Why It Occurs and How to Avoid It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Woodley
AdBlue already in your diesel tank? Then put this page down a moment, keep your ignition and motor off, then ring 0333 366 0103. In Woodley, finding it before the motor runs normally leaves draining and a thorough flush where it stands. Nothing happened yet? Below, the rest of the page covers the why it takes place and the how to avoid it altogether.
AdBlue in a diesel vehicle: two tanks, two fillers
Diesel goes to your motor — but plenty of modern diesels seen about Woodley and Lane Ends carry a second liquid as well. The exhaust, not the engine, is where AdBlue goes: sprayed into the fumes to clean them, from its own tank.
Different tanks, different fillers. Some vehicles put the AdBlue filler in your boot or under the bonnet; a lot of others place both together under one flap. At the petrol pump, your diesel side is topped up constantly. Seldom topped up, AdBlue usually goes in out of a bottle, tipped by a driver who must stop and think what filler to use. The slip lives in that gap.
Woodley: how AdBlue in the diesel tank happens
It's hardly ever carelessness. Three things tend to line up.
On a drive off Hyde Road before work, or in the car park outside White Hart on the way home: that is where the hurried top-up happens. Why the rush? As AdBlue runs low the vehicle tells you, and once it is empty, limp mode follows.
The old car's filler is where your hand reaches — yet a hire car, a new vehicle or a company car puts the fillers somewhere else. That is the second factor: a new motor.
Nothing halts the tip after it has started, since a bottle with a spout goes into a diesel filler as readily as an AdBlue one. The bottle fits. It's a few seconds, whether out in Greave or bang in the centre of Woodley.
Telling the AdBlue filler from the diesel filler
Whether a Woodley forecourt or a driveway out in Top-o-th Hill, spend a few seconds over these before anything goes in.
- The cap. The AdBlue cap is frequently blue, or marked "AdBlue". The diesel cap usually isn't. Read it rather than going by where it sits.
- Many motors fit AdBlue the smaller filler of the two.
- Lift the flap and look for a label — plenty of cars show which goes in which filler just there.
- In the boot or under the bonnet: that is where the filler sits if it's not by your diesel cap, and the handbook tells you which.
- The previous driver will know. Ask as you pick up a hire car or fleet car — at the nearest station's car park, say — rather than once the warning comes on.
AdBlue top-ups that never reach the diesel tank
When the light comes on, wherever across Greater Manchester, use this routine.
- Not in a rush on the side of South View, not on a slope, not with the engine running: park and switch off first.
- Daft as it sounds, saying "AdBlue" aloud as you unscrew the cap does the trick — once you've located the filler and read it.
- If both sit under one flap, check the diesel cap is still closed before you lift the bottle — then leave the car on.
- Slowly does it, through the bottle's own spout, till it's full or the bottle is empty.
- Shut the cap, and check again — making sure the diesel cap stayed closed the whole time. After that, start the car.
If at stage two or three you find you have already poured into the diesel side, stop there. Stage five is off limits.
AdBlue in the diesel tank already, in Woodley?
Short order, then. Top of it: the motor stays unstarted. Leave your ignition off too, because on plenty of diesels switching it on by itself runs the pump. Diluting it with extra diesel won't work, because AdBlue sinks to the base rather than mixing — and that's where your fuel is sucked from.
On a forecourt — Esso, Shell or another — the staff will normally help push the vehicle away, when you ask. Your own driveway in Woodley is the place it stays.
If your engine has already run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. Leave the M60 — under 3 miles out of Woodley — at the first exit. A short hop across Woodley is a smaller job than a run towards Manchester, under 10 miles away, and so tell us roughly how far it went.
When our engineers get there in Woodley, what takes place?
Wherever the vehicle came to rest, be it by Woodley Primary School, near Woodley Methodist Church or on your own drive, the van travels to it. Both the work and our price depend on three answers — which liquid, which amount, and whether it has run — so we ask. The price is given on the call, before any van leaves.
The system is then purged thoroughly, after the tank is emptied. AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not wash out on its own — which is why that matters more with AdBlue than with petrol. Your filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and your car is tested. Next our engineers fire it up and confirm it runs smoothly before we leave.
With pumps fine on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house at night, most jobs where your motor hasn't run take roughly half an hour after our technicians are there. Your insurer will ask for the engineer's report and your VAT invoice, and both are yours at the end. Payment is on the day, with no money upfront. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Woodley, briefly
Woodley is a village in Greater Manchester, situated on the lakeside at an elevation of around 125 metres. Woodley lies approximately 7 miles from Manchester and is surrounded by nearby places such as Greave, Bredbury, and Haughton Green. Woodley has a population of around 2729 people and predominantly consists of semi-detached housing. Woodley is located in the North West region of England, about 156 miles from London.
AdBlue drains around Woodley and across Greater Manchester
Being a village, Woodley shares its vans surrounding areas — Bredbury, Haughton Green — all the way through SK postcodes and the surrounding area around them. Our van gets to you fastest with a postcode starting SK6 1.
Moving the vehicle isn't necessary. A drive, a lay-by on the way to Penine Park, a side street close to Woodley Cricket Club: our engineers drain the car where it is. Awkward to explain, like the back of Neil Rourke Memorial Stadium? Close to a border? Checking is better than guessing, and so phone.
In short, for Woodley motorists
Always, the cap; after that, the tip. Petrol in Diesel empties it on the spot, anywhere around Greater Manchester, if AdBlue has gone in your diesel tank anyway — so leave the car off and call 0333 366 0103.