Why It Happens and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Longpark
Leave your engine and ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103 first — reading can wait if AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. A drain and a thorough flush, carried out just where the car sits around Longpark, is usually what it needs when found before the motor runs. The remainder of this page covers why it happens and how to make sure it does not — handy if you're reading before it has happened.
AdBlue in a diesel motor, and its separate tank
No single fluid but two: that's what plenty of newer diesels around Longpark and Onthank run, with diesel feeding the motor. Your exhaust, not your engine, is where AdBlue ends up: dosed into the gas to clean them, from its own tank.
Every tank comes with a filler of its own. Under one flap, next to each other: that is the arrangement on many motors. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler sits under the bonnet or in your boot instead. Topping up your diesel side at the petrol pump goes on constantly. A driver who has to stop and work out where it goes normally fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less commonly. The mistake lives in that gap.
How AdBlue in the diesel tank happens around Longpark
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
On a driveway off Innellan Drive before work, or in the car park outside Black's Bar on the way home: that's where the rushed top-up happens. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue runs low your car tells you, and once it is empty, limp mode kicks in.
Unfamiliar motors are next, as well. Rentals, new cars and company vehicles place their fillers in new places, and the hand reaches for the cap used on the old one.
Lastly, the spout fits: a diesel filler or AdBlue one, it goes in as easily, and once the tip starts, no part stops it. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Longpark or out in Beansburn.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you tip anything, whether on a drive in Altonhill or a forecourt in Longpark, check these. They take a few seconds.
- Where it sits can mislead; the cap doesn't. AdBlue caps tend to be blue or bear the name "AdBlue" — diesel ones usually do not.
- On plenty of vehicles, size gives it away: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- Check inside the fuel flap: many vehicles have a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that is where your filler sits if it's not by the diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- Whoever had it before knows. Ask when you pick up a hire car or company car — at Kilmarnock's car park, perhaps — not when the light appears.
How to top up without AdBlue in the diesel tank
The day the light comes on, wherever around East Ayrshire, use this routine.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with the engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Deanhill Lane.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and speak the word "AdBlue" aloud as unscrewing it. It sounds daft. It works.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave the car on.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the vehicle.
Discover at the second or third stage that the bottle went into the diesel tank? That is where you stop. Step five is off limits.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Longpark?
Don't start your motor: that is how the short order of things starts. Keep your ignition off as well, since on plenty of diesels switching it on by itself runs the fuel pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where your fuel is pulled from — so don't top up with diesel to dilute it.
If you are at a forecourt, whether it's the Morrisons or the BP, ask the attendants to help push the car away from the pump. Your own driveway in Longpark is the place it should stay.
When the motor has run already, pull over safely then turn it off. On the M77, under 3 miles from Longpark, that means the next junction. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Glasgow, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Longpark.
When our engineers turn up in Longpark, what takes place?
Our van reaches the car anywhere it has come to rest — your own drive, beside The Synergy Arena, or by the local primary school. Both the work and our price depend on three replies — which fluid, which quantity, and whether it has run — so our engineers ask. The quote comes on the call, ahead of any van leaving.
The fuel system is then flushed thoroughly, once your tank is drained. Unlike petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and eats at certain fuel-system metals, and none of it washes away unaided. That is why it counts more. After your filter is cleaned — or renewed, if required — fresh diesel goes in, and finally your car is tested. The engine is started next and checked to confirm it runs properly, all before we head off.
Unstarted cars mostly mean a half-hour job from the moment we arrive. The equipment is safe on a busy forecourt, and hushed enough for a residential street after dark. Your insurer will ask for an engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and you get both at the end. Payment is on the day, with no deposit. It is worth checking your insurance while we travel to you: misfuelling cover comes with plenty of policies.
About Longpark and where it is
Longpark is a suburban area situated on the riverside in East Ayrshire, with a mix of semi-detached housing and local amenities. Longpark sits at an elevation of 61 metres, near the communities of Beansburn, Hillhead, and Knockinlaw. Longpark is located approximately 19.5 miles from Glasgow, making it a commuter base for the city. Longpark has a population of around 4708 residents, who enjoy the area's riverside setting.
AdBlue drains across East Ayrshire, Longpark included
Throughout KA postcodes, the vans covering Longpark — a residential suburb — work the surrounding spots too, Knockinlaw and Hillhead among them. Our van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting KA3 1.
The vehicle stays where it is. A driveway, a lay-by on the way to Hollybrae Plantation, a side street close to Trades Union Council Memorial Tree: we drain it where it is. Awkward to explain, like the back of Townholm Bowling Club? Close to a county line? Checking beats assuming, so ring.
For Longpark people, the short version
First, the cap; after that, the pour. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, anywhere in East Ayrshire, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank anyway — so leave the vehicle off then ring 0333 366 0103.