Why It Happens and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Moor End
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? Then set this page aside for now, keep the ignition and motor off, and phone 0333 366 0103. Caught before your motor runs, it is generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Moor End. If you're reading before it has happened, the rest of this page is about why it occurs and how to make sure it doesn't.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Plenty of modern diesels around Sower Carr, like those in Moor End, carry on two fluids; the engine takes only the diesel. Your exhaust, not the motor, is where AdBlue goes: dosed into the fumes to clean them, from a separate tank.
Every tank comes with one filler of its own. Many of cars share a single flap for both, whereas others put the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is fuelled at the pump all the time. Rarely topped up, AdBlue usually comes from a bottle, poured by someone who must stop and think what filler to use. Mistakes happen in the gap between them.
Moor End: how AdBlue in the diesel tank takes place
Carelessness rarely causes it. Instead is three things coming up together.
On a drive off Strickland's Lane before work, or in the car park at Seven Stars on the way home: that's where the rushed top-up takes place. Why the rush? As AdBlue runs low the car tells you, and once it is empty, limp mode kicks in.
The old car's filler is where the hand goes — but a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers elsewhere. That's a second thing: an unfamiliar car.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, so nothing stops the tip once it has started. Stalmine or the heart of Moor End: it takes the same few seconds either way.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Before you tip anything, whether on a drive in Hale Nook or a forecourt in Moor End, check these. They take a few seconds.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is often blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap normally is not. Read it instead of going by position.
- The size. On many cars the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Plenty of cars say there which fuel goes where.
- Cannot see it next to your diesel filler? In that case look below the bonnet or inside your boot — the owner's manual will say which.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park at Poulton-Le-Fylde, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up
Anywhere across Lancashire the light comes on, here is a routine for the day.
- Switch off after you park — flat ground, engine off, and never in a rush by Neds Lane at the roadside.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it does the trick.
- Leave the diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check once more. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
Find at the second or third step that the bottle went in the wrong tank? That is where you stop. Skip step five altogether.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Moor End already?
Do not start your motor: that is where the short order of things begins. Leave your ignition off as well, because on many diesels switching it on alone starts your fuel pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where your fuel is pulled from — so do not top up with diesel to dilute it.
On a forecourt — Texaco, BP or any other — the staff will usually help roll your car away, if you ask. At home in Moor End? So your car stays put.
Already run? Pull over when it's sensible, then turn off. Moor End sits under 10 miles from the M55; there, use the next junction. Mileage counts — a short hop across Moor End makes a smaller job than heading under 15 miles to Lancaster — so say about how far it went.
What occurs when we arrive in Moor End
Outside Stalmine Primary School, close to Stalmine Village Hall or on your own drive: wherever your car has stopped, our engineers come to it. Both the work and our quote depend on three answers — which liquid, which amount, and whether it has run — so our engineers ask. That quote is given over the phone, before any van leaves.
Draining your tank comes next, then a full flush of the fuel system. More than with petrol, it counts here: the crystals form, some metals are attacked, and none of it clears away on its own, however long it is left. A test is last: before that, clean diesel is added, and your filter is flushed or changed if necessary. Before we leave, we fire it up and confirm that it's running properly.
Unrun cars mostly need a half-hour visit after arrival. The equipment is safe on a live filling station, and quiet enough for a driveway late at night. Your insurer will ask for the engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and you get both once this job is done. Payment comes on the day, with no deposit. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Moor End, for a moment
Moor End is a suburban area in Lancashire, situated inland at a low elevation of around 11 metres. Moor End lies near the city of Lancaster, approximately 12 miles away, and is close to nearby places such as Stalmine and Stalmine Moss Side. Moor End has a population of around 1564 people and is characterised by predominantly detached housing.
Moor End and Lancashire: AdBlue drains across the area
Moor End is a residential suburb, and our vans that cover it also work the places around it, Stalmine Moss Side and Cold Row among them, across the FY postcode area. The van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting FY6 0.
Shifting the car is not necessary. Our technicians drain it where it is — a side street near Saint James Church, a lay-by on the way to Recreation Ground, a drive. Ring and ask rather than guessing if you are near a border, or somewhere hard to describe, like the back of Blessed Virgin Mary.
The short version for Moor End people
Before you tip, read the cap. Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, anywhere around Lancashire, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless — and so leave the car off and phone 0333 366 0103.