Preventing AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Whitley: Why It Happens
Keep the engine and ignition off and call 0333 366 0103 first — reading can wait when AdBlue is already in your diesel tank. Around Whitley, finding it before your motor turns normally leaves a drain and a full flush where it stands. Here before the event? Then what follows explains how it comes about and what to prevent it happening at all.
AdBlue in a diesel motor, and its separate tank
No single liquid but two: that's what many newer diesels near Whitley and Bottling Wood run, with diesel for the motor. AdBlue's own tank keeps it, and from there it goes to the exhaust, and there a spray cleans the gas.
Separate tanks, separate fillers. Some vehicles put the AdBlue filler in the boot or under the bonnet; a lot of others place both together under one flap. Filling your diesel side at the pump goes on constantly. Much less often, the AdBlue side gets topped up — normally from a bottle, by a person working out where it goes. It's in that gap that the error lives.
How AdBlue in the diesel tank happens in Whitley
Carelessness seldom explains it. What does is three things coming up together.
To start with, the warning. Low AdBlue brings a message from your car, and letting it run out means limp mode — so a hurried top-up, perhaps before work off Spencer Road, or outside The Cherry Gardens on the way home that evening.
The old car's cap is where your hand goes — yet a hire car, a new motor or a company car puts the fillers elsewhere. That is the second thing: an unfamiliar car.
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 once it has started. Whether it occurs in Swinley or the middle of Whitley, it's the same few seconds.
The AdBlue filler and your diesel filler: telling them apart
Before you tip anything, whether on a driveway in Springfield or a forecourt in Whitley, check these. They take a few seconds.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is regularly blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap normally isn't. Read it instead of going by where it sits.
- Plenty of cars give AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- Lift the filler flap and look for a label — many motors show what goes in each filler just there.
- In your boot or under the bonnet: that is where the filler is if it's not by the diesel cap, and the handbook says which.
- Ask the person who drove it last — before you leave, not when the light comes on — if you collect a hire or company car from somewhere like the car park outside Wigan Wallgate.
Topping up AdBlue without it reaching your diesel tank
For the day the light comes on — anywhere it is in Greater Manchester — a simple routine to use.
- Stop somewhere level, motor off, with time to spare — not hurried on the side of Brookland Road.
- Locate the AdBlue filler, read the cap, and say the word "AdBlue" out loud while you unscrew it. It sounds daft. It does the trick.
- If both sit under one flap, check your diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — and leave the car on.
- Tip slowly, using the bottle's own spout. Stop when it's full or when the bottle is empty.
- Shut the cap, then look again — confirm the diesel filler remained shut the whole time. Only then, start the car.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Skip step five entirely.
Whitley: already put AdBlue in your diesel tank?
The short order of things, starting with no starting your motor. The fuel pump starts on plenty of diesels the moment the ignition goes on — so keep it off. Thinning it with more diesel won't work, because AdBlue settles to the bottom instead of blending — and that is where the fuel is pulled from.
On a forecourt — Tesco, Shell or another — the attendants will normally help push the car clear, if you ask. On your own drive in Whitley? Then the vehicle remains where it is.
If your motor has already run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. Whitley lies under 3 miles from the M6; on it, take the next junction. Distance matters — a quick hop across Whitley is a smaller job than heading under 15 miles towards Preston — so say about how far it went.
What takes place when our technicians get there in Whitley
Wherever the vehicle came to rest, whether outside Woodfield Primary School, beside Trinity United Reformed or on your own drive, the van comes to it. We ask what went in, about how much, and if it's run, because the replies decide the work and the price. That quote is given on the call, ahead of any van leaving.
Draining your tank comes next, followed by a thorough flush of your system. Much more than with petrol, it matters with AdBlue: the crystals build up, some metals are attacked, and none of it washes away on its own, however long it is left. Testing is at the end: before that, fresh diesel goes in, and the filter is cleaned or changed as needed. Before we leave, our technicians fire it up and make sure that it is running smoothly.
If your engine hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there, using pumps that are safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night. No money upfront; you settle up on the day. At the end, the VAT invoice and the report from the engineer are handed to you for the insurer. Misfuelling cover is included in many insurance policies — so make use of the wait to look at yours.
About Whitley and where it is
Whitley is a suburban area in Greater Manchester, situated near the River Douglas and characterised by semi-detached housing. Whitley sits at an elevation of 62 metres, with nearby places including Swinley and Gidlow. Whitley is located close to the city of Preston, which is 14.1 miles away, and is part of the wider North West region. Whitley has a population of approximately 6335 residents.
Whitley and Greater Manchester: AdBlue drains across the area
Whitley is a residential suburb, and the vans that cover it also work the towns near it, Marylebone and Gidlow among them, across the WN postcode area. Our van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting WN1 2.
The car remains put. We drain it where it is — a side street near Gidlow Methodist Church, a lay-by on the way to Marylebone Park, a drive. Awkward to pin down, like the back of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints? By a border? Checking beats guessing, and so ring.
The short version for Whitley people
Tip no AdBlue till you've read the cap. If AdBlue has gone in the diesel tank anyway, leave the car off then ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel empties it where it stands, anywhere across Greater Manchester.