AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Leesfield: Why It Occurs and How to Prevent It
Keep the motor and ignition off then call 0333 366 0103 now — the rest can wait if AdBlue is already in your diesel tank. Caught before your motor runs, it's usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Leesfield. Not happened yet? Below, the rest of the page covers the why it happens and the how to avoid it altogether.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Plenty of current diesels on the roads around Leesfield and Bank Top carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the motor. AdBlue goes to your exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Separate tanks, separate fillers. On a lot of vehicles the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. Diesel goes in on every filling station call-out, again and again. Seldom topped up, AdBlue usually comes out of a bottle, tipped by a driver who has to stop and think what cap it needs. It's in the gap that the mistake lives.
Leesfield: how AdBlue in the diesel tank takes place
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
Haste comes from the warning. The car warns you as AdBlue runs low, and a dry tank puts it into limp mode — so the top-up gets done in a rush, before work on a drive off Buckley Street, or heading home in the car park outside Angel Inn.
Next, the hand goes for the cap it would have used on the old car — since a rental car, a new car or a company car places the fillers where your last one did not.
Lastly, the bottle goes in: a diesel filler or AdBlue one, it slides in as readily, and after the pour begins, no part halts it. Whether it happens in Lees or the middle of Leesfield, it is the same few seconds.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
A couple of seconds is all these take — so run through them before you pour anything, on a driveway in Salem or a forecourt around Leesfield.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap normally is not. Read it rather than going by position.
- The size. On plenty of vehicles the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- Look inside your fuel flap: plenty of cars carry a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- The handbook shows where it lives if your filler isn't next to the diesel cap: your boot, or under the bonnet.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park outside Mossley (Manchester), ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
For the day the light appears — wherever it is across Greater Manchester — a simple routine to use.
- Park and switch off. Not on a slope, not with the motor running, and not in a rush on the side of Brookway.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly and 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.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Shut the cap, and check again — confirm your diesel cap remained shut the whole time. After that, start the vehicle.
Discover at the second or third stage that AdBlue went into the wrong tank? That's where you stop. Do not go on to stage five.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Leesfield already?
What follows is a short order of things, starting with not starting the motor. Do not switch the ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where your fuel is sucked from — so don't top up with diesel to dilute it.
Ask the attendants to help push the car away from the petrol pump if you're at a forecourt — the Gulf, the Shell or somewhere else. If you are on your own drive around Leesfield, leave the car where it stands.
Where your motor has run already, pull over safely and switch the car off. On the M60, under 3 miles from Leesfield, that means the next exit. Roughly how far did it go? Crossing Leesfield is less a job than a trip of under 10 miles towards Manchester, so say.
Our arrival in Leesfield, and what takes place next
The van comes to the car anywhere it has come to rest — your own driveway, near St Thomas, or by St Thomas' Leesfield CofE Primary School. The answers decide this work and the price, and so our engineers ask what was put in, roughly how much, and if it's run. You get that quote by phone, before anybody heads out.
Draining your tank comes next, then a thorough flush of the fuel system. Much more than with petrol, it matters with AdBlue: crystals build up, some metals are attacked, and none of that washes away unaided, no matter how long it is left. Once your filter has been cleaned — or replaced, if required — clean diesel is added, and finally the vehicle gets tested. Then we start the engine and confirm it runs correctly before we leave.
Most jobs are done in about half an hour once our engineers get there, as long as your motor has not run — and the pumps we use are fine on a busy forecourt yet quiet after dark outside a house. Your insurer will ask for the engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and both are yours at the end. Payment comes on the day, with no money upfront. Wrong-fuel cover is part of plenty of insurance policies — and so make use of the wait to check yours.
About Leesfield and where it is
Leesfield is a suburban area in Greater Manchester, situated near the River Medlock and close to the towns of Lees and Oldham. Leesfield sits at an elevation of 179 metres, with terraced housing being the predominant type of accommodation in the area. Leesfield is located approximately 8 miles from Manchester city centre, making it a commuter-friendly location for those working in the city. Leesfield is also part of a larger network of nearby places, including Lees, Nether Lees, and Leesbrook.
AdBlue drains around Leesfield and across Greater Manchester
Leesfield is a residential suburb, and the vans that cover it also work the places near it, Nether Lees and Leesbrook among them, across the OL postcode area. Quickest of all: give a OL4 5 postcode for our van.
There's no need to shift the vehicle. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Glodwick Lows, a side street close to Sub Space: we drain the car where it sits. Awkward to pin down, like the back of Lees Library? By a county line? Asking beats guessing, and so ring.
Leesfield drivers: the short version
Before you pour, read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank anyway, leave the vehicle off and ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it waits, anywhere in Greater Manchester.