Why It Occurs and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Newbridge
Pause reading a minute when the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, then call 0333 366 0103. Caught before your engine runs, it's usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Newbridge. The remainder of this page explains why it takes place and how to make sure it does not — useful if you're reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel car: two tanks, two fillers
Not one liquid but two: that is what many modern diesels around Newbridge and Carr Hall carry, with diesel for the engine. Your exhaust, not your motor, is where AdBlue ends up: sprayed into the gas to clean it, from its own tank.
There is a filler on every tank. Many of motors have a single flap for the two, while others put the AdBlue filler to your boot or under the bonnet. Topping up your diesel side at the pump happens all the time. A driver who has to stop and think where it goes usually fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less regularly. It is in that gap that the error lives.
How AdBlue in your diesel tank happens around Newbridge
Carelessness seldom causes it. What does is three things coming up together.
On a driveway off Lower Clough Street before work, or in the car park at The Bull heading home: that is where the rushed top-up takes place. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low your car warns you, and if it is empty, limp mode follows.
Then, your hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old car — because a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car places the fillers somewhere your last one did not.
Lastly, the bottle goes in: a diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it goes in just as easily, and once the tip begins, nothing stops it. Lowerford or the heart of Newbridge: it takes the same few seconds either way.
The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart
Whether a Newbridge forecourt or a drive over in Nelson, take a few seconds on these before any is poured in.
- Blue and marking: an AdBlue cap is regularly blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap usually does not. Go by the cap, not its position.
- Look at the size: the smaller neck is, on many vehicles, the AdBlue one.
- Lift the flap and check for a label — plenty of motors mark which belongs in each filler right there.
- Cannot see it beside the diesel filler? In that case look beneath the bonnet or in your boot — the handbook will say which.
- Whoever had it before knows. Ask as you pick up a rental or company car — from Nelson's car park, say — rather than when the light appears.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
Anywhere across Lancashire the light comes on, this is a routine for the day.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with your motor running, and not in a rush on the side of Garnett Street.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after you find the AdBlue filler and read it. Silly, yes, yet it works.
- Leave the diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Shut the cap, then look again — confirm the diesel cap stayed closed the whole time. Only then, start the car.
Spot at stage two or three that it has already gone into your diesel side? So stop just there. Never go on to stage five.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank around Newbridge?
Do not start your motor: that's where the short order of things starts. Leave your ignition off as well, since on plenty of diesels it by itself runs your pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is drawn from — so do not top up with diesel to dilute it.
On a forecourt — Texaco, Morrisons or any other — the attendants will usually help push the car clear, if you ask. Your own drive in Newbridge is where it should stay.
If the motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. Newbridge lies under a mile from the M65; on it, use the next junction. A short hop across Newbridge is a smaller job than a run towards Bradford, under 25 miles away, so tell us roughly how far it went.
What occurs when our engineers arrive around Newbridge
Our engineers come to your car wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside Holy Saviour Roman Catholic Primary School, Nelson, close to Barrowford Youth & Community Centre or on your own driveway. Which fluid got in, the amount, and whether it ran: we ask because the answers set the work and quote. On the phone call itself, you are told our price — before dispatch.
Draining the tank comes next, then a full flush of your system. Not like petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and attacks certain fuel-system metals, and none of that clears away unaided. That is why it matters more. The fuel filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. We don't go until it has been fired up and is running smoothly.
If your engine has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we are there, using pumps that are safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night. Your insurer usually wants an engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and you get both at the end. Payment is on the day, with no deposit. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About Newbridge and where it is
Newbridge is a suburban area in Lancashire, situated lakeside at an elevation of 117 metres, with terraced housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Newbridge is located near several nearby places, including Lowerford, Barrowford, and Bradley, and is approximately 19.4 miles from the city of Bradford. Newbridge has a population of around 4077 residents and is set in a scenic area, with the larger regional context of the North West of England providing a mix of urban and natural landscapes. Newbridge is also relatively distant from London, at a distance of 183.8 miles.
AdBlue drains in Newbridge and across Lancashire
As a residential suburb, Newbridge has the same vans as surrounding areas — Barrowford, Bradley — right across BB postcodes and the wider area beyond. Our van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting BB9 8.
The car stays where it is. We drain it where it is — a side street close to Saint Thomas, a lay-by on the way to Lower Park Hill Recreation Ground, a drive. If you're close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to describe like the back of Markazi Jamia Ghausia Masjid, ring and ask rather than assuming.
The short version for Newbridge motorists
Read the cap before you pour. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless, leave the vehicle off and call 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it waits, anywhere across Lancashire.