How It Happens and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Raikes
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? In that case set this page aside for now, keep your ignition and motor off, then phone 0333 366 0103. Caught before your engine runs, it's normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is in Raikes. Reading in advance? In that case what follows covers why it happens and what to prevent it ever happening.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Diesel goes to the motor — yet many modern diesels seen around Raikes and Trunnah hold a second liquid too. The exhaust, not your engine, is where AdBlue goes: dosed into the fumes to clean them, from its own tank.
Each tank has its own filler. Under one flap, side by side: that's the layout on a lot of vehicles. Elsewhere, AdBlue's filler is under the bonnet or in your boot instead. At the petrol pump, your diesel side is topped up all the time. Far less commonly, the AdBlue side gets topped up — mostly from a bottle, by someone thinking about where it goes. That gap is where the slip lives.
Raikes: how AdBlue in your diesel tank happens
It is hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a driveway off Woodley Avenue before work, or in the car park outside The Bay Horse heading home: that is where the hurried top-up takes place. Why the rush? As AdBlue gets low the vehicle warns you, and if it's empty, limp mode kicks in.
Then, the hand reaches for the cap it knew on the old car — because a rental car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers somewhere your last one didn't.
Lastly, the spout fits: diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it slides in just as easily, and once the pour begins, no part stops it. Whether it occurs in Thornton or the middle of Raikes, it's the same few seconds.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Be it a Raikes forecourt or a drive over in Skippool, spend a few seconds over these before anything goes in.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap usually isn't. Read it instead of going by position.
- On plenty of motors, size tells: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Many cars say there which fuel goes where.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that's where the filler is if it is not by the diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- Picking up a hire or company car, say at the car park outside Poulton-Le-Fylde? Check with whoever drove the vehicle last before you set off, rather than when the light goes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
Anywhere across Lancashire the light comes on, here is a routine for the day.
- Not in a rush on the side of Lambs Road, not on a slope, not with your motor running: park then switch off properly.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly and it works.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave the vehicle on.
- Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Before starting the vehicle, close the cap and look again that your diesel cap never opened off.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you've already poured into your diesel side. Step five is off limits.
Put AdBlue in your diesel tank around Raikes already?
Do not start the motor: that is how the short order of things starts. Don't switch your ignition on; on plenty of 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 sucked from — so do not top up with diesel to dilute it.
Ask the staff to help roll the car clear of the pump if you're on a forecourt — the BP, the Applegreen or somewhere else. Leave it where it is if you are on your own driveway in Raikes.
Already run? Pull over when it is safe, then turn off. Raikes sits under 10 miles from the M55; there, use the first exit. Distance matters — a quick hop across Raikes is a smaller job than driving under 15 miles towards Preston — so tell us about how far it went.
Our arrival around Raikes, and what happens next
By Stanah Primary School, near St John or on your own drive: wherever the car has stopped, we come to it. Our engineers ask what went in, about how much, and whether it's run, since those answers settle the work and our price. You hear that price on the phone, before anybody sets off.
Emptying the tank comes next, followed by a full flush of the system. Much more than with petrol, it matters with AdBlue: the crystals build up, some metals corrode, and nothing washes away unaided, however long it is left. A test is at the end: before that, fresh diesel is added, and your filter is cleaned or replaced if necessary. Next our technicians fire it up and confirm it runs properly before we go.
Unrun cars usually need a half-hour visit after arrival. The kit is fine on a live filling station, and quiet enough for a residential street late at night. Nothing upfront; you settle up that day. Afterwards, the VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for your insurer. Wrong-fuel cover is part of many insurance policies — and so make use of the wait to check yours.
About Raikes and where it is
Raikes is a coastal suburban area in Lancashire, situated near the towns of Thornton and Stanah, with Little Thornton also nearby. Raikes has a relatively low elevation of around 8 metres above sea level and is located approximately 14 miles from Preston. Raikes is characterised by its predominantly detached housing stock, reflecting its residential nature. Raikes is also some distance from London, at around 203 miles away.
AdBlue drains across Lancashire, Raikes included
Throughout FY postcodes, the teams covering Raikes — a residential suburb — work the surrounding locations too, Little Thornton and Stanah included. Quote a postcode that starts FY5 4, and the van arrives fastest.
Your car remains put. Anywhere it stands — beside Thornton Methodist Church Hall, on a layby heading to Hawthorne Park, at home — that's where it gets drained. If you're close to a border, or somewhere hard to describe like the back of Thornton Methodist Church, ring and ask instead of guessing.
The short version for Raikes drivers
Pour no AdBlue until you've read the cap. AdBlue in your diesel tank after all? Leave the vehicle off then call 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, across Lancashire.