Stoneheads: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Avoid It?
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? In that case put this page aside a moment, leave the ignition and engine off, and ring 0333 366 0103. In Stoneheads, finding it before the engine turns normally leaves draining and a full flush where it stands. Not happened yet? Further down, the page covers the why it takes place and the how to prevent it for good.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel car
Many modern diesels around Bridgemont, as well as Stoneheads, run on two fluids; your engine gets only the diesel. Its own tank keeps it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, and there a spray cleans the fumes.
Each tank has its own filler. On a lot of vehicles the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. At the petrol pump, your diesel side is topped up all the time. Far less frequently, the AdBlue side is topped up — mostly from a bottle, by someone working out where it goes. That gap is where the mistake lives.
How does AdBlue in the diesel tank happen around Stoneheads?
Carelessness seldom explains it. Instead is three things coming up together.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a message from your car, and running dry leads to limp mode — so a hurried top-up, perhaps before work off Meadowfield, perhaps outside The Railway on the way home that evening.
The old car's filler is where the hand reaches — yet a rental car, a new car or a company car keeps the fillers elsewhere. That's the second thing: an unfamiliar vehicle.
Lastly, the bottle goes in: diesel filler or AdBlue one, it goes in as easily, and once the pour begins, nothing stops it. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Stoneheads or out in Hockerley.
How to tell the AdBlue filler from the diesel one
A few seconds is all the checks take — so run through them before you pour anything, on a driveway in New Horwich or a forecourt around Stoneheads.
- Check the cap instead of going by where it sits: AdBlue ones are frequently blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps usually are not.
- Look at the size: the smaller filler neck is, on many vehicles, the AdBlue one.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Many motors say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If the filler isn't by your diesel cap, it is in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park outside Whaley Bridge, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in the diesel tank
The day the light comes on, anywhere across Derbyshire, use this routine.
- Not in a rush on the side of Whaley Lane, not on a slope, not with the engine running: park and switch off first.
- Find the AdBlue filler, check the cap, and say the name "AdBlue" aloud while unscrewing it. It sounds daft. It does the trick.
- The diesel cap stays on. Where both share a flap, confirm it is shut before lifting the bottle.
- Slowly is best, through the bottle's own spout, until it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Before you start the car, close the cap and check a second time that your diesel cap was never opened off.
Find during the second or third step that AdBlue went into the wrong tank? That is where you stop. Never go on to stage five.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Stoneheads?
Do not start your engine: that is how the short order of things begins. Don't switch your ignition on; on plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Don't top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of the tank, where your fuel is sucked from.
The staff at Tesco, New Mills Marina Diesel Pump or any forecourt will normally lend a hand to push the vehicle clear when asked. On your own drive in Stoneheads? Then your car remains 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 M60, under 10 miles from Stoneheads. About how far did it go? Hopping across Stoneheads is less work than a run of under 15 miles to Manchester, so tell us.
What happens when our engineers get there around Stoneheads
Wherever your car has stopped, whether by Whaley Bridge Primary School, near Church of the Sacred Heart or at home, our van travels to it. Those replies decide this work and our quote, and so we ask what got in, roughly how much, and whether it has run. That quote comes on the call, before any van leaves.
Then that tank is drained and the fuel system rinsed thoroughly. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not wash out on its own — which is why that matters more with AdBlue than with petrol. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. We don't go until it has been fired up and is running correctly.
Unrun vehicles usually mean a half-hour job after arrival. The kit is safe on a busy forecourt, and hushed enough for a residential street after dark. Paying is on the day, not upfront, and you are given the documents your insurer wants: an engineer's report and a VAT invoice. Misfuelling cover is included in many insurance policies — and so make use of the wait to check yours.
About Stoneheads
Stoneheads is a suburban area situated on the shores of a lake in Derbyshire, with a mix of detached housing and scenic views. Stoneheads sits at an elevation of 259 metres, overlooking the surrounding countryside. Stoneheads is located near several nearby places, including Hockerley, Whaley Bridge, and Dowry, and is within commuting distance of Manchester, which is 14.4 miles away.
AdBlue drains in Stoneheads and across Derbyshire
As a residential suburb, Stoneheads shares its vans surrounding places — Whaley Bridge, Dowry — right across SK postcodes and the wider area beyond. A postcode starting SK23 7 gets the van to you fastest.
There's no need to move the car. Wherever it stands — beside Toddbrook Sailing Club, in a layby heading to Ringstone Clough, on a drive — that is where it gets cleared. Ring and ask instead of guessing if you are close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to describe, like the back of The Dipping Stone.
The short version for Stoneheads drivers
Before you tip, read the cap. Petrol in Diesel drains it on the spot, anywhere across Derbyshire, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank anyway — so leave the car off then call 0333 366 0103.