Oak Bank: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Avoid It?
Pause here for a moment when the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, and call 0333 366 0103. A drain and a full flush, done just where your vehicle stands in Oak Bank, is usually what it takes if caught before the motor runs. If you're reading before it has happened, the rest of this page is about why it happens and how to make sure it does not.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel vehicle
No single liquid but two: that's what many newer diesels near Oak Bank and Bowmanstead carry, with diesel feeding your motor. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to clean it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
There is a filler for every tank. Other vehicles keep the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; plenty more place both together behind one flap. Diesel goes in at every forecourt visit, again and again. The AdBlue side is filled far less commonly, normally from a bottle, and normally by somebody who has to stop and think where it goes. It is in the gap that the error lives.
AdBlue in the diesel tank around Oak Bank: how it occurs
It's hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
Hurry follows from the warning. The vehicle tells you as AdBlue runs low, and a dry tank sends it into limp mode — so the top-up happens quickly, before work on a drive off Little Moss, or heading home in the car park at Crown Inn.
New-to-you cars come second, too. Rentals, new cars and company vehicles place their fillers differently, and the hand reaches for the cap used on the old one.
A spouted bottle meets no resistance at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. So the pour, once begun, carries on. It takes a few seconds, be it in Coniston or bang in the heart of Oak Bank.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
A couple of seconds is all these take — so run through them before you pour anything, on a driveway in Haws Bank or a forecourt around Oak Bank.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap normally is not. Read it rather than going by where it sits.
- Many motors give AdBlue the smaller neck of the two.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Plenty of cars say there which fuel goes where.
- Can't find it next to your diesel inlet? Then check below the bonnet or in the boot — the owner's manual will say which.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park outside Windermere, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in the diesel tank
On the day the warning appears — wherever it is across Cumbria — a simple routine to use.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with the motor running, and not in a rush on the side of Holly How Close.
- Find the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and say the name "AdBlue" out loud as unscrewing it. It seems daft. It does the trick.
- The diesel cap remains on. Where both sit under a flap, confirm it's shut before lifting the bottle.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check once more. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
Spot at step two or three that it has already gone into the diesel side? So stop right there. Don't carry on to stage five.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Oak Bank already?
Don't start the engine: that is where the short order of things begins. The fuel pump starts on plenty of diesels the moment your ignition is switched on — and so keep it off. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where your fuel is pulled from — so do not top up with diesel to dilute it.
The staff at BP, another forecourt nearby or another forecourt will usually help to push the car away when you ask. Your own drive around Oak Bank is the place it should stay.
Already started? Stop when it's sensible, then switch off. Oak Bank lies under 25 miles from the M6; there, use the first exit. Mileage counts — a quick hop across Oak Bank is a smaller job than heading under 25 miles to Lancaster — so tell us about how far it went.
Oak Bank: what takes place when we get there
Anywhere your car has stopped, whether by Coniston CofE Primary School, beside The Ruskin Museum or on your own drive, our van comes to it. Which liquid got in, the quantity, and whether it ran: our engineers ask since the answers decide the work and quote. Nobody sets off before you have had the quote over the phone.
After that: a drain, then a thorough flush of the whole system. Not like petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and eats at certain fuel-system metals, and none of it washes away unaided. That is why it matters more. Testing comes at the end: before that, fresh diesel is added, and the filter is cleaned or changed as needed. After that our engineers start the engine and confirm it runs smoothly before we go.
Unstarted vehicles mostly need a half-hour job from the moment we arrive. The kit is fine on a busy forecourt, and hushed enough for a driveway late at night. Nothing upfront; you settle up on the day. At the end, a VAT invoice and the report from the engineer go to you for your insurer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About Oak Bank and where it is
Oak Bank is a suburban area situated on the riverside in Cumbria, with an elevation of around 60 metres. Oak Bank lies near several notable places, including Coniston, Cat Bank, and Far End, and is approximately 24.8 miles from Lancaster. Oak Bank has a population of around 845 people, predominantly living in semi-detached housing. Oak Bank is also relatively distant from London, at around 232.8 miles away.
AdBlue drains around Oak Bank and across Cumbria
Over LA postcodes, the vans covering Oak Bank — a residential suburb — work the nearby places too, Far End and Cat Bank included. A postcode starting LA21 8 gets the van to you fastest.
Your car remains put. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Great Briery Coppice, a side street near Coniston Institute: our engineers drain it where it stands. If you are close to a border, or somewhere hard to explain like the back of John Ruskin's Grave, ring and ask instead of assuming.
The short version for Oak Bank motorists
First, the cap; after that, the tip. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank all the same, leave the vehicle off then call 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it sits, anywhere in Cumbria.