Why It Happens and How to Prevent It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Upper Hopton
Pause reading a minute when your diesel tank already holds AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, then ring 0333 366 0103. Around Upper Hopton, catching it before the engine turns usually means a drain and a full flush where it stands. If you are reading before it has happened, the rest of this page is about why it occurs and how to make sure it doesn't.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel car
Many current diesels on the roads round Upper Hopton and Mirfield carry two liquids, not one. Diesel goes to the motor. Your exhaust, not your engine, is where AdBlue goes: sprayed into the gas to clean them, from its own tank.
Each tank comes with a filler of its own. Some cars put the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; plenty more place both side by side behind one flap. Diesel goes in on each forecourt call-out, again and again. A driver who has to stop and think where it goes normally tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and much less often. Mistakes happen in that gap between the two.
Upper Hopton: how AdBlue in the diesel tank takes place
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is seldom one of them.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a message from your car, and letting it run out leads to limp mode — hence a rushed top-up, perhaps before work off Jackroyd Lane, perhaps outside The Travellers Rest on the way home that evening.
Then, your hand reaches for the cap it knew on the old motor — since a rental car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers somewhere your last one did not.
And the bottle fits. A bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as easily as an AdBlue one, so nothing stops the tip after it has started. Lower Hopton or the heart of Upper Hopton: it takes the same few seconds either way.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Before you tip anything, whether on a drive in Houses Hill or a forecourt in Upper Hopton, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is often blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap normally isn't. Read it rather than going by position.
- The size. On many motors the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Many motors say there which fuel goes where.
- The handbook says which it is if the filler isn't next to the diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- The person who drove it last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park at Mirfield, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
When the light goes on, anywhere in West Yorkshire, follow this routine.
- Not in a rush on the side of Hill Top Crescent, not on a slope, not with your engine running: park then switch off first.
- Find the AdBlue filler and read the cap. Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew it. It sounds silly and it works.
- The diesel cap remains on. Where the two share a flap, confirm it is shut before the bottle comes up.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it is full or when the bottle is empty.
- Shut the cap, then check again — making sure your diesel cap stayed closed throughout. Only then, start your car.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Do not go on to step five.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, in Upper Hopton?
Don't start your engine: that's how the short order of things starts. On plenty of diesels your ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so don't switch the car on. Diluting it with extra diesel fails, since AdBlue sinks to the bottom instead of blending — and that's where the fuel is pulled from.
Ask the attendants to help roll your car clear of the petrol pump if you are on a forecourt — the Morrisons, the Shell or somewhere else. Leave it where it is if you're on your own drive in Upper Hopton.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if your engine has already run. Upper Hopton lies under 3 miles from the M62; on it, use the first exit. Roughly how far did it go? Hopping across Upper Hopton is less a job than a trip of under 10 miles towards Wakefield, so say.
What occurs when our engineers turn up in Upper Hopton
Wherever the vehicle came to rest, whether outside Hopton Primary School, beside St John the Evangelist or on your own drive, our van travels to it. Our technicians ask what got in, roughly how much, and if it has run, since the replies settle the work and our price. On the call itself, you are told the quote — ahead of anything else.
The system is then flushed thoroughly, once that tank is emptied. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't wash out on its own — which is why the flush counts more here than with petrol. The filter cleaned or, where it must be, replaced; fresh diesel in; then a test of the vehicle. The motor is started next and checked to confirm it runs correctly, all before our technicians head off.
With pumps fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough for use outside a house at night, most jobs in which your motor has not run take roughly half an hour once our engineers arrive. Nothing upfront; you settle up that day. At the end, the VAT invoice and a report from the engineer are handed to you for your insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Upper Hopton
Upper Hopton is a suburban area in West Yorkshire, situated inland at an elevation of around 155 metres. Upper Hopton lies approximately 8.6 miles from Wakefield and 162.9 miles from London, with nearby places including Lower Hopton and Cockley Hill. Upper Hopton has a population of around 841 people and is characterised by predominantly detached housing. Upper Hopton is part of a larger residential area that includes nearby Woodbottom.
AdBlue drains round Upper Hopton, and West Yorkshire beyond
Being a residential suburb, Upper Hopton shares its vans surrounding places — Cockley Hill, Woodbottom — all the way across WF postcodes and the wider area beyond. A postcode starting WF14 8 gets the van to you fastest.
Your car doesn't need to shift. Wherever it stands — beside Kingdom Hall, in a lay-by en route to Hepworth Wood, on a drive — that's where it is cleared. If you are near a border, or somewhere hard to describe like the back of St Paul's Church, ring and ask instead of guessing.
For Upper Hopton drivers, the short version
Before you tip, read the cap. AdBlue in your diesel tank after all? Leave it switched off and phone 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, throughout West Yorkshire.