Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in New Barton: Why It Occurs
Pause reading a minute when the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, then call 0333 366 0103. A drain and a full flush, carried out just where your vehicle stands around New Barton, is normally what it needs when caught before the engine runs. Here in advance? Then what follows covers why it happens and how to stop it ever happening.
AdBlue in a diesel car: two tanks, two fillers
Many modern diesels in Mears Ashby, like those in New Barton, carry on two liquids; the engine takes only the diesel. Its own tank keeps it, and from there it is sent to the exhaust, and there a spray cleans the gas.
There is a filler for each tank. Other vehicles put the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; plenty more have both together behind one flap. The diesel side is topped up at the petrol pump all the time. A driver who has to stop and work out where it goes normally tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less often. The error lives in that gap.
How AdBlue in your diesel tank takes place around New Barton
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a message from your car, and letting it run out means limp mode — so a rushed top-up, maybe before work off Baron Avenue, perhaps at Silver Band Club on the way home that evening.
The old car's cap is where your hand reaches — but a hire car, a new vehicle or a company car keeps the fillers elsewhere. That's a second thing: a strange motor.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, and so nothing stops the tip once it has started. Earls Barton or the middle of New Barton: it takes the same few seconds in both.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Check these first, at a forecourt around New Barton or a driveway out in Ecton. A few seconds, that's all.
- Read the cap rather than going by where it sits: AdBlue ones are often blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones usually are not.
- Look at the size: the smaller neck is, on many vehicles, the AdBlue one.
- Lift the filler flap and look for a label — many vehicles mark which belongs in which inlet just there.
- The handbook. If your filler is not by the diesel cap, it is in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Ask the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — if you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park at Wellingborough.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
On the day the light appears — anywhere it is across Northamptonshire — a routine to follow.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with your engine running, and not in a rush on the side of The Pyghtle.
- Find the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and say the word "AdBlue" aloud as unscrewing it. It seems daft. It does the trick.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Gently does it, through the bottle's own spout, until it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Only after that, start the car: close the cap, check again, and make sure the diesel cap was never opened.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Don't go on to stage five.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, in New Barton?
What follows is a short order of things, starting with no starting your engine. On many diesels your ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so do not switch the car on. Topping up with diesel won't weaken it: rather than mixing, AdBlue drops to the bottom of that tank, right where fuel is taken from.
If you're on a forecourt, whether it is the Sainsbury's or the Shell, ask the staff to help roll the car clear of the petrol pump. Leave it where it is if you are on your own drive around New Barton.
Already run? Pull over when it is sensible, then turn off. New Barton sits under 10 miles from the M1; on it, take the first junction. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Milton Keynes, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across New Barton.
Our arrival in New Barton, and what occurs next
The van reaches the car wherever it has come to rest — your own driveway, near Lings Gymnastics, or by Earls Barton Primary School. The replies determine the work and our price, so our engineers ask what got in, about how much, and if it has run. You get that price by phone, before anyone heads out.
Emptying your tank comes next, then a thorough flush of the system. With AdBlue that matters more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not wash out on its own. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Before leaving, our engineers fire it up and confirm that it is running correctly.
Most jobs are finished in roughly half an hour once we arrive, as long as the motor hasn't run — and the pumps our technicians use are fine on a busy forecourt and quiet at night beside a house. Paying is on the day, not upfront, and you receive the documents your insurer asks for: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. It is worth looking at your policy as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover comes with many policies.
About New Barton, for a moment
New Barton is a locality in Northamptonshire, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 101 metres, with detached housing being the predominant type of accommodation. New Barton lies near several other settlements, including Earls Barton, Wilby, and Great Doddington, and is within commuting distance of Milton Keynes. New Barton is also relatively close to London, being approximately 59 miles away. New Barton has a population of around 2112 people, according to recent estimates.
New Barton and Northamptonshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Being a small village, New Barton shares its vans surrounding places — Wilby, Great Doddington — all the way across NN postcodes and the wider area beyond. Quickest of all: give a NN6 0 postcode for the van.
There's no need to move the vehicle. A driveway, a lay-by on the way to Recreational area, a side street near Earls Barton Sports Association: we drain the vehicle where it is. Tricky to pin down, like the back of All Saints Church? By a border? Asking beats guessing, and so ring.
New Barton motorists: the short version
Pour no AdBlue till you have read the cap. AdBlue in the diesel tank after all? Keep the car off and phone 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, throughout Northamptonshire.