AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Munlochy: How It Happens and How to Prevent It
Stop here for a moment when the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, then phone 0333 366 0103. Usually, when the engine hasn't run, it is drained and fully rinsed where the vehicle is around Munlochy. The rest of this page explains why it occurs and how to ensure it does not — useful if you are reading before it has happened.
AdBlue in a diesel motor: two tanks, two fillers
Diesel goes to the motor — yet many current diesels driven about Munlochy and Glackmore hold another liquid as well. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Every tank comes with one filler of its own. Under one flap, side by side: that's the layout on a lot of motors. On others, AdBlue's filler sits under the bonnet or in your boot instead. Diesel gets filled on every filling station call-out, week in, week out. Much less frequently, the AdBlue side gets filled — normally from a bottle, by a person thinking about where it goes. The mistake lives in that gap.
How does AdBlue in the diesel tank occur in Munlochy?
Carelessness rarely causes it. Instead is three things lining up together.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low your car tells you, and if it runs out completely, the vehicle drops into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a drive off Hillpark Brae before work, or in the car park at Allangrange Arms on the way home.
Then your car is unfamiliar. A hire car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not, and the hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old one.
Nothing halts the pour once it has started, because a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. Knockbain or the middle of Munlochy: it is the same few seconds in both.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you pour anything, whether on a driveway in Arpafeelie or a forecourt in Munlochy, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Where it sits can mislead; the cap does not. AdBlue caps tend to be blue or carry the name "AdBlue" — diesel ones normally do not.
- On plenty of motors, size gives it away: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- Look inside your fuel flap: plenty of cars have a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- Cannot find it next to your diesel filler? Then look beneath the bonnet or in your boot — the owner's manual will say which.
- Ask the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — if you pick up a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park outside Inverness.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
When the light comes on, anywhere across Highland, use this routine.
- Not in a rush on the side of Stables Court, not on a slope, not with the engine running: park and switch off first.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it does the trick.
- Both behind one flap? So confirm the cap on your diesel side is still closed ahead of raising the bottle.
- Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
Discover during the second or third step that the bottle went into the diesel tank? That's where you stop. Skip step five entirely.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, in Munlochy?
Don't start the engine: that's where the short order of things begins. On many diesels your ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so don't switch it on. Topping up with diesel won't thin it: instead, AdBlue sinks to the base of your tank, right where the fuel is drawn from.
Ask the staff to help roll the car away from the pump if you're on a forecourt — the the nearest petrol station, the Fraser's Garage or anywhere else. If you're on your own driveway around Munlochy, leave the vehicle where it stands.
Already started? Stop once it's safe, then turn off. Munlochy sits over 50 miles from the M90; there, take the first junction. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Inverness, under 10 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Munlochy.
Our arrival in Munlochy, and what takes place next
We come to your car wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside the local primary school, close to Clootie Well or on your own driveway. Both the work and the price rest on three answers — which fluid, which amount, and whether it has run — so our technicians ask. That quote is given on the call, ahead of any van leaving.
Emptying that tank comes next, then a full flush of the system. Much more than with petrol, it counts with AdBlue: the crystals form, certain metals corrode, and none of that washes out unaided, however long it is left. A test comes at the end: before that, clean diesel is added, and the filter is flushed or changed if necessary. The motor is fired up next and checked to confirm it runs properly, all before we head off.
Unstarted cars usually need a half-hour job from the moment we arrive. The kit is safe on a live filling station, and hushed enough for a driveway late at night. Nothing upfront; you settle up that day. At the end, a VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for your insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Munlochy, briefly
Munlochy is a small coastal village in the Highland region of Scotland, situated near the shores of the Moray Firth. Munlochy sits at an elevation of 42 metres, looking out across the water towards the Black Isle. Munlochy is located close to the city of Inverness, with nearby villages including Knockbain, Drumsmittal, and Bogallan. Munlochy has a population of around 557 people, predominantly living in detached houses.
AdBlue drains across Highland, Munlochy included
Munlochy is a coastal village, and our vans that cover it also work the places around it, Drumsmittal and Bogallan among them, across the IV postcode area. Our van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting IV8 8.
There's no need to shift the car. We drain it where it is — a side street close to Knockbain Parish Church, a lay-by on the way to Manse Plantation, a driveway. Assuming doesn't help behind Knockbain War Memorial, on a border, or somewhere hard to pin down; phone and ask.
The short version for Munlochy people
Always, the cap; after that, the tip. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, anywhere around Highland, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless — and so leave the vehicle off then phone 0333 366 0103.