AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in West Ferry: Why It Occurs and How to Prevent It
Keep your engine and ignition off then call 0333 366 0103 first — reading can wait if AdBlue is already in your diesel tank. In West Ferry, catching it before the engine turns normally means a drain and a thorough flush on the spot. The remainder of this page explains why it occurs and how to ensure it doesn't — useful if you are reading before it has happened.
Two fillers, two tanks: AdBlue in a diesel motor
No single fluid but two: that is how many newer diesels near West Ferry and Baldovie run, with diesel for the motor. Stored in a tank of its own, AdBlue is sprayed into your exhaust gas to clean it.
There is a filler on every tank. Under one flap, next to each other: that's the arrangement on many vehicles. On others, AdBlue's filler sits under the bonnet or in your boot instead. Topping up your diesel side at the pump goes on all the time. A driver who has to stop and work out where it goes usually tops up the AdBlue side, from a bottle, and far less commonly. The error lives in that gap.
West Ferry: how AdBlue in the diesel tank happens
It's hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
The warning comes first. As AdBlue runs low the car tells you, and if it runs out completely, the vehicle goes into limp mode. So the top-up is done in a hurry: on a drive off Strathern Road before work, or in the car park outside The Occidental on the way home.
Then the vehicle is unfamiliar. A hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers where your last one didn't, and the hand reaches for the cap it would have used on the old one.
Nothing stops the pour once it has started, because a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. It takes a few seconds, whether in Douglas and Angus or right in the heart of West Ferry.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Before you tip anything, whether on a driveway in Craigie or a forecourt in West Ferry, check these. They take a few seconds.
- Where it sits can mislead; the cap doesn't. AdBlue caps tend to be blue or bear the name "AdBlue" — diesel ones usually don't.
- Check the size: the smaller filler neck is, on many cars, the AdBlue one.
- Lift the flap and check for a label — many vehicles show which belongs in which filler just there.
- The handbook shows which it lives when the filler is not next to the diesel cap: the boot, or under the bonnet.
- The person who drove the vehicle last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park at Broughty Ferry, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
Keeping AdBlue out of your diesel tank when you top up
On the day the warning comes on — wherever it is in Dundee City — a routine to use.
- Switch off after you park — flat ground, motor stopped, and not rushed by Ellislea Road on the verge.
- Find the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and speak the word "AdBlue" aloud while you unscrew it. It sounds daft. It works.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave it on.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Only after that, start the car: close the cap, check a second time, and make sure the diesel cap was never opened.
Discover during the second or third step that AdBlue went in the diesel tank? That is where you stop. Skip stage five entirely.
Put AdBlue in the diesel tank in West Ferry already?
Do not start your motor: that is where the short order of things begins. The fuel pump starts on plenty of diesels the moment your ignition goes on — and so leave it off. Do not top up with diesel to dilute it: AdBlue does not mix with diesel, it sinks to the bottom of your tank, where your fuel is sucked from.
Ask the staff to help roll your car away from the petrol pump if you're at a forecourt — the Sainsbury's, the Asda or anywhere else. If you are on your own driveway around West Ferry, leave the car where it stands.
When the motor has run already, pull over safely then turn the car off. Come off the M90 — under 25 miles out of West Ferry — at the next junction. Mileage counts — a quick hop across West Ferry is a smaller job than heading under 5 miles to Dundee — so say about how far it went.
What happens when our engineers get there in West Ferry
Wherever the vehicle came to rest, be it outside the local primary school, beside Claypotts Castle or on your own drive, the van comes to it. Both the work and our quote depend on three answers — what liquid, which quantity, and if it's run — so our engineers ask. The quote comes on the call, before any van leaves.
After that: draining, then a thorough flush of the entire system. Much more than with petrol, it matters here: the crystals build up, some metals are attacked, and none of it clears away on its own, no matter how long it sits. Your filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and your car is tested. We do not go until it has been fired up and is running smoothly.
Unrun cars usually need a half-hour visit from arrival. The equipment is fine on a live forecourt, and hushed enough for a driveway late at night. The insurer usually wants the engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and you get both once the job is done. Payment comes on the day, with no deposit. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About West Ferry itself
West Ferry is a suburban area located on the coast of Dundee City, sitting at an elevation of around 40 metres and looking out over the Tay Estuary. West Ferry is situated near the city of Dundee, approximately 3.2 miles from the city centre, and is close to other nearby places such as Broughty Ferry and Stannergate. West Ferry has a population of around 3013 people and is characterised by predominantly detached housing.
AdBlue drains around West Ferry and across Dundee City
West Ferry is a residential suburb, and our vans that cover it also work the towns around it, Broughty Ferry and Stannergate among them, across the DD postcode area. The van reaches you fastest with a postcode starting DD5 1.
The vehicle stays put. Draining happens right there, be it a drive, a road near Douglas Sports Centre, or a lay-by on the way to Duntrune Community Garden. Ring and ask rather than guessing if you are near a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain, like the back of Whitton Park.
West Ferry drivers: the short version
First, the cap; then, the tip. Still AdBlue in your diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel will drain it where it stands, anywhere around Dundee City: keep it off and ring 0333 366 0103.