Why It Occurs and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Pittenweem
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? Then set this page down a moment, leave your ignition and engine off, and call 0333 366 0103. A drain and a full flush, carried out just where your vehicle stands around Pittenweem, is normally what it takes if caught before your engine runs. If you are reading before it has happened, the rest of this page is about why it takes place and how to make sure it does not.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
Many modern diesels on the roads around Pittenweem and Anstruther carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your motor. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is sprayed into the exhaust gas and cleans it.
Each tank has its own filler. Under one flap, next to each other: that is the layout on many motors. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler is under the bonnet or in your boot instead. Diesel goes in on every forecourt call-out, week in, week out. Rarely filled, AdBlue usually goes in from a bottle, poured by someone who has to stop and think which cap it needs. It's in that gap that the error happens.
How AdBlue in the diesel tank takes place in Pittenweem
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the vehicle tells you, and if it runs out completely, your vehicle drops into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a driveway off High Street before work, or in the car park outside Larachmhor Tavern on the way home.
Next, the hand goes for the cap it would have used on the old vehicle — since a hire car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, and so nothing stops the pour once it has started. Whether it happens in Anstruther Wester or the middle of Pittenweem, it is the same few seconds.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
A couple of seconds is all the checks take — so check them before you tip anything, on a drive in Cellardyke or a forecourt around Pittenweem.
- Read the cap rather than going by position: AdBlue caps are often blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps usually aren't.
- On plenty of vehicles, size gives it away: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Plenty of motors say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If the filler isn't by the diesel cap, it is in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Whoever had it before will know. Check as you collect a rental or company car — from Leven's car park, perhaps — rather than when the warning comes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever around Fife that is.
- Stop on level, motor off, with time in hand — never rushing on the side of South Loan.
- Daft as it sounds, speaking "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap does the trick — once you have located the filler and read the cap.
- The diesel cap remains on. When both share a flap, make sure it's shut before lifting the bottle.
- Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap, then look again — confirm your diesel cap stayed closed the whole time. After that, start the car.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you've already poured into your diesel side. Do not go on to step five.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank in Pittenweem?
What follows is a short order of things, beginning with no starting the motor. On plenty of diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so don't switch the vehicle on. Do not top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where your fuel is drawn from.
If you're at a forecourt, whether it is the Gulf or the BP, ask the staff to help roll the vehicle away from the petrol pump. Your own driveway around Pittenweem is the place it should stay.
When your motor has run by now, pull over somewhere safe then switch the vehicle off. Pittenweem sits under 50 miles from the M90; there, take the first junction. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Dundee, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Pittenweem.
What occurs when our engineers arrive around Pittenweem
We come to your car wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside the local primary school, near Funky Scottish or on your own drive. The replies decide the work and the price, so our technicians ask what got in, about how much, and if it's run. On the call itself, you hear our quote — ahead of dispatch.
Then the tank is drained and your system rinsed thoroughly. Much more than with petrol, it counts here: crystals form, some metals are attacked, and none of that washes out on its own, no matter how long it sits. The filter flushed or, if needed, replaced; fresh diesel in; and then a check of your vehicle. Next our engineers start it and check it runs smoothly before we go.
Unstarted cars usually mean a half-hour job after the moment we arrive. The equipment is fine on a busy filling station, and hushed enough for a residential street after dark. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. It's worth checking your policy as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover is included with plenty of policies.
About Pittenweem and where it is
Pittenweem is a small coastal town in Fife, situated on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, with a population of around 1770 people. Pittenweem has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are predominant, and the town's elevation is approximately 24 metres above sea level. Pittenweem is located near other coastal towns, including Anstruther Wester, Anstruther Easter, and St Monance, and is about 19 miles from Dundee. Pittenweem sits in a scenic part of Scotland, with the town's coastal setting providing attractive views and walks.
Pittenweem and Fife: AdBlue drains across the area
Pittenweem is a coastal town, and the teams that cover it also work the places around it, Anstruther Easter and St Monance among them, across the KY postcode area. Quickest of all: give a KY10 2 postcode for our van.
No need to shift your car. Our technicians drain it where it is — a side street close to Mercat Cross, a lay-by on the way to Anstruther Golf Club, a driveway. Ring and ask instead of assuming if you are near a border, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of War Memorial.
The short version for Pittenweem people
Before you tip, read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank anyway, leave it off and call 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it waits, anywhere around Fife.