Rothes: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Prevent It?
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? In that case put this page aside a moment, keep your ignition and motor off, then ring 0333 366 0103. Caught before your engine runs, it's normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Rothes. Reading before the event? In that case what follows explains why it happens and what to prevent it happening at all.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel car need its own filler?
Plenty of modern diesels in Robertstown, like those in Rothes, carry on two liquids; your engine takes only the diesel. Its own tank holds it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, and there a spray treats the fumes.
There's a filler for each tank. Other vehicles keep the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; a lot more place the two together behind one flap. Topping up your diesel side at the pump happens constantly. Far less regularly, the AdBlue side gets topped up — mostly from a bottle, by someone working out where it goes. Mistakes happen in that gap between the two.
AdBlue in your diesel tank around Rothes: how it takes place
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
Haste follows from the warning. The vehicle tells you as AdBlue runs low, and a dry tank puts the vehicle into limp mode — so the top-up gets done in a rush, before work on a driveway off New Street, or heading home in the car park at the pub in the village.
Then your car is strange. A hire car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not, and your hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old one.
Lastly, the bottle fits: a diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it goes in just as easily, and after the tip starts, nothing stops it. It's a few seconds, whether in Craigellachie or bang in the heart of Rothes.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Be it a Rothes forecourt or a driveway over in Charlestown of Aberlour, spend a few seconds on these before anything goes in.
- Read the cap rather than going by position: AdBlue ones are often blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones normally aren't.
- Many vehicles give AdBlue the smaller neck of the two.
- Open the filler flap and check for a label — many motors mark what goes in each inlet just there.
- Cannot find it next to the diesel filler? Then check beneath the bonnet or inside the boot — the handbook says which.
- The person who drove the vehicle last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park outside Elgin, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
When the light goes on, anywhere across Moray, use this routine.
- Park and switch off. Not on a slope, not with the motor running, and not in a rush on the side of High Street.
- Silly as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" aloud as you unscrew the cap does the trick — once you have located your filler and read the cap.
- The diesel cap remains on. Where both share a flap, make sure it's closed before the bottle comes up.
- Finish when that tank is topped up or the bottle is empty; until then, tip slowly using its built-in spout.
- Shut the cap, and look again — confirm your diesel cap remained shut the whole time. Only then, start your car.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Never go on to stage five.
Rothes: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
The short order of things, beginning with no starting your motor. On plenty of diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so do not switch the vehicle on. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where the fuel is sucked from — so do not top up with diesel to thin it.
If you are at a forecourt, whether it is the Gleaner or the another forecourt nearby, ask the staff to help roll the car clear of the pump. At home in Rothes? So the vehicle remains put.
If the engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. On the M90, over 50 miles from Rothes, that means the next junction. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Inverness, under 50 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Rothes.
Our arrival in Rothes, and what happens next
The van reaches the car wherever it has come to rest — your own driveway, near Rothes Parish Church, or outside the local primary school. Those replies settle the work and our quote, so our engineers ask what was put in, roughly how much, and if it's run. On the phone call itself, you are told our quote — ahead of dispatch.
After that: draining, then a thorough flush of the entire system. More than with petrol, it matters with AdBlue: the crystals form, certain metals are attacked, and none of that washes out on its own, no matter how long it is left. Filter flushed or, if needed, replaced; fresh diesel in; and then a check of your car. Before leaving, our engineers start the engine and make sure that it's running properly.
Unstarted vehicles usually need a half-hour job after the moment we arrive. The kit is fine on a live forecourt, and hushed enough for a residential street late at night. Your insurer will ask for an engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and you get both once the job is done. Payment is on the day, with no money upfront. Wrong-fuel cover is included in plenty of insurance policies — and so make use of the wait to look at yours.
About Rothes
Rothes is a town situated on the banks of the River Spey in Moray, Scotland, with a population of around 1204 people. Rothes has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are the most common, and the town's elevation is approximately 73 metres above sea level. Rothes is located near several smaller communities, including Craigellachie, Orton, and Maggieknockater, and is within commuting distance of the city of Inverness. Rothes sits in a scenic area, with the River Spey running alongside the town.
AdBlue drains in Rothes and across Moray
As a riverside town, Rothes has the same vans as surrounding places — Orton, Maggieknockater — all the way across AB postcodes and the wider area around them. The van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting AB38 7.
No need to shift the car. Our engineers drain it where it is — a side street near Rothes War Memorial, a lay-by on the way to Rothes Golf Course, a driveway. Ring and ask instead of assuming if you're near a boundary, or somewhere hard to describe, like the back of Rothes Castle.
For Rothes drivers, the short version
Before you tip, read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank anyway, leave the car off and call 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, anywhere around Moray.