Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Stirling: Why It Occurs
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave your engine and the ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103. Normally, if the motor hasn't turned, it's drained and thoroughly purged where the vehicle is in Stirling. Not happened yet? Below, the rest of the page covers the why it happens and the how to prevent it altogether.
Why does AdBlue in a diesel motor need its own filler?
Many newer diesels around Torbrex, as well as Stirling, carry on two fluids; the engine gets only the diesel. Your exhaust, not the motor, is where AdBlue ends up: sprayed into the fumes to fresh it, from its own tank.
There is a filler on each tank. Other cars put the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; a lot of others have both together under one flap. Diesel gets filled on each forecourt call-out, again and again. Far less regularly, the AdBlue side is filled — mostly from a bottle, by someone thinking about where it goes. The error lives in that gap.
AdBlue in your diesel tank around Stirling: how it happens
It is rarely carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a warning from the vehicle, and letting it run dry leads to limp mode — hence a hurried top-up, perhaps before work off Wellgreen Road, perhaps at The City Walls on the way home after work.
Next, your hand reaches for the cap it knew on the old vehicle — since a rental car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers somewhere your last one didn't.
Lastly, the spout fits: a diesel filler or AdBlue one, it slides in just as readily, and after the tip starts, no part stops it. It takes a few seconds, whether in Shore or right in the centre of Stirling.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Be it a Stirling forecourt or a driveway over in Cambuskenneth, take a couple of seconds on these before anything is poured in.
- Colour and lettering: an AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap usually doesn't. Go by the cap, not its position.
- Look at the size: the smaller filler neck is, on many cars, the AdBlue one.
- Lift the filler flap and look for a label — many vehicles mark which goes in each filler right there.
- Can't see it beside your diesel filler? In that case look below the bonnet or in the boot — the handbook will say which.
- Collecting a hire or company car, perhaps at the car park outside the nearest station? Ask the person who drove it last before leaving, rather than once the light goes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in the diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever around Stirling that is.
- Park then switch off. Not on a slope, not with the motor running, and not in a rush on the side of Upper Craigs.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once you find the AdBlue filler and reading it. Silly, yes, yet it works.
- Leave your diesel cap on. If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Before you start your car, shut the cap and look again that the diesel cap was never came off.
Find at stage two or three that it has already gone into the diesel side? Then stop just there. Don't go on to step five.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, around Stirling?
Do not start your engine: that's how the short order of things starts. The fuel pump starts on plenty of diesels the moment the ignition goes on — so leave it off. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is sucked from — so do not top up with diesel to thin it.
On a forecourt — BP, Shell or any other — the staff will normally help roll the car away, when you ask. On your own drive in Stirling? So the vehicle stays where it is.
If the engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. The next exit means where to leave when you are on the M9, under 3 miles from Stirling. A short hop across Stirling is a smaller job than a run towards Dunfermline, under 25 miles away, so tell us about how far it went.
Stirling: what happens when our engineers turn up
Wherever the vehicle has stopped, be it by the local primary school, near St Ninian's Well or on your own drive, the van travels to it. Both the work and our price rest on three replies — which liquid, which quantity, and if it's run — so we ask. You hear that price by phone, before anybody heads out.
Then the tank is cleared and the system flushed thoroughly. With AdBlue that matters more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it doesn't wash out on its own. The filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the car is tested. Before we leave, we fire it up and confirm that it is running properly.
Unrun vehicles mostly mean a half-hour job from the moment we arrive. The kit is fine on a live forecourt, and hushed enough for a residential street after dark. The insurer will ask for the engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and both are yours once the job is done. Payment is on the day, with no deposit. It's worth looking at your policy while we travel to you: misfuelling cover is included with plenty of policies.
About Stirling and where it is
Stirling is a city situated in central Scotland, nestled between Glasgow and Edinburgh, and is characterised by its riverside location on the River Forth. The city's historic significance is rooted in its strategic position, which has long made it a crucial crossing point and a gateway to the Highlands. Stirling's rich history is evident in its old town and landmarks, which reflect its importance as a royal and commercial centre. Stirling is also the administrative hub of the surrounding area, with a strong sense of heritage and natural beauty.
AdBlue drains around Stirling, and Stirling beyond
Stirling is a city, and the vans that cover it also work the places around it, Braehead and Riverside among them, across the FK postcode area. Fastest of all: quote a FK8 2 postcode for our van.
The car doesn't need to move. A driveway, a lay-by on the way to Victoria Square, a side street near TK Maxx: our technicians drain the vehicle where it sits. Ring and ask rather than assuming if you are close to a border, or somewhere hard to describe, like the back of The Thistles Shopping Centre.
Stirling drivers: the short version
First, the cap; after that, the tip. If AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank regardless, leave the vehicle off then phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel drains it where it sits, anywhere in Stirling.