AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in North Clippens: Why It Happens and How to Prevent It
Keep the engine and ignition off then call 0333 366 0103 now — reading can wait if AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. A drain plus a thorough flush, carried out just where the car stands in North Clippens, is normally what it takes if caught before the engine runs. If you are reading before it has happened, the rest of this page is about why it occurs and how to make sure it does not.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
Many current diesels on the roads round North Clippens and Brookfield carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the motor. The exhaust, not your engine, is where AdBlue ends up: dosed into the fumes to fresh it, from its own tank.
Separate tanks, different fillers. Many of vehicles have a single flap for the two, whereas some move the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is fuelled at the petrol pump all the time. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less often, normally from a bottle, and normally by a person who has to stop and think where it goes. Mistakes happen in the gap between them.
How does AdBlue in the diesel tank take place in North Clippens?
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a warning from your car, and letting it run dry leads to limp mode — so a rushed top-up, perhaps before work off Irvine Drive, perhaps outside The Heritage on the way home after work.
New-to-you motors come second, too. Hire cars, new vehicles and company motors place their fillers differently, and the hand reaches for the cap used on the old one.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, so nothing stops the tip once it has started. It takes seconds, whether out in East Fulton or bang in the centre of North Clippens.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Check these first, on a forecourt in North Clippens or a drive out in Johnstone. A few seconds, no more.
- Colour and lettering: an AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap normally doesn't. Go by the cap, not its position.
- Check the size: the smaller filler neck is, on plenty of cars, the AdBlue one.
- Lift the filler flap and look for a label — plenty of motors show what goes in which filler just there.
- The handbook. If the filler isn't by your diesel cap, it's in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park outside Johnstone, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever across Renfrewshire that is.
- Turn off after you park — level ground, motor stopped, and never rushed by Berwick Crescent at the roadside.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it does the trick.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave the car on.
- Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Only then, start the vehicle: close the cap, check again, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you've already poured into the diesel side. Don't carry on to step five.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank around North Clippens?
Don't start the motor: that's where the short order of things begins. The fuel pump starts on plenty of diesels the moment the ignition is switched on — so leave it off. Topping up with diesel will not weaken it: instead, AdBlue drops to the bottom of that tank, just where the fuel is drawn from.
The staff at Tesco, Morrisons or any forecourt will normally help to push the car clear when you ask. On your own drive around North Clippens? So the vehicle stays where it is.
Already started? Pull over when it's sensible, then turn off. The next exit means the place to leave when you're on the M8, under 3 miles from North Clippens. Roughly how far did it go? Crossing North Clippens is smaller a job than a trip of under 15 miles to Glasgow, and so say.
When we get there around North Clippens, what takes place?
Wherever your car came to rest, whether outside the local primary school, beside ON X or at home, our van comes to it. Our technicians ask what was put in, about how much, and whether it has run, since those answers decide the work and our price. The quote comes on the call, ahead of any van leaving.
After that: draining, then a full flush of the entire system. With AdBlue that counts more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it doesn't wash out on its own. The fuel filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and your car is tested. Before we go, we fire it up and make sure that it is running correctly.
If your motor has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there, using pumps that are safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night. Payment is on the day, not upfront, and you are given the paperwork an insurer asks for: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. While we travel, take a look at your insurance documents; many include cover for misfuelling.
About North Clippens itself
North Clippens is a suburban area situated on the riverside in Renfrewshire, with a mix of terraced housing and local amenities. North Clippens sits at an elevation of 21 metres, close to the nearby communities of East Fulton, Linwood, and Craigends. North Clippens is located near Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, which is approximately 10.6 miles away. North Clippens has a population of around 3946 residents, who enjoy the area's riverside setting.
North Clippens and Renfrewshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Linwood and Craigends are among the places near North Clippens, a residential suburb, that the same teams cover, throughout PA postcodes. Give a postcode beginning PA3 3, and the van gets there fastest.
The car does not need to move. Draining takes place on the spot, whether a drive, a road near Linwood Sports Centre, or a layby on the way to Linwood Moss. Guessing doesn't help behind New Tweedie Hall and Library, close to a boundary, or somewhere awkward to pin down; ring and ask.
North Clippens drivers: the short version
Before you tip, read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank regardless, leave the car off and phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, anywhere in Renfrewshire.