AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Whiston: How It Happens and How to Avoid It
If AdBlue is already in your diesel tank, stop reading for a moment: leave the motor and the ignition off then call 0333 366 0103. A drain plus a thorough flush, done right where your vehicle sits in Whiston, is normally all it needs if caught before the engine runs. Not happened yet? Further down, the page covers the why it happens and the how to avoid it for good.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
No single fluid but two: that is what plenty of newer diesels around Whiston and Broom run, with diesel feeding your motor. Its own tank keeps it, and from there it is sent to your exhaust, and there spraying treats the gas.
Different tanks, different fillers. Plenty of motors share a single flap for the two, whereas others put the AdBlue filler to the boot or under the bonnet. The diesel side is topped up at the pump all the time. The AdBlue side is fuelled far less frequently, usually from a bottle, and usually by someone who has to stop and think where it goes. It is in the gap that the mistake lives.
How does AdBlue in your diesel tank happen in Whiston?
Three things tend to come together, and carelessness is rarely one of them.
Hurry comes from the warning. Your car warns you as AdBlue runs low, and an empty tank puts it into limp mode — so the top-up gets done quickly, before work on a driveway off Chapel Hill, or heading home in the car park at Golden Ball.
The old car's cap is where your hand reaches — yet a hire car, a new motor or a company car keeps the fillers elsewhere. That's the second factor: a new vehicle.
Third, the bottle fits: a diesel filler or AdBlue filler, it goes in just as readily, and once the pour begins, no part stops it. Whether it takes place in Moorgate or the middle of Whiston, it's the same few seconds.
Which filler is for AdBlue, and which for diesel?
A few seconds is all the checks take — so run through them before you pour anything, on a driveway in Herringthorpe or a forecourt around Whiston.
- Blue and marking: an AdBlue cap is often blue, or says "AdBlue", where a diesel cap usually doesn't. Go by the cap, not its position.
- The size. On plenty of cars the AdBlue filler neck is the smaller of the two.
- The flap. Look inside your fuel flap for a label. Many cars say there which fuel goes where.
- Can't see it next to the diesel inlet? In that case look below the bonnet or in your boot — the owner's manual will say which.
- The person who drove the car last. On a hire or company car collected from somewhere like the car park outside Rotherham Central, ask before you leave, not when the light comes on.
How to top up without AdBlue in the diesel tank
A routine for the day the light comes on, wherever around South Yorkshire that is.
- Not in a rush on the side of Chaff Close, not on a slope, not with your motor running: park then switch off first.
- Silly as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew the cap works — once you have found your filler and read it.
- The two behind one flap? So make sure the lid on the diesel side is still shut before raising the bottle.
- Pour slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Only after that, start your car: close the cap, check once more, and make sure your diesel cap was never opened.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Do not go on to step five.
Put AdBlue in your diesel tank in Whiston already?
What follows is a short order of things, beginning with no starting your engine. On many diesels your ignition alone runs the fuel pump, and so don't switch the car on. Filling up with diesel won't thin it: instead, AdBlue drops to the bottom of that tank, right where the fuel is drawn from.
On a forecourt — JET, Welcome Break or any other — the staff will usually help push the car clear, if you ask. At home around Whiston? So the vehicle stays where it is.
Stop as soon as it is safe then switch off, if the motor has already run. On the M1, under a mile from Whiston, that means the next exit. Distance counts — a short hop across Whiston is a smaller job than heading under 10 miles towards Sheffield — so tell us about how far it went.
Whiston: what happens when we get there
We come to the car wherever it has stopped, whether that is outside Whiston Junior and Infant School, near Whiston Parish Hall or on your own drive. Both the work and our price rest on three replies — which fluid, what amount, and whether it has run — so our engineers ask. No one sets off until you've had our quote by phone.
Next: draining, then a full flush of the entire system. Not like petrol, AdBlue leaves crystals and attacks some fuel-system metals, and neither washes away by itself. That is why it counts more. Your filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the car is tested. The engine is fired up next and tested to be sure it runs correctly, all before we head off.
If the engine has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we're there, using pumps that are fine on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night. The insurer usually wants the engineer's report and the VAT invoice, and you get both once the job is done. Payment comes on the day, with no deposit. Wrong-fuel cover is included in many insurance policies — and so make use of the wait to check yours.
About Whiston itself
Whiston is a village situated on the riverside in South Yorkshire, with an elevation of around 44 metres. Whiston lies approximately 6 miles from Sheffield and is part of the wider Sheffield urban area. Whiston has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are predominant in the village. Whiston is also close to nearby places such as Moorgate and Guilthwaite.
Whiston and South Yorkshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Whiston is a village, and the teams that cover it also work the places around it, Guilthwaite and Upper Whiston among them, across the S postcode area. Give a postcode beginning S60 4, and the van gets there quickest.
The car doesn't need to move. Our technicians drain it where it is — a side street close to St Mary Magdalene’s Church, a lay-by on the way to Whiston Parish Church Cricket Club, a drive. Guessing doesn't help at the back of Raza-E-Mustafa Mosque, on a boundary, or somewhere awkward to describe; phone and ask.
Whiston drivers: the short version
Pour no AdBlue until you've read the cap. Still AdBlue in the diesel tank? Petrol in Diesel can empty it where it is, anywhere across South Yorkshire: switch the vehicle off then phone 0333 366 0103.