Mill Hill: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Prevent It?
Stop reading a minute when the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, then ring 0333 366 0103. A drain and a full flush, done just where the car stands around Mill Hill, is normally all it needs if found before your motor runs. The rest of this page covers why it takes place and how to ensure it doesn't — useful if you're reading before it has happened.
AdBlue in a diesel car: two tanks, two fillers
Diesel goes to the motor — but many newer diesels seen round Mill Hill and Hollin Bank hold another liquid too. Its own tank holds it, and from there it goes to your exhaust, where spraying treats the gas.
There's a filler for every tank. Some cars keep the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; a lot more place the two together under one flap. Diesel goes in on every forecourt call-out, week in, week out. A driver who has to stop and think where it goes usually fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less commonly. That gap is where the error lives.
AdBlue in the diesel tank around Mill Hill: how it takes place
Carelessness seldom explains it. What does is three things lining up together.
Haste comes from the warning. The car warns you as AdBlue runs low, and a dry tank sends it into limp mode — so the top-up happens quickly, before work on a drive off Shorrock Lane, or heading home in the car park at Navigation.
Then, the hand reaches for the cap it knew on the old car — because a hire car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers somewhere your last one didn't.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, so nothing stops the pour once it has started. It's a few seconds, whether in Witton or bang in the centre of Mill Hill.
The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart
Whether a Mill Hill forecourt or a driveway out in Feniscliffe, spend a couple of seconds over these before anything is poured in.
- Position misleads; the cap doesn't. AdBlue ones tend to be blue or carry the name "AdBlue" — diesel ones usually do not.
- Look at the size: the smaller neck is, on many cars, the AdBlue one.
- Check inside your fuel flap: many cars have a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- Cannot see it next to your diesel filler? In that case look beneath the bonnet or inside the boot — the owner's manual says which.
- Whoever had it before will know. Check as you collect a rental or fleet car — at Mill Hill (Lancs)'s car park, say — not when the light appears.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever around Lancashire that is.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with the engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Francis Street.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after finding the AdBlue filler and reading it. Daft, perhaps, but it does the trick.
- The diesel cap stays on. Where both sit under a flap, make sure it is closed before lifting the bottle.
- Slowly does it, through the bottle's own spout, until it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Shut the cap, then check once more — confirm the diesel filler stayed shut throughout. Only then, start your car.
Find at stage two or three that it's already gone into the diesel side? Then stop right there. Stage five is off limits.
Mill Hill: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Do not start your motor: that's where the short order of things starts. On many diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so don't switch it on. Topping up with diesel will not thin it: instead, AdBlue sinks to the base of the tank, right where fuel is taken from.
The staff at Texaco, Shell or any forecourt will usually lend a hand to push the vehicle clear if asked. Leave it where it is if you're on your own driveway around Mill Hill.
When the motor has been run already, stop safely then turn it off. The next junction means the place to leave if you're on the M65, under 3 miles from Mill Hill. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Preston, under 10 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Mill Hill.
Mill Hill: what takes place when our engineers turn up
Our engineers come to the vehicle wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside St Aidan's Primary School - A Church of England Academy, near St Aidan’s Church or on your own drive. Both the work and the price depend on three replies — which liquid, what amount, and whether it has run — so our technicians ask. Nobody sets off before you've heard the quote over the phone.
Then that tank is cleared and the fuel system cleaned thoroughly. With AdBlue that counts more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it doesn't wash out on its own. A test is at the end: before that, clean diesel goes in, and the fuel filter is flushed or replaced if necessary. We don't leave until it has been started and is running correctly.
If the motor hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there, using pumps that are safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night. No money upfront; you settle up that day. At the end, a VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for the insurer. It is worth checking your insurance as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover comes with many policies.
About Mill Hill and where it is
Mill Hill is a suburban area in Lancashire, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 108 metres, with terraced housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Mill Hill lies approximately 8 miles north of Preston and is close to nearby places such as Witton, Green Lane, and Waterloo. Mill Hill is part of the larger North West region, with London being around 183 miles to the south. Mill Hill has a population of around 8150 residents.
AdBlue drains across Lancashire, Mill Hill included
As a residential suburb, Mill Hill shares its vans surrounding areas — Green Lane, Waterloo — right across BB postcodes and the surrounding area around them. Quickest of all: give a BB2 4 postcode for our van.
Shifting your car isn't necessary. We drain it where it is — a side street close to St Francis, a lay-by on the way to Griffin Park, a driveway. Assuming won't help at the back of St. Mark's Club, on a border, or somewhere hard to describe; ring and check.
The short version for Mill Hill drivers
Read the cap before you pour. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless, leave it off and phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel clears it where it sits, anywhere around Lancashire.