South Elphinstone: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Avoid It?
Keep the motor and ignition off then ring 0333 366 0103 now — the rest can wait if AdBlue is already in your diesel tank. Normally, if the motor has not turned, it is emptied and fully purged where the vehicle is in South Elphinstone. The rest of this page covers why it takes place and how to ensure it doesn't — handy if you are reading before it has happened.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
Not one fluid but two: that is how plenty of newer diesels around South Elphinstone and Dolphingstone carry, with diesel feeding your engine. 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 for every tank. On a lot of vehicles the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in the boot or under the bonnet. Topping up your diesel side at the pump happens constantly. Someone who has to stop and think where it goes usually tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less regularly. That gap is where the slip lives.
South Elphinstone: how AdBlue in the diesel tank occurs
Carelessness seldom causes it. Instead is three things coming up at once.
Haste comes from the warning. The car 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 Hamish Gardens, or heading home in the car park at the pub in the village.
Then the vehicle is strange. A hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers where your last one didn't, and your hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old one.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, and so nothing stops the tip after it has started. Whether it occurs in North Elphinstone or the middle of South Elphinstone, it is the same few seconds.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Before you pour anything, whether on a drive in Tranent or a forecourt around South Elphinstone, check these. They take a few seconds.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or marked "AdBlue". Your diesel cap normally isn't. Read it instead of going by where it sits.
- Plenty of motors fit AdBlue the smaller neck of the two.
- Check inside your fuel flap: many vehicles have a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that is where your filler is if it is not by your diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- The person who drove it last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park at Prestonpans, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
For the day the light comes on — wherever you are around East Lothian — a routine to follow.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with the engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Berry Way.
- Silly as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew the cap works — once you have located your filler and read it.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave the vehicle on.
- Slowly does it, through the bottle's own spout, till it is full or the bottle runs out.
- Close the cap and check once more. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the vehicle.
If at step two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Stage five is off limits.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank around South Elphinstone?
Do not start your engine: that's where the short order of things starts. Do not switch the ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Filling up with diesel will not thin it: rather than mixing, AdBlue drops to the bottom of that tank, right where fuel is taken from.
At a forecourt — JET, Asda or any other — the staff will normally help push the vehicle clear, when you ask. Leave it where it is if you are on your own driveway in South Elphinstone.
Where the motor has run already, stop safely and turn the car off. Come off the M8 — under 15 miles out of South Elphinstone — at the first exit. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Edinburgh, under 10 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across South Elphinstone.
What takes place when our engineers get there around South Elphinstone
Our engineers come to your car wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside the local primary school, near War Memorial or on your own drive. Our engineers ask what went in, about how much, and if it's run, because the replies decide the work and our price. That quote is given on the call, ahead of any van leaving.
After that: a drain, then a thorough flush of the entire system. Much more than with petrol, it counts here: the crystals form, some metals corrode, and none of it washes away on its own, no matter how long it sits. Testing comes last: before that, clean diesel is added, and your filter is cleaned or changed as needed. We don't go until it has been fired up and is running correctly.
Unstarted vehicles usually mean a half-hour visit from arrival. The equipment is safe on a busy forecourt, and quiet enough for a residential street after dark. Paying is on the day, not upfront, and you receive the documents your insurer asks for: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About South Elphinstone
South Elphinstone is a coastal locality in East Lothian, situated near the city of Edinburgh and overlooking the Firth of Forth. South Elphinstone has a relatively small population and is characterised by semi-detached housing. South Elphinstone sits at an elevation of 129 metres, with nearby places including North Elphinstone and Ormiston.
AdBlue drains around South Elphinstone and across East Lothian
Elphinstone and Ormiston are among the towns around South Elphinstone, a coastal area, that the same vans cover, over EH postcodes. A postcode starting EH33 2 gets our van to you fastest.
Your car stays where it is. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Hadfast Valley Wildlife Reserve, a side street close to Elphinstone Tower: our technicians drain it where it stands. Awkward to pin down, like the back of Fa'side Castle? Close to a county line? Checking beats assuming, so ring.
For South Elphinstone people, the short version
Pour no AdBlue till you have read the cap. AdBlue in your diesel tank after all? Keep the car off and call 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, throughout East Lothian.