Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Upton: Why It Occurs
Stop here a minute when the diesel tank already has AdBlue in it: ignition off, engine off, then phone 0333 366 0103. Normally, if your motor hasn't run, it is emptied and fully rinsed where your vehicle is around Upton. Not happened yet? Further down, the page covers the reasons it happens and the how to prevent it altogether.
AdBlue in a diesel motor: two tanks, two fillers
Not one liquid but two: that's what many modern diesels around Upton and Greasby run, with diesel for your motor. AdBlue's own tank holds it, and from there it goes to the exhaust, where spraying treats the gas.
Each tank comes with a filler of its own. Some vehicles put the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; a lot of others place both together behind one flap. The diesel side is fuelled at the petrol pump all the time. Rarely topped up, AdBlue normally comes out of a bottle, poured by someone who must stop and think which filler to use. Mistakes happen in that gap between the two.
Upton: how AdBlue in your diesel tank happens
Carelessness seldom 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 out leads to limp mode — so a hurried top-up, maybe before work off Old Greasby Road, perhaps outside Horse and Jockey on the way home after work.
Then the vehicle is new. A hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers where your last one did not, and the hand gets to for the cap it would have used on the old one.
Third, the bottle goes in: diesel filler or AdBlue one, it goes in just as readily, and once the pour starts, nothing stops it. It's seconds, be it in Upton Meadow or right in the centre of Upton.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Before you pour anything, whether on a drive in Beechwood or a forecourt around Upton, check these. They take a couple of seconds.
- Check the cap instead of going by position: AdBlue ones are frequently blue or marked "AdBlue", and diesel caps normally aren't.
- On plenty of cars, the size gives it away: AdBlue has the smaller filler neck.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Plenty of vehicles say there which fuel goes where.
- Cannot find it beside the diesel filler? In that case check beneath the bonnet or in the boot — the owner's manual says where.
- The person who drove the vehicle last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park outside the nearest station, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching the diesel tank
Anywhere around Merseyside the light comes on, this is a routine for that day.
- Not in a rush on the side of Welton Avenue, not on a slope, not with your motor running: park and switch off properly.
- Daft as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew the cap works — once you have located your filler and read it.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave the vehicle on.
- Using the bottle's own spout, tip slowly — and stop when it is full or the bottle is empty.
- Only then, start the car: close the cap, check once more, and make sure the diesel cap was never opened.
Discover at the second or third step that AdBlue went in the diesel tank? That is where you stop. Skip stage five entirely.
Put AdBlue in your diesel tank around Upton already?
The short order of things, starting with no starting your engine. The fuel pump runs on plenty of diesels as soon as your ignition goes on — so keep it off. Do not top up with diesel to thin it: AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is sucked from.
The staff at Shell, Sainsbury's or another forecourt will normally lend a hand pushing the vehicle away if asked. On your own drive around Upton? Then your car remains put.
Stop as soon as it is safe and switch off, if your motor has already run. On the M53, under a mile from Upton, that means the next junction. A short hop across Upton is a smaller job than a run towards Liverpool, under 10 miles away, and so tell us roughly how far it went.
Our arrival around Upton, and what takes place next
Our technicians come to the car wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Upton, near Upton Victory Hall or on your own drive. The replies determine the work and our quote, so our technicians ask what was put in, about how much, and if it has run. You get that price on the phone, before anyone heads out.
Emptying that tank comes next, followed by a thorough flush of your system. 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. After the filter has been cleaned — or replaced, where needed — clean diesel is added, and finally the car is tested. Your engine is fired up next and checked to confirm it runs smoothly, all before our technicians head off.
If the motor has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we are there, using pumps that are safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. While we travel, have a look at your policy; many include cover for misfuelling.
About Upton and where it is
Upton is a suburban area on the Wirral Peninsula in Merseyside, situated near the coast at an elevation of around 23 metres. Upton lies approximately 5 miles southwest of Liverpool and is characterized by its predominantly semi-detached housing stock. Upton is close to several local landmarks, including Upton Meadow and Arrowe Hill, and is part of the larger Wirral urban area. Upton has a population of around 5883 residents.
Upton and Merseyside: AdBlue drains across the area
Throughout CH postcodes, the teams covering Upton — a residential suburb — work the surrounding locations too, Woodchurch and Arrowe Hill included. Fastest of all: quote a CH49 6 postcode to the van.
There's no need to move your car. Draining happens on the spot, be it a drive, a road near Upton Victory Hall Tennis Club, or a lay-by on the way to Upton Cricket Club. Assuming doesn't help at the back of St. Mary's Church, on a boundary, or anywhere awkward to describe; phone and check.
For Upton motorists, the short version
Read the cap before you pour. AdBlue in the diesel tank regardless? Keep the vehicle switched off then call 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, across Merseyside.