Why It Happens and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Stakeford
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave the motor and the ignition off and call 0333 366 0103. In Stakeford, catching it before the motor turns normally leaves a drain and a full flush where it stands. Not happened yet? Further down, the rest of the page explains the reasons it occurs and the ways to prevent it for good.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
Not one fluid but two: that's how plenty of newer diesels around Stakeford and Sheepwash run, with diesel for 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.
Each tank has its own filler. Many of vehicles share a single flap for the two, whereas others put the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is fuelled at the pump all the time. Far less frequently, the AdBlue side is filled — normally from a bottle, by someone thinking about where it goes. The mistake grows in that gap between the two.
How AdBlue in the diesel tank takes place in Stakeford
Carelessness seldom explains it. Instead is three things lining up at once.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a warning from the car, and letting it run out means limp mode — hence a rushed top-up, perhaps before work off East Ford Road, or at The Lord Barrington on the way home that evening.
New-to-you motors come next, too. Hire cars, new motors and company cars put their fillers in new places, and habit goes for the cap 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, so nothing stops the tip once it has started. It's a few seconds, whether out in West Sleekburn or bang in the heart of Stakeford.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Check these before pouring, on a forecourt in Stakeford or a drive over in Hirst. A few seconds, that's all.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap normally isn't. Read it instead of going by position.
- Many cars give AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- Check inside the fuel flap: plenty of cars have a label there showing which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If the filler is not by the diesel cap, it is in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- Picking up a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park outside Ashington? Check with whoever drove the car last before you set off, not when the light comes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
On the day the light appears — wherever it is around Northumberland — a routine to follow.
- Park and switch off. Not on a slope, not with your motor running, and not in a rush on the side of Dereham Terrace.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and say the name "AdBlue" out loud as unscrewing it. It sounds silly. It works.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Gently does it, through the bottle's own spout, till it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check once more. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the vehicle.
Find during the second or third step that the bottle went in the wrong filler? That is where you stop. Never go on to step five.
Stakeford: already put AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start the motor. Keep your ignition off too, since on many diesels it by itself starts the fuel pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where the fuel is drawn from — so do not top up with diesel to thin it.
Ask the attendants to help push your car clear of the pump if you are on a forecourt — the JET, the Shell or somewhere else. If you're on your own driveway in Stakeford, leave the vehicle where it is.
Already run? Stop when it's sensible, then switch off. Stakeford lies under 15 miles from the A167(M); on it, use the next junction. Mileage matters — a short hop across Stakeford makes a smaller job than heading under 15 miles towards Newcastle upon Tyne — so say roughly how far it went.
When our technicians arrive around Stakeford, what takes place?
Our van comes to the car anywhere it stopped — your own drive, beside Rowing Club, or outside Stakeford Primary School. We ask what was put in, roughly how much, and if it has run, since the replies decide this work and our quote. Nobody sets off before you've heard our quote by phone.
After that: a drain, then a thorough flush of the entire system. Much more than with petrol, it matters with AdBlue: crystals form, some metals corrode, and nothing clears away unaided, however long it sits. The filter cleaned or, if needed, swapped; clean diesel in; then a test of your car. The engine is fired up next and tested to be sure it runs smoothly, all before our technicians leave.
Most jobs are finished in roughly half an hour once our engineers get there, as long as your motor has not run — and the pumps our engineers use are safe on a busy forecourt yet quiet after dark beside a house. The insurer will ask for the engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and you get both at the end. Payment is on the day, with no money upfront. Wrong-fuel cover is included in many insurance policies — and so use the wait to check yours.
About Stakeford
Stakeford is a village in Northumberland, situated near the coast and approximately 12.9 miles from Newcastle upon Tyne. Stakeford has a population of around 1554 people and is characterised by semi-detached housing. Stakeford sits at a relatively low elevation of 27 metres, looking out towards the North Sea. Stakeford is close to nearby places such as West Sleekburn, Bomarsund, and Guide Post.
AdBlue drains around Stakeford, and Northumberland beyond
Bomarsund and Guide Post are among the towns around Stakeford, a coastal village, that the same vans cover, throughout NE postcodes. Our van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting NE62 5.
Your car stays where it is. Our engineers drain it where it is — a side street near The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a lay-by on the way to Riverside Park, a drive. Assuming doesn't help behind Holy Family, close to a boundary, or somewhere awkward to pin down; ring and ask.
In short, for Stakeford drivers
Read the cap before you tip. Even so AdBlue in your diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel will empty it where it stands, wherever across Northumberland: switch the car off then phone 0333 366 0103.