Wardle: How Does AdBlue End Up in a Diesel Tank, and How Do You Avoid It?
AdBlue already in the diesel tank? In that case set this page down for now, keep the ignition and motor off, then ring 0333 366 0103. A drain and a thorough flush, carried out just where your car stands in Wardle, is normally what it takes if caught before the engine runs. If you're reading before it has happened, the rest of this page is about why it takes place and how to make sure it doesn't.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel car
Diesel goes to your motor — yet plenty of newer diesels seen round Wardle and Shore carry a second fluid too. AdBlue goes to the exhaust, where it is sprayed into the gas to clean it, and it lives in a tank of its own.
Different tanks, separate fillers. On a lot of vehicles the two sit side by side under the same flap; on others the AdBlue filler is in your boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is fuelled at the petrol pump all the time. Someone who has to stop and think where it goes usually fills the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less commonly. That gap is where the slip lives.
Wardle: how AdBlue in the diesel tank takes place
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
First, the warning. Low AdBlue triggers a message from the car, and letting it run dry leads to limp mode — so a hurried top-up, maybe before work off Crossfield Road, or outside Hare and Hounds on the way home that evening.
The old car's cap is where your hand goes — yet a rental car, a new car or a company car puts the fillers somewhere else. That is a second thing: a strange vehicle.
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 tip after it has started. Great Howarth or the middle of Wardle: it takes the same few seconds either way.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
Look at these before pouring, on a forecourt around Wardle or a driveway over in Smallbridge. A few seconds, no more.
- Where it sits misleads; the cap doesn't. AdBlue ones are often blue or bear the word "AdBlue" — diesel ones usually do not.
- Many vehicles give AdBlue the smaller neck of the two.
- Open the filler flap and check for a label — many motors show what belongs in which inlet just there.
- Can't find it next to your diesel inlet? In that case look below the bonnet or in the boot — the owner's manual says where.
- The previous driver will know. Ask when you pick up a rental or company car — at Smithy Bridge's car park, say — rather than once the warning appears.
How to top up without AdBlue in your diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever around Greater Manchester that is.
- Park and switch off. Not on a slope, not with your motor running, and not in a rush on the side of Alpine Drive.
- Say "AdBlue" out loud as you unscrew the cap, once finding the AdBlue filler and reading it. Daft, perhaps, yet it does the trick.
- Both under a single flap? Then make sure the lid on your diesel side is still closed ahead of lifting the bottle.
- Stop when the tank fills or the bottle runs dry; before that, pour gently using the built-in spout.
- Before you start your car, close the cap and look again that the diesel cap was never came off.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into your diesel side, stop there. Skip stage five altogether.
Already put AdBlue in the diesel tank around Wardle?
The short order of things, beginning with not starting the engine. The fuel pump runs on many diesels the moment your ignition is switched on — so leave it off. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel — it sinks to the bottom of that tank, where the fuel is pulled from — so don't top up with diesel to thin it.
Ask the attendants to help push the car clear of the petrol pump if you're at a forecourt — the Shell, the Texaco or somewhere else. If you are on your own driveway around Wardle, leave it where it is.
Already run? Stop when it is safe, then switch off. On the M62, under 3 miles from Wardle, that means the next junction. Tell us roughly how far it went: a run towards Manchester, under 15 miles away, is a bigger job than a short hop across Wardle.
Wardle: what takes place when we turn up
We come to the vehicle wherever it has stopped, whether that's outside St James' Church of England Primary School, near Wardle Village Church or on your own driveway. Our technicians ask what went in, about how much, and whether it's run, because the replies decide this work and our price. The quote is given over the phone, before any van leaves.
After that: draining, then a full flush of the whole system. Not like petrol, AdBlue forms crystals and attacks some fuel-system metals, and none of it clears away by itself. That is why it counts more. Filter flushed or, where it must be, replaced; fresh diesel in; then a check of the car. Your engine is started next and checked to be sure it runs smoothly, all before our engineers head off.
If the engine has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there, using pumps that are fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house after dark. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. It is worth checking your insurance as the van travels to you: misfuelling cover is included with plenty of policies.
About Wardle and where it is
Wardle is a village in Greater Manchester, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 192 metres, with terraced housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Wardle lies approximately 12.6 miles from Manchester and 170.2 miles from London, making it a relatively accessible rural community. Wardle is surrounded by nearby places such as Great Howarth, Hurstead, and Greengate, and has a population of around 1815 residents.
AdBlue drains in Wardle and across Greater Manchester
Wardle is a village, and our vans that cover it also work the places near it, Hurstead and Greengate among them, across the OL postcode area. Give a postcode beginning OL12 9, and the van gets there fastest.
Shifting the vehicle is not needed. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Wardle War Memorial Garden, a side street close to Wardle Independent Church: our engineers drain the vehicle where it is. Guessing won't help at the back of Wardle Library, on a boundary, or somewhere awkward to pin down; phone and check.
In short, for Wardle drivers
Before you pour, read the cap. AdBlue in the diesel tank regardless? Leave the car off then call 0333 366 0103; Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, throughout Greater Manchester.