How It Occurs and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Tapton
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? In that case put this page down a moment, leave the ignition and motor off, then call 0333 366 0103. Around Tapton, catching it before the motor turns usually means a drain and a full flush on the spot. If you are reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it takes place and how to make sure it does not.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel car
Plenty of current diesels on the roads around Tapton and Brimington Common carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the engine. The exhaust, not your engine, is where AdBlue goes: sprayed into the gas to clean them, from its own tank.
There is a filler on every tank. Plenty of vehicles share a single flap for the two, whereas some move the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is fuelled at the pump all the time. Much less frequently, the AdBlue side gets filled — normally from a bottle, by a person thinking about where it goes. The slip lives in that gap.
Tapton: how AdBlue in the diesel tank takes place
It's hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
Hurry comes from the warning. Your car tells you as AdBlue runs low, and an empty tank puts the vehicle into limp mode — so the top-up gets done quickly, before work on a drive off Balmoak Lane, or heading home in the car park outside The Lockoford Inn.
Then, 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 didn't.
Lastly, the bottle goes in: diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it goes in just as readily, and after the tip starts, nothing halts it. Whether it occurs in Stonegravels or the middle of Tapton, it is the same few seconds.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
A few seconds is all these take — so run through them before you tip anything, on a drive in Chesterfield or a forecourt around Tapton.
- Check the cap rather than going by where it sits: AdBlue caps are frequently blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones normally aren't.
- The size. On many vehicles the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- A label inside your fuel flap often says which fuel goes where, on many motors. Check for it.
- The handbook. If your 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 vehicle last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park at Chesterfield, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
When the light goes on, anywhere around Derbyshire, follow this routine.
- Stop somewhere level, engine off, with time in hand — not hurried on the side of Brimington Road.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds daft and it works.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave the vehicle on.
- Slowly is best, through the bottle's own spout, till it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap, and look again — making sure the diesel filler remained shut throughout. After that, start the vehicle.
Spot at step two or three that it's already gone into the diesel side? Then stop just there. Never carry on to stage five.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, in Tapton?
Then the order of things is short. Don't start your motor. The fuel pump starts on many diesels as soon as your ignition is switched on — so leave it off. Diluting it with extra diesel fails, since AdBlue sinks to the base rather than blending — and that's where your fuel is pulled from.
Ask the staff to help push the vehicle clear of the pump if you're at a forecourt — the Sainsbury's, the Tesco or anywhere else. If you're on your own driveway around Tapton, leave the car where it is.
When your engine has been run already, pull over somewhere safe then switch the vehicle off. Come off the M1 — under 5 miles out of Tapton — at the first junction. Roughly how far did it go? Hopping across Tapton is smaller work than a run of under 10 miles towards Sheffield, and so tell us.
Our arrival around Tapton, and what happens next
Anywhere your car came to rest, be it outside Christ Church CofE Primary School, beside Earth and Wildflower Labyrinth or at home, our van comes to it. Our engineers ask what got in, roughly how much, and whether it has run, because those replies determine this work and the price. That quote is given on the call, ahead of any van leaving.
Next: draining, then a full flush of the whole system. Much more than with petrol, it counts here: crystals build up, some metals are attacked, and none of it washes out on its own, however long it sits. Once the filter is flushed — or replaced, where required — clean diesel is added, and finally your car is tested. Your engine is fired up next and tested to be sure it runs smoothly, all before we leave.
Most jobs are finished in about half an hour after our technicians get there, as long as your engine hasn't run — and the pumps our engineers use are safe on a live forecourt and quiet after dark beside a house. Your insurer usually wants the engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and you get both once this job is done. Payment is on the day, with no deposit. It is worth checking your insurance while we travel to you: misfuelling cover is included with plenty of policies.
About Tapton
Tapton is a suburban area in Derbyshire, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 102 metres, with semi-detached housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Tapton lies approximately 9.5 miles from Sheffield and 132 miles from London, making it a commuter-friendly location. Tapton is surrounded by nearby places such as Stonegravels, Brimington, and Whittington Moor, which contribute to its residential character. Tapton has a population of around 1660 people, according to approximate estimates.
AdBlue drains about Tapton, and Derbyshire beyond
Tapton is a residential suburb, and the teams that cover it also work the towns near it, Brimington and Whittington Moor among them, across the S postcode area. Quote a postcode beginning S41 0, and our van gets there quickest.
There's no need to move the vehicle. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Tapton Park, a side street near Christ Church: our engineers drain it where it sits. Tricky to pin down, like the back of Apple? Close to a border? Checking is better than assuming, and so phone.
For Tapton drivers, the short version
Always, the cap; after that, the pour. Even so AdBlue in your diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel will empty it where it is, anywhere in Derbyshire: keep the car off and ring 0333 366 0103.