St Johns: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Prevent It?
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave the motor and your ignition off and phone 0333 366 0103. In St Johns, catching it before the engine runs usually leaves draining and a full flush on the spot. The remainder of this page covers why it takes place and how to ensure it does not — handy if you are reading before it has happened.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel car need its own filler?
Many modern diesels in Westgate Common, as well as St Johns, carry on two liquids; the motor gets just your diesel. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is fed into the exhaust stream and cleans it.
Each tank has its own filler. Some vehicles keep the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; plenty of others place the two together behind one flap. The diesel side is fuelled at the pump all the time. Someone who has to stop and work out where it goes usually fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less often. The mistake lives in that gap.
How AdBlue in your diesel tank takes place in St Johns
Carelessness seldom causes it. What does is three things coming up at once.
On a drive off Cliff Park Avenue before work, or in the car park outside The Cliffe Tree Inn heading home: that's where the rushed top-up happens. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue gets low the vehicle tells you, and if it's gone, limp mode kicks in.
Next, the hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old vehicle — since a rental car, a new vehicle or a company car places the fillers where your last one did not.
A spout-topped bottle finds no obstacle at a diesel filler any more than at an AdBlue one. So the tip, once started, carries on. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of St Johns or out in Wakefield.
Telling the AdBlue filler from the diesel filler
Before you pour anything, whether on a drive in New Brighton or a forecourt around St Johns, check these. They take a few seconds.
- Colour and marking: an AdBlue cap is commonly blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap usually does not. Trust the cap, not where it sits.
- The size. On many motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- Lift the flap and check for a label — many cars mark which belongs in which inlet right there.
- Cannot find it beside the diesel inlet? Then check beneath the bonnet or in your boot — the owner's manual says which.
- Ask the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — when you pick up a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park outside Wakefield Westgate.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
The day the light comes on, wherever across West Yorkshire, follow this routine.
- Switch off once parked — level ground, motor stopped, and never rushed beside Cliff Villa Court on the verge.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, after you find the AdBlue filler and reading it. Silly, yes, yet it does the trick.
- Both behind one flap? Then confirm the lid on your diesel side stays shut before lifting the bottle.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Only then, start the vehicle: close the cap, check once more, and make sure the diesel cap was never opened.
Stop there if you find, at stage two or three, that you have already poured into the diesel side. Skip step five entirely.
Already put AdBlue in your diesel tank around St Johns?
What follows is a short order of things, starting with not starting your motor. On plenty of diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, so do not switch the car on. Topping up with diesel won't dilute it: instead, AdBlue sinks to the bottom of that tank, just where the fuel is drawn from.
The attendants at Sainsbury's, JET or any forecourt will normally lend a hand pushing your car clear when you ask. Leave it where it is if you are on your own driveway in St Johns.
If the engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. The next exit means where to come off when you're on the M1, under 3 miles from St Johns. About how far did it go? Crossing St Johns is smaller work than a trip of under a mile towards Wakefield, and so tell us.
St Johns: what occurs when we turn up
By Wakefield St Johns Church of England Voluntary Aided Junior and Infant School, near First Church Of Christ, Scientist or on your own driveway: wherever the vehicle has stopped, our engineers come to it. What liquid went in, the quantity, and whether it ran: our technicians ask because the replies set the work and quote. During the phone call itself, you are told our quote — ahead of anything else.
Then your tank is cleared and your system rinsed thoroughly. With AdBlue that counts more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own. Filter flushed or, where needed, swapped; clean diesel in; and then a test of your vehicle. The motor is fired up next and checked to be sure it runs smoothly, all before we go.
If your motor hasn't run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we are there, using pumps that are safe on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house after dark. The insurer usually wants an engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and you get both once the job is done. Payment is on the day, with no money upfront. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About St Johns
St Johns is a suburban area located on the riverside in West Yorkshire, with an elevation of 48 metres and a population of approximately 6296 residents. St Johns sits adjacent to the city of Wakefield, being only 0.4 miles away, and is near other places such as Brooks Bank and New Scarborough. St Johns is characterized by its predominant semi-detached housing stock, which reflects the typical residential architecture of the region. St Johns is situated in a commuter-friendly location, being 161.3 miles from London.
AdBlue drains round St Johns, and West Yorkshire beyond
Over WF postcodes, our vans covering St Johns — a residential suburb — work the surrounding spots too, New Scarborough and Brooks Bank included. Fastest of all: quote a WF1 2 postcode for our van.
The vehicle stays put. A driveway, a lay-by on the way to Coronation Gardens, a side street close to St John's Church: we drain it where it is. Awkward to pin down, like the back of Wakefield One? Close to a county line? Asking is better than assuming, and so phone.
In short, for St Johns drivers
Read the cap before you tip. AdBlue in your diesel tank regardless? Leave the car off then call 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel drains it where it stands, across West Yorkshire.