Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Sillerhole: Why It Occurs
Stop here a minute when your diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, then call 0333 366 0103. A drain and a thorough flush, done just where the vehicle stands in Sillerhole, is normally all it needs when caught before your motor runs. If you're reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it happens and how to make sure it does not.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel motor
Many newer diesels around Leven Links, like those in Sillerhole, run on two liquids; your engine takes just the diesel. AdBlue's own tank holds it, and from there it goes to your exhaust, where a spray treats the fumes.
Each tank has its own filler. On a lot of vehicles the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. Diesel gets filled at each filling station visit, again and again. Someone who has to stop and work out where it goes normally fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less often. The error lives in that gap.
Sillerhole: how AdBlue in the diesel tank happens
Rarely is it carelessness: usually three things coincide.
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 drive off Glencairn Gardens, or on the way home in the car park at The Scoonie Tavern.
Unfamiliar vehicles are next, too. Hire cars, new cars and company cars place their fillers differently, and habit goes for the cap it used on the old one.
Nothing stops the pour once it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. Whether it happens in Scoonie or the middle of Sillerhole, it's the same few seconds.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
A few seconds is all these take — so check them before you tip anything, on a drive in Innerleven or a forecourt in Sillerhole.
- Blue and marking: an AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap usually doesn't. Trust the cap, not where it sits.
- Plenty of cars fit AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- Lift the filler flap and look for a label — plenty of motors show which belongs in each filler just there.
- Can't see it beside the diesel inlet? In that case check below the bonnet or in the boot — the handbook says which.
- Whoever had it before will know. Check as you collect a hire car or company car — from Leven's car park, perhaps — rather than once the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
For the day the light comes on — wherever it is around Fife — a routine to use.
- Switch off once parked — level ground, motor stopped, and never rushed by Sillerhole Road on the verge.
- Find the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and say the word "AdBlue" aloud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft. 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.
- Gently does it, through the bottle's own spout, until it's full or the bottle runs out.
- Close the cap and check once more. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start your car.
Discover during the second or third stage that AdBlue went into the wrong filler? That is where you stop. Never carry on to stage five.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, in Sillerhole?
Short list, then. Top of it: the motor remains off. Don't switch your ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. AdBlue doesn't 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.
At a forecourt — Sainsbury's, Shell or another — the staff will normally help roll the vehicle away, when you ask. Leave it where it is if you are on your own driveway around Sillerhole.
Already run? Stop once it is safe, then switch off. On the M90, under 15 miles from Sillerhole, that means the next exit. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Dundee, under 25 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Sillerhole.
Sillerhole: what happens when we arrive
Our engineers come to the vehicle wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside the local primary school, close to Millennium Mercat Cross or on your own driveway. Our technicians ask what got in, about how much, and whether it's run, since those replies decide this work and the quote. Nobody sets off until you have heard the quote by phone.
Draining your tank comes next, followed by a full flush of your system. Not like petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and attacks certain fuel-system metals, and none of it washes away by itself. That is why it counts more. A test comes last: before that, fresh diesel is added, and the fuel filter is cleaned or replaced if necessary. Before leaving, our technicians start the engine and check that it's running properly.
With pumps safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough for use outside a house at night, most jobs where the engine hasn't run take about half an hour once our engineers are there. Payment is on the day, not upfront, and you receive the paperwork your insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. While we travel, take a look at your policy; plenty carry cover for misfuelling.
About Sillerhole itself
Sillerhole is a coastal suburban area in Fife, situated near the towns of Scoonie, Broom, and Leven. Sillerhole has a relatively low elevation of 21 metres and is located approximately 17.6 miles from Dundee. Sillerhole is characterized by its predominant housing type, which is flat, and its proximity to the sea. Sillerhole is also a significant distance from London, at around 344.9 miles away.
AdBlue drains around Sillerhole, and Fife beyond
Broom and Leven are among the towns near Sillerhole, a residential suburb, that the same teams cover, over KY postcodes. Our van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting KY8 5.
The vehicle does not need to shift. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Letham Glen, a side street close to Leven Mercat Cross: our engineers drain the vehicle where it sits. Ring and ask rather than assuming if you are close to a border, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of Balmaise Centre.
In short, for Sillerhole motorists
Before you pour, read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank all the same, leave the vehicle off then ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, anywhere in Fife.