AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Portrush: Why It Occurs and How to Prevent It
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave the motor and the ignition off and ring 0333 366 0103. Caught before your engine runs, it is generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Portrush. The remainder of this page covers why it takes place and how to ensure it does not — handy if you're reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel car: two tanks, two fillers
Not one liquid but two: that's what plenty of newer diesels around Portrush and Coleraine carry, with diesel feeding your engine. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is sprayed into the exhaust stream and cleans it.
Different tanks, separate fillers. On a lot of motors the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. Diesel gets filled on each forecourt visit, again and again. Rarely topped up, AdBlue normally comes out of a bottle, poured by someone who has to stop and think which cap to use. It's in the gap that the slip happens.
AdBlue in your diesel tank around Portrush: how it takes place
Three things tend to line up, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the car 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 Rock Street before work, or in the car park at the pub in the village on the way home.
Next, the hand goes for the cap it knew on the old car — since a hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not.
No part stops the tip once it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Portrush or out in Portstewart.
Telling the AdBlue filler from your diesel filler
A few seconds is all the checks take — so check them before you pour anything, on a driveway in Bushmills or a forecourt in Portrush.
- Read the cap instead of going by where it sits: AdBlue ones are frequently blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps normally aren't.
- On many vehicles, the size tells: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Many vehicles say there which fuel goes where.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that is where your filler sits if it is not by your diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- Ask the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — when you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park at the nearest station.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever in County Londonderry that is.
- Not in a rush on the side of Bayview Street, not on a slope, not with the engine running: park then switch off first.
- Find the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and speak the name "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew it. It seems silly. It does the trick.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave it on.
- Finish when your tank is topped up or the bottle is empty; before that, pour gently using the own spout.
- Shut the cap, then check again — confirm the diesel filler stayed shut throughout. Only then, start the vehicle.
Discover at the second or third step that AdBlue went in the diesel filler? That's where you stop. Stage five is out.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, in Portrush?
Brief order, then. Top of it: the motor stays off. Do not switch the ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Filling up with diesel won't dilute it: instead, AdBlue sinks to the bottom of your tank, just where fuel is drawn from.
Ask the staff to help push your car away from the pump if you are on a forecourt — the the nearest petrol station, the another forecourt nearby or somewhere else. Your own driveway in Portrush is the place it stays.
If your motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. On the M77, over 50 miles from Portrush, that means the next exit. Mileage counts — a short hop across Portrush is a smaller job than heading under 50 miles to Derry — so tell us roughly how far it went.
Portrush: what takes place when our engineers get there
The van comes to the vehicle wherever it stopped — your own drive, beside the centre, or outside the local primary school. Both the work and our price depend on three answers — what fluid, what quantity, and whether it has run — so our engineers ask. That quote comes on the call, ahead of any van leaving.
After that: draining, then a thorough flush of the entire system. 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 that matters more with AdBlue than with petrol. After the fuel filter has been cleaned — or replaced, where needed — fresh diesel is added, and then the car is tested. We do not go until it has been fired up and is running smoothly.
Unstarted cars usually mean a half-hour visit after arrival. The kit is safe on a live forecourt, and hushed enough for a residential street late at night. Payment is on the day, not upfront, and you receive the documents your insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. It's worth checking your policy while we travel to you: misfuelling cover comes with plenty of policies.
About Portrush, briefly
Portrush is a coastal town in County Londonderry, situated on the north coast of Northern Ireland, with a population of around 4422 people. Portrush sits at an elevation of 17 metres, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, and is characterised by predominantly detached housing. Portrush is close to nearby towns such as Portstewart and Portballintrae, and is approximately 29 miles from the city of Derry. Portrush has a scenic coastline and is a popular destination for tourists and locals alike.
AdBlue drains about Portrush, and County Londonderry beyond
Portrush is a coastal town, and our vans that cover it also work the towns around it, Portballintrae and Ballyrashane among them, across the BT postcode area. A postcode starting BT56 8 gets the van to you fastest.
Your car remains where it is. Wherever it sits — near a street just off the centre, on a layby heading to the green space at the edge of the village, at home — that's where it gets drained. Tricky to pin down, like the back of the far end of the built-up part? Close to a border? Asking is better than guessing, so ring.
In short, for Portrush motorists
Before you pour, read the cap. AdBlue in the diesel tank regardless? Leave it switched off then ring 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, across County Londonderry.