AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Rake Foot: How It Happens and How to Stop It
Keep the engine and ignition off then call 0333 366 0103 now — reading can wait when AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. A drain plus a thorough flush, carried out right where your vehicle stands around Rake Foot, is usually what it needs when caught before the engine runs. If you are reading before it has happened, the rest of this page is about why it takes place and how to make sure it does not.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel vehicle
Diesel feeds your motor — but many newer diesels seen around Rake Foot and Goodshaw hold another liquid as well. Your exhaust, not your motor, is where AdBlue goes: sprayed into the fumes to fresh them, from a separate tank.
Different tanks, separate fillers. Some motors keep the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; a lot of others place the two side by side behind one flap. The diesel side is fuelled at the petrol pump all the time. Much less frequently, the AdBlue side is filled — normally from a bottle, by a person working out where it goes. The slip lives in that gap.
How does AdBlue in your diesel tank occur in Rake Foot?
It is hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a drive off Crawsham Grange before work, or in the car park outside The Black Dog heading home: that's where the rushed top-up happens. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low the vehicle warns you, and once it is gone, limp mode kicks in.
Then, the hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old motor — because a hire car, a new car or a company car places the fillers where your last one did not.
Lastly, the bottle goes in: a diesel filler or AdBlue one, it slides in as readily, and after the pour begins, nothing stops it. It takes a few seconds, whether out in Rush Bed or right in the heart of Rake Foot.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
A couple of seconds is all the checks take — so check them before you pour anything, on a driveway in Higher Constable or a forecourt in Rake Foot.
- Position misleads; the cap doesn't. AdBlue caps tend to be blue or carry the word "AdBlue" — diesel caps usually do not.
- The size. On many motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Many vehicles say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook says where it lives if your filler isn't next to your diesel cap: your boot, or under the bonnet.
- The previous driver knows. Check when you collect a rental or company car — from Accrington's car park, perhaps — rather than once the warning appears.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever around Lancashire that is.
- Park and switch off. Not on a slope, not with the engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Burnley Road.
- Daft as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew the cap does the trick — once you've located your filler and read the cap.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave it on.
- Stop when that tank is topped up or the bottle runs dry; before that, tip gently using the built-in spout.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the vehicle.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you've already poured into the diesel side. Leave out step five entirely.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Rake Foot?
The short order of things, beginning with no starting your engine. Keep the ignition off as well, because on many diesels switching it on by itself runs the pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where the fuel is drawn from — so don't top up with diesel to thin it.
If you're at a forecourt, whether it's the Shell or the Tesco, ask the staff to help push the vehicle clear of the petrol pump. Leave it where it is if you are on your own drive in Rake Foot.
Already started? Stop when it's sensible, then switch off. The next junction is where to leave when you're on the M66, under 5 miles from Rake Foot. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Salford, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Rake Foot.
What happens when our engineers get there in Rake Foot
Anywhere the car has stopped, be it by Crawshawbooth Primary School, beside Goodshaw Baptist Church or on your own drive, our van travels to it. We ask what went in, about how much, and whether it's run, because those answers determine this work and the quote. That price is given on the call, ahead of any van leaving.
Emptying the tank comes next, followed by a full flush of the fuel system. Not like petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and attacks some fuel-system metals, and none of it clears out unaided. That is why it matters more. The fuel filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and your car is tested. We don't leave until it has been started and is running correctly.
If your motor has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there, using pumps that are fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house after dark. The insurer usually wants an engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and you get both once this job is done. Payment comes on the day, with no deposit. Misfuelling cover is part of many insurance policies — and so make use of the wait to look at yours.
About Rake Foot itself
Rake Foot is a suburban area situated on the lakeside in Lancashire, with a mix of terraced housing and scenic views. Rake Foot sits at an elevation of 207 metres, providing a vantage point over the surrounding landscape. Rake Foot is located near other small communities such as Rush Bed and Reeds Holme, and is within commuting distance of Salford. Rake Foot has a population of around 2773 people, living in a variety of terraced homes.
AdBlue drains about Rake Foot, and Lancashire beyond
Being a residential suburb, Rake Foot has the same vans as nearby areas — Reeds Holme, Crawshawbooth — right across BB postcodes and the surrounding area around them. Quote a postcode that starts BB4 8, and our van gets there fastest.
Your car doesn't need to shift. Anywhere it sits — beside St Mary & All Saints, on a layby heading to Old Hall Plantation, on a drive — that's where it gets drained. Ring and ask rather than assuming if you're near a boundary, or somewhere hard to describe, like the back of St Paul.
Rake Foot motorists: the short version
First, the cap; then, the tip. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank all the same, leave the vehicle off and ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel clears it where it sits, anywhere across Lancashire.