Rainford: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Prevent It?
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? In that case set this page aside for now, keep your ignition and engine off, then call 0333 366 0103. Around Rainford, finding it before the engine runs usually means a drain and a full flush where it stands. The remainder of this page covers why it occurs and how to make sure it doesn't — useful if you're reading ahead of time.
AdBlue in a diesel motor: two tanks, two fillers
Many newer diesels in Kings Moss, like those in Rainford, carry on two liquids; your motor takes just your diesel. AdBlue's own tank keeps it, and from there it is sent to the exhaust, and there a spray treats the fumes.
Each tank has its own filler. Under one flap, next to each other: that is the layout on a lot of vehicles. On others, AdBlue's filler sits under the bonnet or in your boot instead. The diesel side is topped up at the pump all the time. The AdBlue side is topped up far less frequently, normally from a bottle, and usually by somebody who has to stop and think where it goes. The slip lives in that gap.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Rainford: how it happens
Rarely is it carelessness: normally three things line up.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the vehicle tells you, and if it runs out altogether, your vehicle goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a drive off Southern's Lane before work, or in the car park at The Derby Arms on the way home.
Unfamiliar vehicles are second, as well. Rentals, new motors and company cars place their fillers differently, and the hand goes for the cap used on the old one.
A spouted bottle finds no resistance at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. So the pour, after started, carries on. Rainford Junction or the heart of Rainford: it is the same few seconds either way.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Check these first, on a forecourt around Rainford or a driveway out in Crawford. A few seconds, no more.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap usually isn't. Read it instead of going by where it sits.
- On plenty of motors, size gives it away: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- Lift the flap and look for a label — plenty of cars mark which goes in which filler right there.
- The handbook. If the filler isn't by your diesel cap, it is in your boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The person who drove the vehicle last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park outside the nearest station, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up
On the day the light comes on — anywhere you are across Merseyside — a simple routine to follow.
- Switch off once parked — flat ground, motor off, and never rushed by Mossborough Road on the verge.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after you find the AdBlue filler and read it. Daft, yes, yet it does the trick.
- The diesel cap stays on. Where the two share a flap, make sure it is closed before the bottle comes up.
- Using the bottle's own spout, pour slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Before starting the car, close the cap and check a second time that your diesel cap never came off.
Find at the second or third step that the bottle went into the wrong tank? That is where you stop. Do not go on to step five.
Rainford: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Don't start the motor: that's how the short order of things starts. The fuel pump runs on many diesels the moment your ignition is switched on — so keep it off. Topping up with diesel will not weaken it: instead, AdBlue drops to the bottom of your tank, just where the fuel is drawn from.
If you are on a forecourt, whether it's the Texaco or the Tesco, ask the staff to help push your car clear of the petrol pump. If you're on your own driveway around Rainford, leave the car where it is.
Where your motor has been run by now, stop somewhere safe then switch the vehicle off. Rainford lies under 3 miles from the M58; on it, use the first junction. A short hop across Rainford is a smaller job than a run towards Liverpool, under 15 miles away, so tell us about how far it went.
What happens when our technicians turn up in Rainford
Our engineers come to the vehicle wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside Rainford CofE Primary School, close to Rainford Village Hall or on your own drive. Our engineers ask what was put in, roughly how much, and if it's run, since those answers decide this work and our quote. You hear that price on the phone, before anyone sets off.
Emptying the tank comes next, followed by a thorough flush of the fuel system. More than with petrol, it matters here: the crystals build up, certain metals corrode, and none of it clears away unaided, however long it sits. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and your car is tested. Before leaving, we fire it up and check that it's running correctly.
If the engine has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there, using pumps that are safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night. No money in advance; you settle up that day. At the end, the VAT invoice and a report from the engineer go to you for the insurer. Wrong-fuel cover is included in plenty of insurance policies — and so make use of the wait to check yours.
About Rainford
Rainford is a town situated in Merseyside, England, with a riverside setting and an elevation of 43 metres. Rainford lies approximately 10 miles from Liverpool and 177 miles from London, making it a commuter town with easy access to major cities. Rainford has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are the most predominant. Rainford is close to nearby places such as Rainford Junction, Park Hill, and Crank.
AdBlue drains round Rainford, and Merseyside beyond
Throughout WA postcodes, the teams covering Rainford — a riverside town — work the nearby spots too, Crank and Park Hill among them. Fastest of all: quote a WA11 8 postcode to our van.
The vehicle doesn't need to shift. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Rainford Cricket Ground, a side street close to Rainford Library: our engineers drain the vehicle where it stands. Assuming doesn't help behind Rainford Parish Church Hall, on a border, or anywhere hard to pin down; phone and ask.
For Rainford drivers, the short version
Always, the cap; then, the pour. Even so AdBlue in your diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel can drain it wherever it is, anywhere in Merseyside: switch it off and call 0333 366 0103.