Mawsley Village: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Avoid It?
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? In that case set this page down for now, keep your ignition and motor off, then ring 0333 366 0103. Caught before the engine runs, it's normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is in Mawsley Village. The rest of this page explains why it happens and how to make sure it does not — handy if you are reading ahead of time.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel motor
Plenty of current diesels on the roads about Mawsley Village and Little Cransley carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the motor. Its own tank keeps it, and from there it goes to your exhaust, and there a spray treats the fumes.
Each tank has a filler of its own. 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 fuelled at the pump all the time. Far less commonly, the AdBlue side is filled — normally from a bottle, by a person thinking about where it goes. It is in the gap that the error happens.
How AdBlue in the diesel tank occurs around Mawsley Village
It's hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a driveway off School Road before work, or in the car park at the pub in the village heading home: that is where the rushed top-up happens. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue runs low the vehicle warns you, and if it's gone, limp mode kicks in.
Then, the hand reaches for the cap it knew on the old car — since a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car places the fillers somewhere your last one did not.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, and so nothing stops the tip once it has started. Great Cransley or the middle of Mawsley Village: it is the same few seconds either way.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Look at these before pouring, on a forecourt in Mawsley Village or a driveway out in Foxhall. Seconds, no more.
- Blue and lettering: an AdBlue cap is often blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap normally doesn't. Go by the cap, not where it sits.
- Check the size: the smaller filler neck is, on many vehicles, the AdBlue one.
- Open the flap and look for a label — many cars mark what goes in which filler just there.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that is where the filler sits if it's not by the diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- Whoever had it before knows. Check as you pick up a hire car or fleet car — from Kettering's car park, say — not once the warning appears.
How to top up without AdBlue in the diesel tank
When the light goes on, anywhere around Northamptonshire, follow this routine.
- Switch off after you park — level ground, motor off, and not rushed beside Loddington Way on the verge.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once finding the AdBlue filler and read it. Daft, yes, but it does the trick.
- Leave the diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Slowly is best, through the bottle's own spout, until it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Never go on to stage five.
Put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Mawsley Village already?
Don't start your engine: that's where the short order of things begins. On plenty of diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so do not switch it on. Don't top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is drawn from.
Ask the attendants to help push the car clear of the pump if you're on a forecourt — the Shell, the another forecourt nearby or somewhere else. Leave it where it is if you're on your own drive in Mawsley Village.
Where the motor has been run already, pull over safely then switch the vehicle off. Mawsley Village sits under 15 miles from the M1; there, use the first exit. A short hop across Mawsley Village is a smaller job than a run towards Leicester, under 25 miles away, and so tell us roughly how far it went.
Our arrival around Mawsley Village, and what happens next
Our van reaches the car anywhere it stopped — your own drive, beside Mawsley Village Hall, or by Mawsley Primary School. What fluid went in, the amount, and whether it ran: our engineers ask because the replies set the work and quote. The price is given on the call, ahead of any van leaving.
The fuel system is then cleaned thoroughly, after that tank is drained. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not wash out on its own — which is why the flush matters more with AdBlue than with petrol. Filter cleaned or, if needed, replaced; fresh diesel in; and then a test of the car. We do not go until it has been fired up and is running smoothly.
Most jobs are done in about half an hour once our engineers get there, provided your motor hasn't run — and the pumps we use are fine on a live forecourt yet quiet after dark beside a house. Paying happens on the day, not upfront, and you are given the documents your insurer wants: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. Wrong-fuel cover is part of many insurance policies — so use the wait to check yours.
About Mawsley Village itself
Mawsley Village is a rural settlement in Northamptonshire, situated in the East Midlands region of England, with an elevation of around 135 metres. Mawsley Village lies approximately 22 miles from Leicester and 67 miles from London, placing it in a relatively central position. Mawsley Village is characterised by its predominantly detached housing stock and is surrounded by nearby places such as Great Cransley, Broughton, and Loddington. Mawsley Village has a population of around 1709 residents.
AdBlue drains about Mawsley Village, and Northamptonshire beyond
Over NN postcodes, our vans that cover Mawsley Village — a rural village — work the surrounding spots too, Loddington and Broughton included. Fastest of all: give a NN14 1 postcode for the van.
The car remains where it is. Anywhere it sits — near St Andrew's Church, in a layby en route to Old Poor's Gorse, at home — that's where it is cleared. Awkward to pin down, like the back of Loddington & Mawsley Cricket Club? By a border? Asking beats guessing, and so ring.
Mawsley Village people: the short version
Read the cap before you tip. Still AdBlue in the diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel can empty it wherever it stands, anywhere in Northamptonshire: switch the car off and ring 0333 366 0103.