Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in New Town: Why It Happens
Pause here for a moment when your diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, and call 0333 366 0103. Around New Town, catching it before your motor runs usually means draining and a thorough flush where it stands. Not happened yet? Further down, the rest of the page explains the why it happens and the ways to avoid it for good.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel vehicle
Not one liquid but two: that is how many modern diesels near New Town and Ward Green Cross run, with diesel feeding the motor. AdBlue goes to your exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to clean it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Different tanks, different fillers. On a lot of vehicles the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. At the petrol pump, the diesel side gets filled all the time. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less regularly, normally from a bottle, and usually by someone who has to stop and think where it goes. It's in the gap that the slip lives.
New Town: how AdBlue in the diesel tank happens
It's seldom carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
Hurry comes from the warning. The car warns you as AdBlue runs low, and an empty tank puts the vehicle into limp mode — so the top-up gets done quickly, before work on a drive off Lodge View, or on the way home in the car park outside Old Oak.
The old car's filler is where your hand goes — but a hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers somewhere else. That is a second thing: an unfamiliar car.
No part halts the pour after it has started, because a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of New Town or out in Longridge.
Telling the AdBlue filler from the diesel filler
Be it a New Town forecourt or a driveway over in Hothersall, take a couple of seconds over these before any goes in.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap usually isn't. Read it instead of going by where it sits.
- The size. On plenty of cars the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- A label inside your fuel flap often says which fuel goes where, on many vehicles. Look for it.
- The handbook shows which it is if the filler isn't next to your diesel cap: your boot, or under the bonnet.
- Collecting a hire or company car, say at the car park at Ramsgreave & Wilpshire? Check with whoever drove the vehicle last before you set off, not when the light goes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever across Lancashire that is.
- Pull in on level, motor off, with time in hand — never hurried on the side of Southern Close.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it works.
- The diesel cap stays on. Where the two share a flap, make sure it's closed before lifting the bottle.
- Finish once the tank is topped up or the bottle is empty; before that, tip gently through the built-in spout.
- Before you start the vehicle, close the cap and check a second time that your diesel cap was never opened off.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you have already poured into your diesel side. Skip step five entirely.
New Town: already put AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Then the order of things is short. Do not start your engine. The fuel pump runs on many diesels as soon as your ignition is switched on — so leave it off. Filling up with diesel won't dilute it: rather than mixing, AdBlue sinks to the bottom of that tank, right where fuel is taken from.
Ask the attendants to help push the vehicle away from the pump if you're at a forecourt — the Shell, the Asda or anywhere else. Your own drive around New Town is the place it stays.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if the motor has already run. The next exit means where to leave if you're on the M6, under 3 miles from New Town. A short hop across New Town is a smaller job than a run towards Preston, under 10 miles away, so tell us about how far it went.
New Town: what occurs when our technicians turn up
Anywhere your car came to rest, whether outside Longridge Church of England Primary School, beside Longridge Sports Centre or on your own drive, our van comes to it. Which liquid went in, the quantity, and if it ran: we ask because the replies set the work and price. You get that quote on the phone, before anybody heads out.
Then your tank is cleared and the fuel system rinsed thoroughly. 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. Filter flushed or, where it must be, swapped; fresh diesel in; and then a check of your vehicle. After that our technicians fire it up and confirm it runs properly before leaving.
Unstarted cars mostly need a half-hour visit after arrival. The equipment is safe on a busy filling station, and hushed enough for a driveway late at night. The insurer usually wants an engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and you get both once the job is done. Payment is on the day, with no money upfront. Before we get there, take a look at your policy; plenty carry cover for misfuelling.
About New Town itself
New Town is a suburban area situated on the lakeside in Lancashire, with a mix of terraced housing and a population of around 2713 residents. New Town sits at an elevation of 97 metres, approximately 5.7 miles from Preston and close to nearby places like Longridge and Whittingham. New Town benefits from its proximity to the countryside and the city of Preston, while also being within a reasonable distance from major cities like London, which is around 190.8 miles away.
New Town and Lancashire: AdBlue drains across the area
As a residential suburb, New Town has the same vans as surrounding areas — Whittingham, Grimsargh — all the way across PR postcodes and the surrounding area around them. Fastest of all: quote a PR3 3 postcode for our van.
Your car stays where it is. Our engineers drain it where it is — a side street near St Lawrence, a lay-by on the way to Mardale Road Play Area, a drive. Tricky to explain, like the back of The Palace? Close to a border? Checking beats assuming, so phone.
For New Town motorists, the short version
Read the cap before you pour. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank all the same, leave it off and phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it waits, anywhere across Lancashire.