Why It Occurs and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Rainworth
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? Then set this page down for now, leave the ignition and engine off, then call 0333 366 0103. A drain and a full flush, done right where the vehicle sits in Rainworth, is usually what it takes if caught before the engine runs. If you're reading before it has happened, the rest of this page is about why it takes place and how to make sure it does not.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel motor need its own filler?
Diesel feeds the engine — but many modern diesels driven around Rainworth and White Post carry another liquid as well. Your exhaust, not the motor, is where AdBlue goes: dosed into the gas to fresh them, from its own tank.
Each tank has its own filler. Some motors put the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; plenty more place both together behind one flap. The diesel side is topped up at the pump all the time. Someone who has to stop and think where it goes normally tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less frequently. Mistakes happen in that gap between the two.
How does AdBlue in your diesel tank take place in Rainworth?
Carelessness seldom causes it. Instead is three things coming up together.
Hurry comes from the warning. The car warns you as AdBlue runs low, and a dry tank puts it into limp mode — so the top-up gets done quickly, before work on a driveway off Mansfield Road, or heading home in the car park outside The Inkpot.
New-to-you cars come second, as well. Rentals, new motors and company motors place their fillers differently, and habit goes for the cap 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 tip once it has started. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Rainworth or out in Blidworth.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
A few seconds is all the checks take — so run through them before you tip anything, on a driveway in Harlow Wood or a forecourt around Rainworth.
- Where it sits misleads; the cap does not. AdBlue ones are often blue or bear the word "AdBlue" — diesel ones normally do not.
- Many vehicles give AdBlue the smaller neck of the two.
- A label inside your fuel flap often shows which fuel goes where, on many motors. Check for it.
- Can't find it beside your diesel filler? Then check below the bonnet or in the boot — the owner's manual will say which.
- The person who drove it last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park outside Mansfield, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
Wherever around Nottinghamshire the light comes on, this is a routine for that day.
- Turn off after you park — level ground, engine stopped, and never in a rush beside Main Road at the roadside.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after finding the AdBlue filler and read it. Silly, yes, but it does the trick.
- The two behind one flap? So make sure the cap on the diesel filler is still closed before lifting the bottle.
- Stop once the tank is topped up or the bottle is empty; until then, pour gently using its own spout.
- Close the cap and check a second time. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the car.
Stop there if you find, at stage two or three, that you've already poured into the diesel side. Stage five stays off limits.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Rainworth already?
Short order, then. First: the engine remains unstarted. Leave the ignition off too, since on many diesels switching it on by itself starts your pump. Diluting it with more diesel won't work, because AdBlue settles to the bottom instead of mixing — and that is where the fuel is drawn from.
The staff at JET, BP or any forecourt will usually lend a hand to push your car clear if you ask. Your own drive in Rainworth is where it stays.
Already started? Pull over when it's safe, then switch off. Come off the M1 — under 10 miles out of Rainworth — at the first junction. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Nottingham, under 15 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Rainworth.
What takes place when our engineers get there around Rainworth
We come to the vehicle wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside Lake View Primary and Nursery School, close to St Simon & St Jude or on your own driveway. The replies settle this work and our quote, so our technicians ask what got in, about how much, and if it has run. The price comes on the call, ahead of any van leaving.
Emptying the tank comes next, followed by a thorough flush of the fuel system. Much more than with petrol, it matters with AdBlue: the crystals form, certain metals corrode, and nothing clears out unaided, no matter how long it sits. The filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and your car is tested. Before we leave, our technicians fire it up and check that it's running correctly.
Most jobs are finished in roughly half an hour after our engineers get there, provided your engine has not run — and the pumps we use are fine on a live forecourt and quiet after dark beside a house. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Before we get there, have a look at your insurance documents; many include cover for misfuelling.
About Rainworth itself
Rainworth is a village in Nottinghamshire, situated on the banks of the River Maun at an elevation of around 98 metres. Rainworth lies approximately 11 miles north of Nottingham and is surrounded by nearby places such as Blidworth and Haywood Oaks. Rainworth has a population of around 1839 people and predominantly consists of semi-detached housing. Rainworth is located in the East Midlands region, about 119 miles north of London.
AdBlue drains across Nottinghamshire, Rainworth included
Blidworth Bottoms and Haywood Oaks are among the places around Rainworth, a village, that the same vans cover, over NG postcodes. A postcode starting NG21 0 gets our van to you fastest.
Moving the vehicle isn't necessary. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Rainworth Miners Welfare Football Club, a side street close to Rainworth Community Partnership Library: our technicians drain the car where it sits. Guessing doesn't help at the back of Rainworth Village Hall, on a boundary, or somewhere hard to describe; phone and ask.
In short, for Rainworth motorists
First, the cap; after that, the pour. Still AdBlue in the diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel will empty it wherever it stands, wherever around Nottinghamshire: switch the vehicle off and phone 0333 366 0103.