AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Raffles: Why It Happens and How to Avoid It
Pause reading for a moment if your diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, then ring 0333 366 0103. In Raffles, catching it before your engine runs usually leaves draining and a full flush on the spot. Nothing happened yet? Further down, the page covers the reasons it occurs and the ways to prevent it altogether.
AdBlue in a diesel motor, and its separate tank
Diesel feeds the motor — yet plenty of modern diesels driven round Raffles and Willow Holme hold a second fluid as well. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to clean it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Each tank has its own filler. Many of vehicles share a single flap for the two, whereas others move the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is topped up at the pump all the time. Someone who has to stop and work out where it goes usually tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less regularly. It's in that gap that the error happens.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Raffles: how it occurs
Rarely is it carelessness: usually three things line up.
Hurry comes from the warning. The vehicle warns you as AdBlue runs low, and a dry tank puts it into limp mode — so the top-up happens in a rush, before work on a drive off Lime Grove, or on the way home in the car park at Border Reiver Inn.
Then the vehicle is new. A hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers where your last one didn't, and the hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old one.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, so nothing stops the pour after it has started. The same few seconds decide it, in the middle of Raffles or out in Morton.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you pour anything, whether on a drive in Garden Village or a forecourt around Raffles, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Blue and lettering: an AdBlue cap is often blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap usually does not. Trust the cap, not where it sits.
- Plenty of vehicles give AdBlue the smaller neck of the two.
- A label inside the fuel flap frequently says which fuel goes where, on many motors. Check for it.
- The handbook shows which it is when your filler is not next to the diesel cap: your boot, or under the bonnet.
- The person who drove the vehicle last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park at Carlisle, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
For the day the light appears — anywhere you are around Cumbria — a routine to follow.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with the engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Hawthorn Place.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once finding the AdBlue filler and reading it. Silly, perhaps, but it does the trick.
- Both behind one flap? Then confirm the cap on your diesel filler is still shut before lifting the bottle.
- Finish when your tank fills or the bottle is empty; until then, pour gently through its built-in spout.
- Close the cap and check a second time. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start your car.
Discover at the second or third stage that the bottle went in the diesel filler? That is where you stop. Step five is off limits.
Raffles: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Brief list, then. First: your motor stays unstarted. The fuel pump runs on many diesels as soon as your ignition goes on — so keep it off. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where your fuel is sucked from — so don't top up with diesel to thin it.
Ask the staff to help roll the vehicle clear of the pump if you're on a forecourt — the Asda, the Sainsbury's or anywhere else. On your own drive in Raffles? So the car remains where it is.
If your engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. The next exit means where to come off if you are on the M6, under 3 miles from Raffles. Distance matters — a short hop across Raffles makes a smaller job than driving under 3 miles towards Carlisle — so tell us about how far it went.
What occurs when we arrive around Raffles
Our technicians come to the vehicle wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside Newtown Primary School, near Raffles Community Church or on your own drive. Both the work and our price depend on three replies — what fluid, which amount, and whether it has run — so our engineers ask. You get that price on the phone, before anyone heads out.
Then the tank is emptied and the system flushed thoroughly. With AdBlue that counts more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it doesn't wash out on its own. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the car is tested. The engine is started next and tested to be sure it runs smoothly, all before our engineers leave.
Unstarted vehicles usually mean a half-hour visit from arrival. The kit is fine on a busy forecourt, and quiet enough for a residential street after dark. Paying is on the day, not upfront, and you receive the documents your insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About Raffles itself
Raffles is a suburban area situated on the riverside in Cumbria, with an elevation of 35 metres, and is located approximately 1.5 miles from Carlisle. Raffles forms part of the wider Carlisle urban area, with nearby places including Morton, Newtown, and Belle Vue. Raffles has a population of around 7344 people, predominantly living in semi-detached housing.
AdBlue drains about Raffles, and Cumbria beyond
Throughout CA postcodes, our vans covering Raffles — a residential suburb — work the nearby spots too, Belle Vue and Newtown included. Fastest of all: give a CA2 7 postcode for the van.
There's no need to move the vehicle. A driveway, a lay-by on the way to Heysham Park, a side street close to Community House: our technicians drain the car where it sits. Tricky to pin down, like the back of Morton Library? Close to a border? Asking is better than assuming, and so phone.
In short, for Raffles people
Read the cap before you pour. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless, leave it off and phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it waits, anywhere across Cumbria.