Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Oakdale: Why It Occurs
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? In that case put this page down for now, leave the ignition and engine off, then phone 0333 366 0103. Normally, when the engine hasn't run, it's emptied and thoroughly flushed where your car is in Oakdale. The remainder of this page covers why it takes place and how to ensure it does not — handy if you are reading before it has happened.
AdBlue in a diesel car: two tanks, two fillers
Diesel feeds your engine — yet many newer diesels seen around Oakdale and Harlow Hill carry another liquid too. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into the exhaust gas to clean it.
Every tank has a filler of its own. On a lot of cars 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 pump, your diesel side is topped up all the time. A driver who has to stop and think where it goes usually fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less regularly. The mistake grows in the gap between the two.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Oakdale: how it happens
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a message from the car, and letting it run dry means limp mode — so a rushed top-up, maybe before work off Evelyn Court, perhaps at The Old Spring Well on the way home that evening.
New-to-you vehicles come second, as well. Rentals, new motors and company vehicles place their fillers in new places, and habit goes for the cap used on the old one.
A spouted bottle finds no obstacle at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. And so the tip, after begun, keeps on. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Oakdale or out in Harlow Carr.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Look at these first, on a forecourt in Oakdale or a drive out in New Park. Seconds, no more.
- Colour and lettering: an AdBlue cap is regularly blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap normally doesn't. Go by the cap, not where it sits.
- On plenty of vehicles, the size tells: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Plenty of cars say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If your filler is not by your diesel cap, it's in your 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 outside Harrogate, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
The day the light comes on, wherever across North Yorkshire, use this routine.
- Stop on level, motor off, with time to spare — never rushing on the side of Penny Pot Lane.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and say the name "AdBlue" aloud while unscrewing it. It seems daft. It does the trick.
- The diesel cap stays on. Where both share a flap, make sure it is closed 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 again. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you have already poured into the diesel side. Never go on to step five.
Oakdale: already put AdBlue in your diesel tank?
The short order of things, beginning with no starting your motor. On plenty of diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so do not switch it on. Thinning it with more diesel won't work, because AdBlue sinks to the bottom instead of blending — and that's where the fuel is sucked from.
If you're at a forecourt, whether it is the Shell or the Asda, ask the attendants to help roll the vehicle clear of the pump. On your own drive in Oakdale? Then your car remains put.
If the motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. The next junction is where to come off when you're on the A1(M), under 10 miles from Oakdale. Distance counts — a short hop across Oakdale is a smaller job than driving under 15 miles towards Ripon — so tell us about how far it went.
When our technicians get there in Oakdale, what happens?
Anywhere the car came to rest, be it by Saltergate Junior School, near Pinewoods Panorama or at home, the van travels to it. Both the work and our quote rest on three answers — what liquid, which amount, and whether it has run — so our engineers ask. Nobody heads out until you've had the quote over the phone.
The fuel system is then rinsed thoroughly, once your tank is emptied. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own — which is why the flush matters more with AdBlue than with petrol. Your filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and your car is tested. We do not leave until it has been started and is running properly.
Most jobs are finished in about half an hour after our technicians arrive, provided your engine has not run — and the pumps we use are safe on a live forecourt yet quiet after dark outside a house. Paying is on the day, not upfront, and you are given the paperwork your insurer asks for: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. It's worth checking your policy as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover is included with plenty of policies.
About Oakdale
Oakdale is a suburban area situated on the riverside in North Yorkshire, with an elevation of around 133 metres. Oakdale lies approximately 10 miles from the city of Ripon and is near other local places such as Harlow Carr and Killinghall Moor. Oakdale has a population of around 842 people and is characterised by predominantly detached housing. Oakdale is also some 182 miles north of London, reflecting its northern location in England.
AdBlue drains across North Yorkshire, Oakdale included
Killinghall Moor and Jennyfield are among the places around Oakdale, a residential suburb, that the same vans cover, throughout HG postcodes. Quote a postcode beginning HG3 2, and the van arrives fastest.
There's no need to shift your car. Anywhere it stands — near RHS Garden Harlow Carr, on a lay-by heading to Killinghall Moor Country Park, at home — that's where it is emptied. Ring and ask rather than assuming if you are near a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of The Folly (Doric columns).
In short, for Oakdale drivers
Before you pour, read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless, leave the car off and phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel clears it where it sits, anywhere in North Yorkshire.