How It Happens and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in New Brumby
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? In that case set this page down for now, leave the ignition and motor off, then ring 0333 366 0103. Around New Brumby, catching it before the engine runs normally means draining and a thorough flush where it stands. Not happened yet? Below, the page covers the reasons it takes place and the how to prevent it altogether.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Many newer diesels in Ashby, like those in New Brumby, run on two fluids; your motor gets just your diesel. Your exhaust, not your motor, is where AdBlue ends up: dosed into the fumes to fresh it, from its own tank.
There is a filler on each tank. Plenty of motors share a single flap for both, whereas others put the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. Diesel goes in on each filling station call-out, again and again. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less regularly, usually from a bottle, and usually by somebody who has to stop and think where it goes. That gap is where the slip lives.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in New Brumby: how it happens
Seldom is it carelessness: normally three things coincide.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a warning from the vehicle, and letting it run out leads to limp mode — so a hurried top-up, perhaps before work off Healey Road, or at The Comet on the way home after work.
Then, the hand goes for the cap it would have used on the old car — since a hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers where 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 after it has started. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of New Brumby or out in Lincoln Gardens.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Be it a New Brumby forecourt or a drive out in Old Brumby, spend a few seconds on these before anything goes in.
- Read the cap rather than going by where it sits: AdBlue caps are regularly blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones usually are not.
- Look at the size: the smaller neck is, on many motors, the AdBlue one.
- A label inside your fuel flap frequently says which fuel goes where, on many cars. Check for it.
- The handbook. If your filler isn't by the diesel cap, it's in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The person who drove it last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park at Scunthorpe, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
Anywhere in Lincolnshire the light comes on, here is a routine for the day.
- Switch off after you park — level ground, engine stopped, and not rushed by St Botolph's Road on the verge.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly and it works.
- The diesel cap remains on. When both share a flap, confirm it is shut before the bottle comes up.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
Find during the second or third step that the bottle went in the diesel tank? That is where you stop. Skip stage five entirely.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, in New Brumby?
The short order of things, beginning with not starting the engine. Keep your ignition off too, since on many diesels it by itself runs the pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is pulled from — so don't top up with diesel to thin it.
On a forecourt — the nearest petrol station, Applegreen or any other — the staff will usually help push the vehicle clear, when you ask. Leave it where it is if you're on your own drive around New Brumby.
Already run? Pull over once it is safe, then turn off. New Brumby sits under 3 miles from the M180; there, take the next exit. Distance counts — a quick hop across New Brumby is a smaller job than heading under 25 miles towards Kingston upon Hull — so say about how far it went.
New Brumby: what takes place when we turn up
Our van comes to the car wherever it stopped — your own drive, near Community Centre, or outside St. Bernadette's Catholic Primary Voluntary Academy. Those replies settle this work and the price, so our engineers ask what was put in, about how much, and if it has run. That quote comes over the phone, before any van leaves.
After that: a drain, then a thorough flush of the entire system. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not wash out on its own — which is why the flush matters more with AdBlue than with petrol. The filter cleaned or, if needed, replaced; fresh diesel in; then a check of the car. We do not go until it has been fired up and is running correctly.
Most jobs are done in about half an hour after our technicians get there, as long as the engine hasn't run — and the pumps our technicians use are safe on a live forecourt and quiet after dark beside a house. Nothing in advance; you settle up that day. Afterwards, a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer go to you for the insurer. While we travel, take a look at your policy; plenty carry cover for misfuelling.
About New Brumby and where it is
New Brumby is a suburban area in northern Lincolnshire, situated near the town of Scunthorpe and approximately 17 miles from Kingston upon Hull. New Brumby lies at a low elevation of around 30 metres, in an area of gently sloping landscape. New Brumby has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are particularly prevalent in the area. New Brumby is also close to other nearby places, including Lincoln Gardens, Brumby, and Frodingham.
AdBlue drains around New Brumby and across Lincolnshire
Brumby and Frodingham are among the towns around New Brumby, a residential suburb, that the same teams cover, throughout DN postcodes. Our van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting DN16 1.
There's no need to shift the vehicle. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Redbourne Club Golf Course, a side street close to All Saints Church: our engineers drain the car where it stands. Awkward to explain, like the back of Ashby Wesley Methodist Church? By a county line? Checking is better than guessing, so phone.
In short, for New Brumby motorists
Read the cap before you tip. Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, anywhere around Lincolnshire, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank regardless — and so leave the vehicle off and phone 0333 366 0103.