Why It Occurs and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Steel Bank
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? In that case set this page down a moment, leave the ignition and engine off, then phone 0333 366 0103. In Steel Bank, catching it before the motor turns usually leaves a drain and a full flush on the spot. Nothing happened yet? Below, the rest of the page explains the why it takes place and the ways to prevent it for good.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
Many current diesels on the roads around Steel Bank and Crookes carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your engine. AdBlue goes to your 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 each tank. Some cars put the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; a lot more have the two side by side under one flap. Filling the diesel side at the pump goes on all the time. Seldom topped up, AdBlue normally goes in from a bottle, tipped by someone who must stop and think what cap to use. Mistakes happen in that gap between the two.
How AdBlue in your diesel tank happens around Steel Bank
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a message from your car, and letting it run out means limp mode — so a hurried top-up, maybe before work off Mona Road, perhaps at The Princess Royal on the way home after work.
Next, your hand goes for the cap it knew on the old car — because a rental car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers somewhere your last one did not.
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. Howard Hill or the middle of Steel Bank: it is the same few seconds in both.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
Whether a Steel Bank forecourt or a drive over in Upperthorpe, spend a couple of seconds on these before any is poured in.
- Position can mislead; the cap does not. AdBlue ones tend to be blue or bear the name "AdBlue" — diesel ones usually don't.
- The size. On plenty of motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- A label inside your fuel flap frequently says which fuel goes where, on plenty of cars. Look for it.
- The handbook says where it lives if your filler isn't next to the diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- The previous driver knows. Ask when you collect a hire car or company car — from Sheffield's car park, say — not when the light appears.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
When the light comes on, anywhere across South Yorkshire, use this routine.
- Park and switch off. Not on a slope, not with the engine running, and not in a rush on the side of Mona Avenue.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it does the trick.
- The two behind a single flap? Then confirm the cap on your diesel side is still closed before raising the bottle.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Only after that, start the vehicle: close the cap, check once more, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened.
Stop there if you find, at step two or three, that you've already poured into the diesel side. Do not go on to step five.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, around Steel Bank?
Then the order of things is short. Do not start the motor. The fuel pump runs on many diesels as soon as the ignition is switched on — and so keep it off. Thinning it with more diesel won't work, since AdBlue sinks to the base instead of blending — and that is where the fuel is pulled from.
At a forecourt — JET, Shell or another — the staff will usually help push your car away, when you ask. If you're on your own driveway around Steel Bank, leave it where it sits.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if your engine has already run. The next junction is the place to come off if you are on the M1, under 5 miles from Steel Bank. A short hop across Steel Bank is a smaller job than a run towards Sheffield, under 3 miles away, so tell us roughly how far it went.
Our arrival around Steel Bank, and what takes place next
By Westways Primary School, close to St Timothy's Church or on your own driveway: wherever the vehicle has stopped, we come to it. Both the work and the price rest on three answers — what fluid, which amount, and whether it's run — so we ask. You get that quote on the phone, before anybody sets off.
Draining that tank comes next, then a thorough flush of the system. Not like petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and attacks some fuel-system metals, and neither clears out by itself. That is why it matters more. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and your car is tested. We do not leave until it has been fired up and is running correctly.
Using pumps fine on a working forecourt and quiet enough for use outside a house at night, most jobs where the motor hasn't run need about half an hour once our engineers arrive. Paying happens on the day, not upfront, and you receive the paperwork your insurer asks for: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. Before we get there, have a look at your insurance documents; plenty carry cover for misfuelling.
About Steel Bank itself
Steel Bank is a suburban area located on the outskirts of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, sitting at an elevation of 182 metres. Steel Bank forms part of the larger urban landscape of Sheffield, with nearby places including Howard Hill, Birkendale, and Crookesmoor. Steel Bank is characterized by its predominantly terraced housing stock, reflecting the area's historical development as a residential neighbourhood.
AdBlue drains across South Yorkshire, Steel Bank included
As a residential suburb, Steel Bank has the same vans as nearby places — Birkendale, Crookesmoor — all the way across S postcodes and the wider area beyond. Quote a postcode beginning S10 1, and our van gets there fastest.
Shifting your car is not necessary. The drain happens right there, be it a drive, a street near St Vincent's Catholic Church, or a lay-by towards Matlock Green. Assuming doesn't help at the back of St. Mary's Church, close to a boundary, or anywhere awkward to describe; ring and check.
Steel Bank drivers: the short version
Tip nothing till you have read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank all the same, leave the car off then ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel clears it where it stands, anywhere across South Yorkshire.