AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Limehurst: Why It Occurs and How to Avoid It
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave your engine and the ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103. Around Limehurst, finding it before your motor runs normally leaves a drain and a thorough flush on the spot. The remainder of this page covers why it happens and how to make sure it does not — handy if you are reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
Plenty of newer diesels around Bardsley, as well as Limehurst, run on two liquids; the motor takes only the diesel. Kept in a tank of its own, AdBlue is sprayed into the exhaust gas and cleans it.
Each tank comes with a filler of its own. Some cars keep the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; a lot of others have the two together behind one flap. At the pump, your diesel side is topped up constantly. Seldom topped up, AdBlue normally goes in from a bottle, poured by someone who has to stop and think what cap to use. It's in the gap that the error happens.
Limehurst: how AdBlue in your diesel tank happens
It is seldom carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the vehicle tells you, and if it runs out completely, the vehicle drops into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a drive off Tree House Avenue before work, or in the car park at Dog & Pheasant on the way home.
Then the car is unfamiliar. A hire car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers where your last one didn't, and the hand gets to for the cap it would have used on the old one.
No part halts the pour after it has started, because a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. Whether it occurs in Waterloo or the middle of Limehurst, it is the same few seconds.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Before you tip anything, whether on a drive in Smallshaw or a forecourt around Limehurst, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Read the cap rather than going by where it sits: AdBlue ones are often blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones normally aren't.
- Many cars give AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- A label inside the fuel flap often says which fuel goes where, on plenty of cars. Check for it.
- The handbook shows which it is if your filler is not next to the diesel cap: your boot, or under the bonnet.
- The person who drove the vehicle last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park outside Ashton-Under-Lyne, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
The day the light goes on, anywhere in Greater Manchester, follow this routine.
- Not in a rush on the side of Oaken Clough Drive, not on a slope, not with the motor running: park then switch off first.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly and it works.
- Both under a single flap? Then make sure the cap on your diesel side is still shut before raising the bottle.
- Finish when the tank is topped up or the bottle runs dry; before that, pour gently using the built-in spout.
- Before you start the vehicle, close the cap and look again that your diesel cap was never came off.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Leave out step five altogether.
Limehurst: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Do not start your motor: that's how the short order of things begins. The fuel pump runs on many diesels the moment the ignition goes on — and so leave it off. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is pulled from — so don't top up with diesel to dilute it.
If you're on a forecourt, whether it's the the nearest petrol station or the Sainsbury's, ask the attendants to help push the car clear of the petrol pump. Your own driveway in Limehurst is where it should stay.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if the motor has already run. The next exit is where to leave when you are on the M60, under a mile from Limehurst. Mileage counts — a short hop across Limehurst is a smaller job than driving under 10 miles towards Manchester — so say roughly how far it went.
What happens when we turn up in Limehurst
Our engineers come to the vehicle wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside Canon Burrows CofE Primary School, close to Manor Park or on your own driveway. What fluid was put in, the quantity, and if it ran: our engineers ask since the answers decide both work and quote. You hear that quote by phone, before anybody heads out.
Next: a drain, then a full flush of the entire system. Much more than with petrol, it matters here: the crystals form, some metals corrode, and none of it washes away on its own, no matter how long it is left. Testing is at the end: before that, fresh diesel is added, and the filter is cleaned or replaced if necessary. The motor is fired up next and tested to be sure it runs properly, all before our engineers go.
Unstarted vehicles usually mean a half-hour job after the moment we arrive. The kit is safe on a busy filling station, and hushed enough for a residential street late at night. 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. Misfuelling cover is included in plenty of insurance policies — so make use of the wait to check yours.
About Limehurst itself
Limehurst is a suburban area in Greater Manchester, situated near the river and approximately 6 miles from Manchester city centre. Limehurst has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are the most common, and it is located near other local areas such as Waterloo and Knott Lanes. Limehurst sits at an elevation of around 118 metres, relatively low compared to other parts of the region.
AdBlue drains about Limehurst, and Greater Manchester beyond
Limehurst is a residential suburb, and our teams that cover it also work the places around it, Taunton and Knott Lanes among them, across the OL postcode area. Our van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting OL7 9.
No need to move your car. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Boodle Wood, a side street close to War Memorial: we drain the car where it sits. Tricky to pin down, like the back of Richmond Street Community Centre? By a county line? Asking beats guessing, so phone.
The short version for Limehurst drivers
Read the cap before you tip. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, anywhere around Greater Manchester, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless — and so leave the car off then call 0333 366 0103.