AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in The Lawe: Why It Happens and How to Prevent It
Keep the engine and ignition off and ring 0333 366 0103 now — reading can wait when AdBlue is already in the diesel tank. A drain plus a thorough flush, done just where your vehicle sits in The Lawe, is normally all it takes when found before your motor runs. If you are reading before it has happened, the remainder of this page is about why it occurs and how to make sure it doesn't.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
Plenty of newer diesels on the roads about The Lawe and High Shields carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to your motor. The exhaust, not your motor, is where AdBlue goes: dosed into the fumes to fresh it, from a separate tank.
There is a filler on each tank. Under one flap, next to each other: that is the arrangement on many vehicles. On others, AdBlue's filler is beneath the bonnet or in your boot instead. Diesel gets filled at every forecourt visit, week in, week out. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less frequently, normally from a bottle, and usually by someone who has to stop and think where it goes. The slip lives in that gap.
The Lawe: how AdBlue in the diesel tank occurs
Seldom is it carelessness: normally three things coincide.
On a drive off Fort Street before work, or in the car park outside Harbour Lights on the way home: that is where the rushed top-up takes place. Why the rush? As AdBlue runs low the vehicle warns you, and if it is gone, limp mode follows.
The old car's cap is where your hand reaches — but a rental car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers elsewhere. That is the second factor: a strange motor.
Lastly, the bottle fits: a diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it goes in just as easily, and after the tip begins, no part stops it. It's a few seconds, whether out in South Shields or right in the heart of The Lawe.
The AdBlue filler and the diesel filler: telling them apart
Before you tip anything, whether on a drive in Tynemouth or a forecourt in The Lawe, check these. They take a few seconds.
- Check the cap instead of going by position: AdBlue ones are frequently blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel ones usually are not.
- On plenty of vehicles, the size gives it away: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- Open the flap and look for a label — plenty of vehicles show which goes in which filler just there.
- The handbook says which it is when the filler is not next to your diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- The person who drove the vehicle last. On a hire or company car picked up from somewhere like the car park at Brockley Whins, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
For the day the light appears — anywhere it is around Tyne and Wear — a routine to follow.
- Stop somewhere level, motor off, with time in hand — not hurried on the side of Trajan Street.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once finding the AdBlue filler and reading it. Silly, yes, but it works.
- The diesel cap remains on. Where the two share a flap, confirm it's closed before lifting the bottle.
- Slowly does it, through the bottle's own spout, until it's full or the bottle runs out.
- Before starting the vehicle, shut the cap and look again that the diesel cap never came off.
Find at the second or third stage that AdBlue went into the diesel filler? That's where you stop. Don't go on to stage five.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank around The Lawe already?
Brief order, then. First: the engine stays unstarted. On plenty of diesels the ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so do not switch the car on. Do not 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 pulled from.
The attendants at Asda, Esso or another forecourt will usually help pushing your car clear when you ask. On your own drive in The Lawe? Then the vehicle stays put.
Already run? Stop when it is safe, then turn off. The next exit is the place to leave when you are on the A194(M), under 10 miles from The Lawe. About how far did it go? Crossing The Lawe is less a job than a run of under 10 miles towards Sunderland, so say.
The Lawe: what occurs when our technicians turn up
Wherever your car has stopped, whether outside Hadrian Primary School, beside People's Mission or at home, our van travels to it. Both the work and our quote depend on three replies — which liquid, what quantity, and whether it's run — so our technicians ask. The quote comes over the phone, ahead of any van leaving.
Then that tank is emptied and the fuel system flushed thoroughly. More than with petrol, it matters with AdBlue: crystals form, some metals are attacked, and none of it washes away on its own, however long it is left. A test is last: before that, fresh diesel is added, and the fuel filter is flushed or replaced as needed. We do not leave until it has been started and is running properly.
With pumps fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs where your engine hasn't run take roughly half an hour after our engineers are there. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. It's worth looking at your policy while we travel to you: misfuelling cover comes with plenty of policies.
About The Lawe and where it is
The Lawe is a suburban area located on the coast of Tyne and Wear, situated near the city of Sunderland. The Lawe sits at a relatively low elevation of 25 metres, with its terraced housing stock reflecting the area's historical development. The Lawe is part of the larger urban landscape of the North East, with nearby places including South Shields and North Shields.
AdBlue drains in The Lawe and across Tyne and Wear
Being a residential suburb, The Lawe shares its vans nearby places — North Shields, Mill Dam — all the way through NE postcodes and the surrounding area around them. Our van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting NE33 2.
The vehicle doesn't need to move. Draining happens right there, be it a driveway, a street by Arbeia Roman Fort Museum, or a lay-by towards St Stephen's Gardens. Guessing won't help at the back of Arbeia Roman Fort and Museum, close to a boundary, or somewhere hard to describe; phone and check.
For The Lawe motorists, the short version
Before you pour, read the cap. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, anywhere in Tyne and Wear, if AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank regardless — so leave the vehicle off and call 0333 366 0103.