Scunthorpe: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Prevent It?
Leave your engine and ignition off then ring 0333 366 0103 now — reading can wait if AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. A drain plus a thorough flush, done right where the car sits around Scunthorpe, is normally what it takes if caught before the engine runs. Not happened yet? Further down, the rest of the page covers the reasons it takes place and the how to prevent it altogether.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel car
Many modern diesels on the roads about Scunthorpe and Old Brumby carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your engine. The exhaust, not the motor, is where AdBlue goes: dosed into the fumes to fresh them, from its own tank.
There's a filler on every tank. Plenty of cars have a single flap for both, while others move the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. Filling your diesel side at the petrol pump happens constantly. Seldom filled, AdBlue usually goes in from a bottle, poured by a driver who has to stop and think what filler it needs. That gap is where the error lives.
Scunthorpe: how AdBlue in your diesel tank happens
Carelessness seldom explains it. What does is three things lining up at once.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low your car tells you, and if it runs out completely, the vehicle goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a driveway off High Street before work, or in the car park at Oscars on the way home.
Then, your hand reaches for the cap it knew on the old vehicle — since a hire car, a new car or a company car places the fillers somewhere your last one didn't.
Lastly, the spout fits: diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it slides in as readily, and after the tip begins, nothing stops it. Frodingham or the heart of Scunthorpe: it takes the same few seconds either way.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Check these before pouring, at a forecourt in Scunthorpe or a driveway over in New Brumby. Seconds, that's all.
- Colour and lettering: an AdBlue cap is often blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap normally does not. Go by the cap, not where it sits.
- On plenty of cars, size tells: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Plenty of cars say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook shows which it is if the filler is not next to your diesel cap: your boot, or under the bonnet.
- The previous driver will know. Ask when you pick up a hire car or fleet car — at the nearest station's car park, say — not when the warning appears.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever in Lincolnshire that is.
- Turn off after you park — flat ground, motor stopped, and not in a rush by Wells Street at the roadside.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after you find the AdBlue filler and read it. Silly, yes, but it does the trick.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave it on.
- Finish once the tank is topped up or the bottle runs dry; before that, pour gently using its own spout.
- Before you start the vehicle, shut the cap and look again that the diesel cap was never opened off.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Do not go on to step five.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank in Scunthorpe?
Then the order of things is short. Do not start your engine. The fuel pump runs on plenty of diesels as soon as the ignition is switched on — and so leave it off. Topping up with diesel will not thin it: instead, AdBlue drops to the bottom of your tank, right where fuel is drawn from.
On a forecourt — JET, Sainsbury's or any other — the attendants will normally help push the vehicle away, if you ask. At home around Scunthorpe? Then the car stays put.
Already started? Pull over when it's sensible, then switch off. The next junction means where to leave if you're on the A1077(M), under 3 miles from Scunthorpe. About how far did it go? Crossing Scunthorpe is less work than a run of under 25 miles towards Kingston upon Hull, so say.
What happens when our technicians arrive around Scunthorpe
Our van comes to your car anywhere it has come to rest — your own drive, beside Magic Moments for Autistic Kids, or by Scunthorpe CofE Primary School. Both the work and the quote depend on three replies — what liquid, what quantity, and whether it has run — so we ask. No one heads out before you have heard our quote over the phone.
Your system is then cleaned thoroughly, once the tank is cleared. With AdBlue that counts more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not wash out on its own. Filter cleaned or, where needed, replaced; clean diesel in; then a test of the car. Before we go, our engineers fire it up and make sure that it is running smoothly.
Using pumps fine on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs in which your motor has not run take roughly half an hour after we are there. Paying is on the day, not upfront, and you are given the documents your insurer wants: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About Scunthorpe and where it is
Scunthorpe is a significant industrial centre located in the heart of Lincolnshire, England. Situated inland, the town is positioned near several major urban areas, including Lincoln to the south and Grimsby to the east. Scunthorpe serves as a key administrative hub for the surrounding district, boasting a rich history and notable landmarks. The town's proximity to major cities like Doncaster and Hull makes it an important location in the region.
Scunthorpe and Lincolnshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Being a town, Scunthorpe has the same vans as surrounding areas — Crosby, Brumby — right through DN postcodes and the surrounding area around them. Our van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting DN15 6.
The vehicle remains where it is. Draining takes place on the spot, whether a driveway, a road near Southgate, or a layby towards Memorial Park. Awkward to pin down, like the back of Vue? Close to a border? Asking is better than assuming, and so phone.
For Scunthorpe motorists, the short version
Tip no AdBlue till you've read the cap. AdBlue in the diesel tank after all? Leave the vehicle switched off then ring 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, across Lincolnshire.