Why It Happens and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Moreton Say
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave the motor and the ignition off then ring 0333 366 0103. In Moreton Say, finding it before the motor runs normally means draining and a thorough flush on the spot. Nothing happened yet? Further down, the page covers the reasons it takes place and the how to prevent it for good.
AdBlue in a diesel car: two tanks, two fillers
Not one liquid but two: that is what plenty of modern diesels around Moreton Say and Styche Hall carry, with diesel for the motor. The exhaust, not your engine, is where AdBlue goes: dosed into the fumes to fresh them, from its own tank.
There is a filler on every tank. Many of cars share a single flap for both, whereas others put the AdBlue filler to the 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 frequently, usually from a bottle, and usually by someone who has to stop and think where it goes. It is in the gap that the error happens.
How AdBlue in your diesel tank takes place in Moreton Say
Seldom is it carelessness: usually three things line up.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the vehicle tells you, and if it runs out altogether, the car goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a drive off Bletchley Road before work, or in the car park at the pub in the village on the way home.
The old car's filler is where the hand reaches — but a hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers elsewhere. That's a second thing: a strange vehicle.
Nothing halts the tip after it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. Bletchley or the middle of Moreton Say: it takes the same few seconds either way.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Be it a Moreton Say forecourt or a drive out in Moretonwood, take a few seconds over these before any goes in.
- Where it sits can mislead; the cap doesn't. AdBlue ones tend to be blue or bear the name "AdBlue" — diesel ones normally do not.
- Look at the size: the smaller filler neck is, on many motors, the AdBlue one.
- Lift the filler flap and look for a label — plenty of motors mark what belongs in each filler right there.
- The handbook shows which it is when the filler isn't next to your diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- The person who drove it last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park outside Prees, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
For the day the light appears — anywhere you are in Shropshire — a simple routine to use.
- Turn off once parked — flat ground, motor off, and never rushed by A41 on the verge.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it does the trick.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave it on.
- Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Only then, start your car: close the cap, check again, and make sure the diesel cap was never opened.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you've already poured into the diesel side. Stage five is out.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank in Moreton Say already?
Brief list, then. Top of it: your motor remains off. Don't switch the ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where the fuel is sucked from — so don't top up with diesel to thin it.
Ask the attendants to help roll your car away from the pump if you are at a forecourt — the Shell, the Morrisons or anywhere else. At home around Moreton Say? Then the car remains where it is.
Where your motor has run already, pull over safely and switch the car off. Moreton Say lies under 15 miles from the M6; on it, take the next exit. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Stoke-on-Trent, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Moreton Say.
Moreton Say: what takes place when our engineers turn up
The van comes to your car anywhere it has come to rest — your own driveway, near Saint Margaret's, or by Moreton Say CofE Primary School. Both the work and our quote rest on three answers — which liquid, what quantity, and whether it's run — so our technicians ask. Nobody sets off until you have heard our price by phone.
Then your tank is cleared and your system purged thoroughly. Unlike petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and eats at certain fuel-system metals, and none of it washes away by itself. That is why it matters more. A test comes at the end: before that, fresh diesel goes in, and the fuel filter is flushed or replaced as needed. Before we go, our engineers start the car and check that it is running properly.
Unstarted vehicles usually need a half-hour job from the moment we arrive. The kit is fine on a live forecourt, and hushed enough for a driveway after dark. Paying is on the day, not upfront, and you are given the documents your insurer asks for: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About Moreton Say
Moreton Say is a small hamlet in Shropshire, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 81 metres. Moreton Say lies near the Staffordshire border, close to the cities of Stoke-on-Trent and the smaller settlements of Bletchley and Longford. Moreton Say has a population of around 521 people, predominantly living in detached houses. Moreton Say is located approximately 140.9 miles northwest of London.
Moreton Say and Shropshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Moreton Say is a rural hamlet, and the vans that cover it also work the towns near it, Smythemoor and Longford among them, across the TF postcode area. Quickest of all: quote a TF9 3 postcode to the van.
Your car stays where it is. The drain happens on the spot, be it a drive, a road near Moreton Say Village Hall, or a lay-by towards Sheephill Covert. Awkward to pin down, like the back of Moretoin Castle? By a border? Checking beats guessing, and so ring.
For Moreton Say people, the short version
Before you tip, read the cap. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, anywhere in Shropshire, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank all the same — and so leave the vehicle off then phone 0333 366 0103.