Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Meir: Why It Occurs
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? Then put this page aside a moment, leave your ignition and engine off, then call 0333 366 0103. Normally, if your motor has not turned, it is emptied and thoroughly rinsed where your vehicle is in Meir. Reading in advance? Then what follows explains why it comes about and how to prevent it happening at all.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Plenty of newer diesels on the roads around Meir and Blythe Bridge carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your engine. AdBlue's own tank keeps it, and from there it is sent to the exhaust, where a spray cleans the gas.
Each tank has a filler of its own. Many of vehicles share a single flap for both, while others put the AdBlue filler to your boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is topped up at the petrol pump all the time. Rarely filled, AdBlue normally comes out of a bottle, tipped by someone who has to stop and think what cap it needs. That gap is where the slip lives.
Meir: how AdBlue in the diesel tank takes place
Rarely is it carelessness: usually three things line up.
On a driveway off Caverswall Lane before work, or in the car park outside Catchems Corner heading home: that's where the hurried top-up happens. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue runs low your car tells you, and if it is empty, limp mode follows.
Next, the hand reaches for the cap it knew on the old motor — since a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not.
Nothing halts the tip once it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. Whether it occurs in Caverswall or the middle of Meir, it's the same few seconds.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Check these first, on a forecourt in Meir or a drive out in Weston Coyney. Seconds, that's all.
- Read the cap rather than going by where it sits: AdBlue ones are frequently blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps usually are not.
- On plenty of cars, size tells: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- A label inside your fuel flap often says which fuel goes where, on plenty of vehicles. Look for it.
- Cannot see it next to your diesel filler? Then check below the bonnet or inside the boot — the handbook will say where.
- The previous driver will know. Ask when you collect a hire car or fleet car — at Blythe Bridge's car park, say — not once the warning comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
Wherever in Staffordshire the light comes on, this is a routine for the day.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with your motor running, and not in a rush on the side of Edenhurst Avenue.
- Silly as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap works — after you've located your filler and read the cap.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave the vehicle on.
- Stop once that tank is topped up or the bottle is empty; until then, pour slowly using the own spout.
- Shut the cap, then look again — making sure your diesel cap stayed closed throughout. After that, start the vehicle.
Discover at the second or third stage that AdBlue went into the diesel tank? That's where you stop. Do not go on to step five.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank in Meir already?
What follows is a short order of things, beginning with no starting your engine. On many diesels your ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so don't switch the car on. Filling up with diesel will not dilute it: instead, AdBlue drops to the base of your tank, just where the fuel is drawn from.
Ask the attendants to help roll your car away from the petrol pump if you're on a forecourt — the the nearest petrol station, the BP or somewhere else. If you're on your own drive around Meir, leave the car where it sits.
If your engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. On the M6, under 10 miles from Meir, that means the next exit. Distance matters — a quick hop across Meir makes a smaller job than heading under 5 miles towards Stoke-on-Trent — so say about how far it went.
When our technicians arrive around Meir, what takes place?
Outside The Crescent Academy, near Give Me Strength or on your own driveway: wherever your car has stopped, our engineers come to it. The replies decide this work and our price, and so we ask what went in, about how much, and whether it's run. No one sets off before you have had our quote over the phone.
Emptying your tank comes next, followed by a full flush of your system. Not like petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and attacks some fuel-system metals, and neither washes away unaided. That is why it counts more. Your filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Next our engineers fire it up and confirm it runs correctly before we leave.
Unrun vehicles usually mean a half-hour visit from the moment we arrive. The equipment is safe on a live forecourt, and hushed enough for a residential street after dark. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Meir
Meir is a suburban area in Staffordshire, situated approximately 4.9 miles from Stoke-on-Trent, and is characterised by its semi-detached housing stock. Meir sits inland, at an elevation of around 187 metres, and is close to nearby places such as Caverswall and Lightwood. Meir is home to a population of around 2991 people, and is located about 130.9 miles northwest of London. Meir forms part of the wider Stoke-on-Trent urban area, with Cookshill also nearby.
AdBlue drains around Meir, and Staffordshire beyond
Throughout ST postcodes, our teams that cover Meir — a residential suburb — work the surrounding places too, Cookshill and Lightwood among them. Fastest of all: give a ST3 6 postcode for our van.
The vehicle does not need to move. Our engineers drain it where it is — a side street close to Saint Clare's, a lay-by on the way to Blythe Bridge Golf Club, a driveway. Guessing won't help at the back of Meir Library, close to a border, or somewhere awkward to describe; phone and ask.
Meir motorists: the short version
Before you pour, read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank all the same, leave the car off and ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it waits, anywhere in Staffordshire.