or a forecourt in Larkhall.
- Blue and marking: an AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap normally does not. Go by the cap, not its position.
- The size. On many vehicles the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- A label inside your fuel flap often shows which fuel goes where, on many motors. Check for it.
- The handbook. If the filler is not by your diesel cap, it's in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The person who drove the vehicle last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park at Bath Spa, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
On the day the warning comes on — anywhere it is across Somerset — a simple routine to use.
- Switch off once parked — flat ground, motor stopped, and never rushed beside Worcester Park on the verge.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once you find the AdBlue filler and reading it. Daft, perhaps, yet it works.
- Both under a single flap? So confirm the lid on the diesel side stays closed before raising the bottle.
- Finish when that tank is topped up or the bottle is empty; before that, pour gently through the own spout.
- Shut the cap, and check again — confirm your diesel cap stayed shut throughout. Only then, start the vehicle.
Stop there if you find, at stage two or three, that you have already poured into the diesel side. Do not go on to stage five.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank in Larkhall already?
Don't start your motor: that is where the short order of things starts. Don't switch your ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Thinning it with more diesel fails, since AdBlue sinks to the base instead of mixing — and that is where the fuel is sucked from.
At a forecourt — Esso, Sainsbury's or any other — the attendants will normally help push the vehicle clear, if you ask. If you're on your own driveway in Larkhall, leave the car where it is.
When your engine has been run already, pull over somewhere safe then switch it off. The next junction means where to leave when you are on the M4, under 10 miles from Larkhall. A short hop across Larkhall is a smaller job than a run towards Bath, under 3 miles away, so tell us about how far it went.
What takes place when our technicians arrive in Larkhall
Outside St Saviours Infant Church School, close to Larkhall United Reformed Church or on your own drive: wherever the vehicle has stopped, our technicians come to it. We ask what went in, about how much, and if it has run, because the replies determine this work and the quote. You hear that price on the phone, before anybody heads out.
Next: a drain, then a full flush of the entire system. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it doesn't wash out on its own — which is why the flush matters more with AdBlue than with petrol. Once your filter is flushed — or replaced, where needed — fresh diesel goes in, and finally your car gets tested. Before we go, we start it and check that it's running correctly.
Using pumps fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough for use outside a house at night, most jobs where the motor hasn't run take roughly half an hour once we are there. Payment is on the day, not upfront, and you are given the documents your insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Before we get there, take a look at your policy; plenty carry cover for misfuelling.
About Larkhall
Larkhall is a suburban area situated on the River Avon in Somerset, with a mix of terraced housing and other residential properties. Larkhall is located near the city of Bath, with which it shares a close economic and social connection. Larkhall is characterized by its riverside setting and relatively low elevation of 37 metres above sea level. Larkhall is also close to other nearby places such as Fairfield Park, Grosvenor, and Lambridge.
AdBlue drains around Larkhall, and Somerset beyond
Throughout BA postcodes, the teams that cover Larkhall — a residential suburb — work the nearby locations too, Lambridge and Grosvenor included. A postcode starting BA1 6 gets our van to you fastest.
Moving the vehicle isn't necessary. A driveway, a lay-by on the way to Larkhall Recreation Ground, a side street close to New Oriel Hall: our engineers drain the vehicle where it is. If you are close to a border, or somewhere hard to explain like the back of The Rondo Theatre, ring and ask rather than guessing.
For Larkhall motorists, the short version
Tip nothing until you've read the cap. Still AdBlue in the diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel will drain it where it stands, wherever across Somerset: switch the vehicle off and call 0333 366 0103.