Loughguile: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Avoid It?
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? In that case put this page aside a moment, keep the ignition and engine off, and ring 0333 366 0103. Around Loughguile, catching it before the motor runs normally means a drain and a thorough flush where it stands. Nothing happened yet? Below, the rest of the page explains the reasons it takes place and the ways to prevent it for good.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel motor
Plenty of modern diesels around Dunloy, as well as Loughguile, run on two fluids; the engine takes just your diesel. AdBlue's own tank keeps it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, and there a spray cleans the gas.
Different tanks, separate fillers. 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. Topping up the diesel side at the pump goes on all the time. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less often, normally from a bottle, and usually by somebody who has to stop and think where it goes. That gap is where the mistake lives.
Loughguile: how AdBlue in the diesel tank occurs
It's hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
Hurry follows from the warning. The car tells you as AdBlue runs low, and a dry tank sends it into limp mode — so the top-up gets done quickly, before work on a driveway off Wallace Cottages, or on the way home in the car park outside the pub in the village.
Then, the hand goes for the cap it would have used on the old vehicle — because a hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers somewhere your last one did not.
Lastly, the bottle fits: a diesel filler or AdBlue one, it slides in just as easily, and after the pour starts, no part halts it. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Loughguile or out in Corkey.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Look at these before pouring, at a forecourt around Loughguile or a driveway over in Stranocum. A few seconds, that's all.
- Colour and lettering: an AdBlue cap is regularly blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap usually does not. Go by the cap, not where it sits.
- Look at the size: the smaller filler neck is, on many cars, the AdBlue one.
- A label inside the fuel flap frequently shows which fuel goes where, on plenty of motors. Look for it.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that is where your filler is if it's not by the diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- The person who drove it last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park outside the nearest station, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
Wherever across County Antrim the light comes on, this is a routine for the day.
- Switch off once parked — level ground, engine off, and never in a rush by Dunaverty Court on the verge.
- Find the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and say the name "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew it. It seems silly. It works.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave the vehicle on.
- Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Only then, start your car: close the cap, check once more, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Never go on to step five.
Put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Loughguile already?
Short order, then. First: your motor remains unstarted. On many diesels your ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so do not switch the vehicle on. Don't top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where your fuel is sucked from.
At a forecourt — the nearest petrol station, another forecourt nearby or any other — the attendants will normally help push your car clear, if you ask. Leave it where it is if you're on your own driveway around Loughguile.
If the motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. Loughguile sits over 50 miles from the M77; there, take the first junction. Distance matters — a quick hop across Loughguile makes a smaller job than heading under 50 miles to Belfast — so tell us roughly how far it went.
Our arrival around Loughguile, and what happens next
Our engineers come to your car wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside the local primary school, close to the centre or on your own drive. Both the work and our quote rest on three replies — what liquid, what amount, and if it's run — so our engineers ask. The price is given over the phone, before any van leaves.
Then that tank is cleared and the fuel system cleaned thoroughly. Unlike petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and eats at some fuel-system metals, and neither washes away by itself. Hence it matters more. Filter flushed or, if needed, replaced; fresh diesel in; then a check of the car. We don't leave until it has been fired up and is running smoothly.
With pumps fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs where the motor hasn't run need about half an hour once our technicians arrive. Paying happens on the day, not upfront, and you are given the documents an insurer wants: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Loughguile and where it is
Loughguile is a small locality in County Antrim, situated inland at an elevation of around 145 metres. Loughguile lies approximately 35 miles northwest of Belfast, near the villages of Corkey, Cloughmills, and Armoy. Loughguile has a population of around 521 people, predominantly living in semi-detached housing. Loughguile is located in a rural area, relatively distant from London at around 354 miles away.
AdBlue drains round Loughguile, and County Antrim beyond
Being a small village, Loughguile has the same vans as nearby areas — Cloughmills, Armoy — right through BT postcodes and the surrounding area around them. The van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting BT44 9.
There's no need to shift the car. Draining takes place on the spot, whether a driveway, a road near a street just off the centre, or a layby towards the green space at the edge of the village. Guessing doesn't help behind the far end of the built-up part, on a border, or anywhere awkward to pin down; phone and ask.
The short version for Loughguile drivers
Tip no AdBlue till you have read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank anyway, leave it off then phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel clears it where it waits, anywhere around County Antrim.