AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Longton: How It Occurs and How to Stop It
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? In that case put this page aside for now, leave your ignition and motor off, then ring 0333 366 0103. Around Longton, finding it before the engine runs usually leaves draining and a full flush on the spot. If you are reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it takes place and how to make sure it doesn't.
AdBlue in a diesel motor, and its separate tank
Diesel goes to the motor — but many newer diesels driven round Longton and Little Hoole Moss Houses carry another liquid as well. The exhaust, not the engine, is where AdBlue goes: sprayed into the fumes to fresh it, from a separate tank.
Each tank has its own filler. On a lot of cars 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 topped up at the pump all the time. Seldom topped up, AdBlue normally comes from a bottle, poured by a driver who must stop and think which filler to use. Mistakes happen in that gap between them.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Longton: how it happens
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
On a drive off Chapel Lane before work, or in the car park at Rams Head on the way home: that's where the rushed top-up happens. Why the rush? As AdBlue gets low your car warns you, and once it is gone, limp mode follows.
Then the car is unfamiliar. A hire car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers where your last one didn't, and your hand gets to for the cap it would have used on the old one.
Third, the bottle goes in: diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it slides in as easily, and after the tip starts, no part halts it. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Longton or out in Hutton.
Telling the AdBlue filler from your diesel filler
Whether a Longton forecourt or a drive over in New Longton, spend a couple of seconds over these before anything goes in.
- Colour and marking: an AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap usually doesn't. Go by the cap, not its position.
- Plenty of motors give AdBlue the smaller neck of the two.
- Lift the filler flap and look for a label — plenty of motors show what goes in each filler just there.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that's where the filler sits if it's not by the diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- Check with the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — if you pick up a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park at Preston.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
When the light goes on, wherever in Lancashire, follow this routine.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with your motor running, and not in a rush on the side of School Lane.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and say the name "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew 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.
- Slowly does it, through the bottle's own spout, till it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Shut the cap, and check again — confirm the diesel filler remained closed the whole time. After that, start the car.
Find during the second or third step that the bottle went in the wrong tank? That's where you stop. Never carry on to stage five.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, around Longton?
Then the order of things is short. Do not start the engine. Leave your ignition off too, because on many diesels it by itself runs your pump. Thinning it with extra diesel won't work, since AdBlue sinks to the bottom instead of mixing — and that is where the fuel is sucked from.
Ask the attendants to help push the car away from the pump if you're on a forecourt — the Suthers Star Garage, the Gulf or anywhere else. Leave it where it is if you're on your own driveway in Longton.
When the engine has been run already, pull over safely and switch it off. On the M65, under 5 miles from Longton, that means the next junction. Roughly how far did it go? Hopping across Longton is less work than a run of under 5 miles towards Preston, so say.
Longton: what happens when our technicians turn up
The van reaches the car wherever it stopped — your own drive, near St. Andrews, or by Longton Primary School. The answers settle the work and the price, so we ask what got in, roughly how much, and whether it has run. Nobody sets off before you've heard the quote by phone.
Draining that tank comes next, followed by a full flush of the system. Much more than with petrol, it counts here: the crystals form, some metals are attacked, and nothing clears away on its own, no matter how long it is left. The filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the car is tested. The motor is started next and checked to make sure it runs properly, all before our technicians go.
Unstarted cars usually mean a half-hour job from arrival. The equipment is fine on a busy filling station, and quiet enough for a residential street after dark. Nothing upfront; you settle up that day. Afterwards, the VAT invoice and a report from the engineer are handed to you for your insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Longton
Longton is a village in Lancashire, situated on the riverside at a low elevation of around 20 metres. Longton lies close to the city of Preston, approximately 4 miles to the south, and is surrounded by other small communities such as Hutton and Walmer Bridge. Longton has a population of around 1783 people, predominantly living in semi-detached housing. Longton is located in the North West region of England, about 189 miles north of London.
AdBlue drains in Longton and across Lancashire
Longton is a village, and our vans that cover it also work the towns around it, Walmer Bridge and Bottom of Hutton among them, across the PR postcode area. Fastest of all: quote a PR4 5 postcode for our van.
There's no need to move the vehicle. A driveway, a lay-by on the way to Longton Victory Memorial Recreation Ground, a side street close to Longton Library: we drain the car where it is. Ring and ask instead of assuming if you're close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of Longton Womens Institute.
For Longton motorists, the short version
Tip no AdBlue till you have read the cap. Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, anywhere across Lancashire, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless — so leave the car off then ring 0333 366 0103.