Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Tarleton: Why It Occurs
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave the engine and the ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103. Caught before your engine runs, it's generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Tarleton. Not happened yet? Below, the rest of the page explains the why it occurs and the how to avoid it for good.
AdBlue in a diesel car, and its separate tank
Many modern diesels on the roads about Tarleton and Becconsall carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the motor. AdBlue goes to your exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to clean it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
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 the boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is topped up at the pump all the time. Rarely topped up, AdBlue normally comes out of a bottle, poured by a driver who has to stop and think what filler to use. That gap is where the slip lives.
Tarleton: how AdBlue in your diesel tank occurs
Carelessness seldom explains it. What does is three things coming up at once.
On a drive off Gorse Lane before work, or in the car park at Cock and Bottle heading home: that's where the rushed top-up happens. What is the reason for the rush? As AdBlue runs low the car warns you, and once it is empty, limp mode follows.
Unfamiliar cars are next, too. Hire cars, new vehicles and company motors place their fillers in new places, and the hand goes for the cap used on the old one.
Nothing stops the tip once it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. The same few seconds settle it, in the middle of Tarleton or out in Tarleton Moss.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Whether a Tarleton forecourt or a drive out in Holmes, take a couple of seconds over these before any is poured in.
- Where it sits misleads; the cap does not. AdBlue ones tend to be blue or bear the name "AdBlue" — diesel ones usually don't.
- The size. On many vehicles the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- Check inside your fuel flap: many cars have a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- The handbook. If the filler isn't by the diesel cap, it is in the boot or under the bonnet, and the handbook says which.
- The previous driver will know. Ask when you pick up a rental or company car — at Croston's car park, say — rather than once the light comes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever around Lancashire that is.
- Switch off after you park — flat ground, motor off, and never rushed by Bakers Mews at the roadside.
- Find the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and say the word "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew 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, until it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check a second time. Make sure the diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the vehicle.
Spot at step two or three that it's already gone into your diesel side? Then stop just there. Leave out stage five altogether.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, around Tarleton?
Do not start your motor: that is where the short order of things begins. The fuel pump runs on plenty of diesels the moment your ignition goes on — so leave it off. AdBlue does not mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where your fuel is drawn from — so don't top up with diesel to thin it.
The staff at the nearest petrol station, Shell or any forecourt will usually lend a hand pushing the car clear if you ask. On your own drive in Tarleton? So the car stays put.
Already started? Pull over when it is sensible, then turn off. Come off the M6 — under 10 miles out of Tarleton — at the next exit. Tell us about how far it went: a run towards Preston, under 10 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Tarleton.
Our arrival in Tarleton, and what occurs next
The van reaches the vehicle wherever it has come to rest — your own drive, beside Tarleton Library, or by Tarleton Holy Trinity CofE Primary School. Our technicians ask what was put in, roughly how much, and whether it has run, since those answers determine the work and our quote. You get that quote by phone, before anyone heads out.
Your system is then cleaned thoroughly, once your tank is emptied. More than with petrol, it matters here: the crystals build up, some metals corrode, and none of that clears out on its own, however long it sits. After your filter has been cleaned — or replaced, where required — fresh diesel is added, and finally your vehicle gets tested. We don't leave until it has been fired up and is running smoothly.
Using pumps fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs where the motor has not run need about half an hour after our engineers are there. Your insurer will ask for the engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and you get both at the end. Payment comes on the day, with no money upfront. While we travel, take a look at your insurance documents; many carry cover for misfuelling.
About Tarleton and where it is
Tarleton is a village in Lancashire, situated on the banks of the River Douglas, with Tarleton Moss nearby. Tarleton has a population of around 1765 people and is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock. Tarleton sits at a low elevation of 19 metres, close to the city of Preston, which is approximately 7.8 miles away. Tarleton is part of the wider rural landscape of the North West region, with nearby villages including Sollom and Bretherton.
AdBlue drains around Tarleton, and Lancashire beyond
As a village, Tarleton has the same vans as nearby places — Sollom, Bretherton — all the way through PR postcodes and the surrounding area beyond. A postcode starting PR4 6 gets the van to you fastest.
The car doesn't need to shift. The drain happens right there, whether a driveway, a road near Holy Trinity, or a layby towards Carr Heyes Recreation Ground. Assuming won't help behind Tarleton Bowling and Social Club, close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to pin down; ring and check.
Tarleton motorists: the short version
Pour nothing till you've read the cap. Still AdBlue in your diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel will drain it where it is, wherever around Lancashire: keep it off then ring 0333 366 0103.