Avoiding AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Scoonie: Why It Occurs
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? Then put this page down for now, leave the ignition and engine off, and phone 0333 366 0103. Caught before the motor runs, it is generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is in Scoonie. Nothing happened yet? Further down, the rest of the page explains the why it occurs and the ways to avoid it for good.
AdBlue in a diesel motor: two tanks, two fillers
Many current diesels on the roads around Scoonie and Leven carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your motor. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
There is a filler on every tank. Plenty of motors share a single flap for both, whereas others move the AdBlue filler to your boot or under the bonnet. At the pump, the diesel side gets filled all the time. The AdBlue side is topped up far less often, normally from a bottle, and usually by someone who has to stop and think where it goes. Mistakes happen in the gap between the two.
Scoonie: how AdBlue in your diesel tank occurs
It's rarely carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a warning from the vehicle, and running dry means limp mode — so a hurried top-up, maybe before work off Scoonie Brae, or outside The Scoonie Tavern on the way home after work.
Next, the hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old vehicle — since a rental car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not.
A spout-topped bottle finds no resistance at a diesel filler no more than at an AdBlue one. So the tip, once started, keeps on. It takes a few seconds, whether in Sillerhole or right in the heart of Scoonie.
Telling the AdBlue filler from your diesel filler
Whether a Scoonie forecourt or a driveway over in Innerleven, take a couple of seconds on these before anything is poured in.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is often blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap usually isn't. Read it instead of going by position.
- On many cars, size gives it away: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- Lift the filler flap and look for a label — plenty of cars mark which goes in each inlet right there.
- Can't find it next to the diesel inlet? In that case check below the bonnet or inside the boot — the handbook will say which.
- Check with the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — if you pick up a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park outside Leven.
Keeping AdBlue out of the diesel tank when you top up
On the day the light appears — anywhere you are in Fife — a simple routine to follow.
- Switch off once parked — level ground, engine stopped, and not rushed by Cupar Road on the verge.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after finding the AdBlue filler and read it. Silly, perhaps, but it works.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave it on.
- Slowly does it, through the bottle's own spout, till it is full or the bottle runs out.
- Close the cap, and look again — making sure the diesel cap remained shut throughout. Only then, start the vehicle.
Spot at stage two or three that it has already gone into the diesel side? So stop just there. Never go on to step five.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, in Scoonie?
Do not start your motor: that is where the short order of things starts. The fuel pump starts on plenty of diesels the moment the ignition is switched on — so leave it off. Topping up with diesel won't thin it: rather than mixing, AdBlue drops to the base of that tank, just where the fuel is drawn from.
Ask the staff to help push the car clear of the petrol pump if you're on a forecourt — the Sainsbury's, the Shell or somewhere else. If you are on your own drive in Scoonie, leave it where it sits.
If the motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. Come off the M90 — under 15 miles out of Scoonie — at the next junction. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Dundee, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Scoonie.
Scoonie: what occurs when we arrive
Anywhere your car has stopped, be it by the local primary school, near Millennium Mercat Cross or on your own drive, our van travels to it. We ask what got in, about how much, and whether it's run, since the answers decide the work and our quote. You hear that quote on the phone, before anyone heads out.
Then that tank is drained and the fuel system rinsed thoroughly. With AdBlue that matters more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not wash out on its own. Filter cleaned or, where it must be, swapped; fresh diesel in; then a test of your car. The motor is started next and checked to confirm it runs correctly, all before our engineers leave.
Unstarted cars usually mean a half-hour visit after the moment we arrive. The equipment is fine on a busy filling station, and hushed enough for a driveway late at night. Nothing upfront; you settle up that day. At the end, the VAT invoice and the report from the engineer go to you for your insurer. It is worth looking at your policy while we travel to you: misfuelling cover is included with plenty of policies.
About Scoonie itself
Scoonie is a coastal suburban area in Fife, situated near the towns of Leven and Methil, with Sillerhole and Broom to the east. Scoonie has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are predominant, and the area is relatively low-lying at around 21 metres above sea level. Scoonie is close to the Leven Links and looks out over the Firth of Forth, with the city of Dundee a short distance to the north. Scoonie is a relatively small community, with a population of around 3078 people.
AdBlue drains in Scoonie and across Fife
As a residential suburb, Scoonie has the same vans as nearby areas — Broom, Leven Links — right across KY postcodes and the surrounding area beyond. The van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting KY8 5.
No need to move the car. The drain takes place on the spot, whether a drive, a road near Leven Mercat Cross, or a layby on the way to Scoonie Golf Course. Ring and ask instead of guessing if you are near a border, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of Parish of Scoonie WW1 War Memorial.
For Scoonie motorists, the short version
First, the cap; then, the tip. AdBlue in your diesel tank after all? Keep it off then ring 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, across Fife.