How It Occurs and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Troy
Pause here a minute when the diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, and call 0333 366 0103. In Troy, catching it before the engine turns normally leaves draining and a full flush on the spot. Here before the event? In that case the rest covers why it comes about and how to stop it ever happening.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel vehicle
Many newer diesels in Scotland, like those in Troy, run on two liquids; the motor gets just the diesel. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is sprayed into your exhaust stream to clean it.
Different tanks, separate fillers. Some cars put the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; plenty of others have both side by side under one flap. The diesel side is fuelled at the pump all the time. Far less often, the AdBlue side gets filled — mostly from a bottle, by a person working out where it goes. The mistake lives in that gap.
How does AdBlue in the diesel tank happen in Troy?
Rarely is it carelessness: normally three things coincide.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the vehicle tells you, and if it runs out altogether, the vehicle goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a drive off Station Road before work, or in the car park at The Fox and Hounds on the way home.
New-to-you motors are next, as well. Rentals, new motors and company cars place their fillers differently, and the hand goes for the cap it used on the old one.
No part halts the tip after 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 decide it, in the middle of Troy or out in Tinshill.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Before you pour anything, whether on a driveway in Horsforth or a forecourt in Troy, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Where it sits misleads; the cap doesn't. AdBlue ones are often blue or bear the name "AdBlue" — diesel ones usually do not.
- On plenty of cars, the size tells: AdBlue gets the smaller filler neck.
- Check inside the fuel flap: plenty of vehicles carry a label there saying which fuel goes where.
- The handbook says where it lives when the filler isn't next to the diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- Ask the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — if you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park outside Horsforth.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever across West Yorkshire that is.
- Turn off once parked — flat ground, engine stopped, and never rushed beside Sussex Avenue on the verge.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly and 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.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Before you start the vehicle, shut the cap and check again that your diesel cap was never opened off.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Never go on to stage five.
Troy: already put AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Do not start your engine: that is where the short order of things begins. Leave the ignition off as well, since on many diesels it by itself starts your pump. Thinning it with extra diesel fails, since AdBlue settles to the base rather than mixing — and that is where the fuel is sucked from.
Ask the staff to help roll your car away from the petrol pump if you are at a forecourt — the Shell, the Esso or anywhere else. Your own driveway in Troy is the place it should stay.
Where the engine has been run already, pull over safely and switch it off. On the Inner Ring Road, under 5 miles from Troy, that means the next exit. Distance counts — a quick hop across Troy makes a smaller job than heading under 5 miles to Leeds — so tell us about how far it went.
Troy: what occurs when we get there
Outside Westbrook Lane Primary School, close to Lister Hill or on your own driveway: wherever the car has stopped, our engineers come to it. Our engineers ask what was put in, about how much, and if it has run, because those answers settle the work and the price. On the phone call itself, you are told the quote — before dispatch.
The system is then rinsed thoroughly, once your tank is drained. With AdBlue that matters more than with petrol: it crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own. After your filter is cleaned — or replaced, if needed — clean diesel goes in, and then the vehicle gets tested. After that our technicians fire it up and confirm it runs smoothly before we go.
Unrun cars usually mean a half-hour visit from arrival. The equipment is fine on a busy filling station, and quiet enough for a driveway after dark. No money upfront; you settle up on the day. At the end, the VAT invoice and a report from the engineer are handed to you for your insurer. Before we get there, have a look at your policy; many carry cover for misfuelling.
About Troy itself
Troy is a suburban area in West Yorkshire, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 114 metres, with semi-detached housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Troy lies approximately 4.6 miles from Leeds and is surrounded by nearby places such as Tinshill, Horsforth Woodside, and Beechwood. Troy is home to around 6135 residents and forms part of the wider Leeds urban area. Troy benefits from its proximity to the city while maintaining a distinct local character.
AdBlue drains about Troy, and West Yorkshire beyond
Troy is a residential suburb, and the vans that cover it also work the places around it, Horsforth Woodside and Beechwood among them, across the LS postcode area. A postcode starting LS18 5 gets the van to you fastest.
Shifting the car is not needed. Wherever it sits — near Tinshill Free Church, on a lay-by en route to King George's Field, at home — that is where it is drained. Assuming doesn't help at the back of St Mary's, close to a boundary, or anywhere awkward to describe; ring and ask.
The short version for Troy drivers
First, the cap; after that, the pour. Still AdBlue in the diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel will empty it where it is, wherever in West Yorkshire: switch the car off then call 0333 366 0103.