Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Tollcross: Why It Happens
Pause reading a minute if the diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, motor off, and call 0333 366 0103. Caught before the engine runs, it is usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Tollcross. Nothing happened yet? Further down, the rest of the page covers the reasons it takes place and the how to prevent it for good.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle, and its separate tank
Not one liquid but two: that's what many newer diesels near Tollcross and Marchmont run, with diesel for the motor. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to fresh it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Each tank comes with one filler of its own. Some cars keep the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; a lot of others place the two side by side behind one flap. Diesel goes in at each forecourt visit, again and again. Rarely topped up, AdBlue normally comes from a bottle, tipped by a driver who has to stop and think what cap it needs. Mistakes happen in that gap between them.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Tollcross: how it takes place
Carelessness rarely explains it. What does is three things lining up together.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a message from the car, and letting it run dry means limp mode — hence a rushed top-up, maybe before work off Thornybauk, or outside The Ventoux on the way home after work.
Then the vehicle is unfamiliar. A hire car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not, and your hand gets to for the cap it would have used on the old one.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, and so nothing stops the pour once it has started. Fountainbridge or the middle of Tollcross: it takes the same few seconds in both.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Before you tip anything, whether on a drive in Churchhill or a forecourt in Tollcross, check these. They take a few seconds.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap usually isn't. Read it rather than going by position.
- Many vehicles give AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- The flap. Look inside the fuel flap for a label. Plenty of vehicles say there which fuel goes where.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that's where your filler sits if it's not by your diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- The previous driver will know. Ask when you collect a rental or company car — at Haymarket's car park, perhaps — rather than when the warning appears.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach your diesel tank
On the day the light appears — anywhere it is around City of Edinburgh — a routine to use.
- Not in a rush on the side of West Tollcross, not on a slope, not with your engine running: park then switch off first.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once finding the AdBlue filler and reading it. Daft, perhaps, but it works.
- The diesel cap stays on. Where the two share a flap, confirm it is closed before lifting the bottle.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Close the cap and check again. Make sure your diesel cap was never opened. Only then start the vehicle.
Spot at stage two or three that it's already gone into your diesel side? So stop just there. Do not go on to stage five.
AdBlue in your diesel tank already, in Tollcross?
Short order, then. Top of it: the engine remains unstarted. Do not switch the ignition on; on many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump. Thinning it with more diesel won't work, because AdBlue settles to the bottom instead of blending — and that's where your fuel is drawn from.
If you're at a forecourt, whether it's the JET or the BP, ask the attendants to help roll the vehicle away from the pump. Your own drive in Tollcross is where it should stay.
Already started? Stop once it is safe, then switch off. The next junction means where to leave when you're on the M8, under 5 miles from Tollcross. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Edinburgh, under a mile away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Tollcross.
Our arrival around Tollcross, and what happens next
We come to your car wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside the local primary school, close to Cameo Picturehouse or on your own drive. Both the work and the quote depend on three answers — which fluid, which quantity, and whether it has run — so we ask. That quote is given on the call, ahead of any van leaving.
Then your tank is drained and the fuel system rinsed thoroughly. With AdBlue that counts 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. A test is last: before that, fresh diesel goes in, and the filter is cleaned or changed if necessary. The engine is started next and checked to confirm it runs properly, all before we leave.
Unrun vehicles mostly need a half-hour visit after arrival. The equipment is safe on a live filling station, and quiet enough for a driveway late at night. Your insurer will ask for an engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and both are yours at the end. Payment comes on the day, with no deposit. It is worth checking your policy as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover comes with many policies.
About Tollcross itself
Tollcross is a densely populated suburban area in the City of Edinburgh, situated near the coast and approximately 0.9 miles from Edinburgh city centre. Tollcross sits at an elevation of around 77 metres, with its predominantly flat-type housing reflecting the area's urban character. Tollcross is close to other nearby places such as Fountainbridge, West End, and Old Town, and is home to a population of around 18845 people.
AdBlue drains in Tollcross and across City of Edinburgh
West End and Old Town are among the places around Tollcross, a residential suburb, that the same vans cover, over EH postcodes. The van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting EH3 9.
No need to move the vehicle. Wherever it sits — near Tollcross Community Centre, on a layby heading to Gardner's Crescent Gardens, at home — that is where it is cleared. Tricky to explain, like the back of Edinburgh Meat Market Archway? Close to a county line? Asking is better than guessing, so ring.
For Tollcross people, the short version
Tip nothing till you've read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank regardless, leave the car off then phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel clears it where it sits, anywhere around City of Edinburgh.