Why It Happens and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Orchard Park
Leave your motor and ignition off and phone 0333 366 0103 now — reading can wait if AdBlue is already in your diesel tank. Around Orchard Park, catching it before your engine turns normally means a drain and a full flush where it stands. Nothing happened yet? Further down, the page explains the reasons it occurs and the how to prevent it for good.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel vehicle
Many modern diesels around Auchinloch, as well as Orchard Park, run on two fluids; your motor gets only your diesel. AdBlue's own tank keeps it, and from there it goes to your exhaust, and there a spray cleans the gas.
Each tank has its own filler. On a lot of vehicles the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is topped up at the pump all the time. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less frequently, usually from a bottle, and normally by somebody who has to stop and think where it goes. The slip lives in that gap.
How AdBlue in the diesel tank happens around Orchard Park
Rarely is it carelessness: normally three things line up.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a warning from the vehicle, and letting it run out leads to limp mode — so a hurried top-up, maybe before work off Orchard Field, perhaps outside The Golden Pheasent on the way home that evening.
The old car's filler is where your hand reaches — but a hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers elsewhere. That is a second thing: an unfamiliar car.
No part stops the tip after it has started, because a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. It takes a few seconds, whether in Claddens or bang in the centre of Orchard Park.
Telling the AdBlue filler from the diesel filler
Look at these first, on a forecourt around Orchard Park or a driveway over in Wester Auchinloch. Seconds, that's all.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap normally is not. Read it rather than going by position.
- Plenty of vehicles give AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- Open the filler flap and check for a label — plenty of cars mark what goes in each filler just there.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that's where your filler is if it is not by your diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- Picking up a hire or company car, say at the car park at Lenzie? Ask the person who drove the car last before leaving, rather than when the light goes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
Wherever around East Dunbartonshire the light comes on, here is a routine for the day.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with the engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Haystack Place.
- Silly as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew the cap does the trick — after you have located the filler and read it.
- The diesel cap stays on. When both sit under a flap, confirm it's shut before lifting the bottle.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap, and check again — confirm your diesel cap remained closed throughout. After that, start your car.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Don't go on to step five.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank in Orchard Park?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start the engine. Don't switch your ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where your fuel is drawn from — so do not top up with diesel to thin it.
The attendants at JET, Gulf or another forecourt will usually help to push the car clear when asked. If you're on your own driveway in Orchard Park, leave the vehicle where it is.
Already run? Stop once it is safe, then turn off. On the M80, under 3 miles from Orchard Park, that means the next exit. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Glasgow, under 10 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Orchard Park.
Our arrival around Orchard Park, and what occurs next
Our van comes to the car wherever it has come to rest — your own driveway, beside Lenzie Old Parish, or by the local primary school. Which liquid was put in, the amount, and whether it ran: we ask because the answers decide both work and price. Nobody sets off until you have had the quote over the phone.
After that: a drain, then a full flush of the whole system. More than with petrol, it matters here: crystals form, some metals corrode, and none of that clears out on its own, however long it is left. Testing comes last: before that, fresh diesel is added, and the filter is flushed or replaced if necessary. After that our engineers fire it up and confirm it runs properly before we go.
Most jobs are done in roughly half an hour once our engineers get there, provided your motor has not run — and the pumps we use are fine on a busy forecourt and quiet at night outside a house. Nothing in advance; you settle up that day. At the end, the VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for the insurer. It is worth checking your policy while we travel to you: misfuelling cover is included with many policies.
About Orchard Park and where it is
Orchard Park is a suburban area situated on the riverside in East Dunbartonshire, with a mix of housing types dominated by detached homes. Orchard Park lies close to the city of Glasgow, approximately 5 miles to the northwest, and is near other local places such as Claddens and Lenzie. Orchard Park has a relatively low elevation of around 65 metres above sea level, reflecting its position in the generally low-lying area near the River Kelvin. Orchard Park is home to a population of around 3857 people, according to recent estimates.
Orchard Park and East Dunbartonshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Millersneuk and Lenzie are among the towns near Orchard Park, a residential suburb, that the same vans cover, throughout G postcodes. Fastest of all: quote a G66 5 postcode to the van.
Moving the car is not necessary. Draining takes place on the spot, be it a drive, a street near Lenzie Library, or a layby on the way to Lenzie Rugby Football Club. Guessing won't help behind Lenzie Union Parish Church, close to a boundary, or somewhere awkward to describe; ring and check.
Orchard Park people: the short version
Before you tip, read the cap. Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, anywhere around East Dunbartonshire, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless — and so leave it off and phone 0333 366 0103.