AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Abbeydale: What Now?
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: whether the engine has run since it went in. Over in Whirlow Brook or here in Abbeydale, an unrun motor should remain unrun. Switch nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, and expect a proper flush plus a drain, carried out just where your vehicle stands around Abbeydale. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. It's a larger job, yet stage one doesn't change.
Match what happened to a situation from the ones below, anywhere across South Yorkshire you happen to be.
On a Abbeydale forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Just now, bottle still in your hand, it dawns on you that the cap you opened was the wrong one, there at the pump. Perhaps you are at the Sainsbury's, possibly at the Tesco, possibly somewhere else around Abbeydale.
Meaning? Finding out on the forecourt is as good as it gets. Just that tank holds AdBlue; no component beyond it has drawn any in.
Do this: stay out of the driver's seat, however much the pump wants clearing. Ask the attendants to help you roll your car into a parking bay, keep the till receipt or the bottle, then ring us from the forecourt. If it can't be moved, it can be cleared at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a working forecourt.
Abbeydale, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
Days had gone by with the dash light on. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the driveway, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look a second time at the cap. Just off Abbey Lane is not different from anywhere.
Meaning? Provided the vehicle hasn't been driven since, it is second to the forecourt case. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Next: the keys indoors, so no one drives the vehicle off first thing. After that, ring. Your driveway is where it gets drained, whether in Abbeydale or Beauchief. Even at night, the pumps stay quiet enough for a residential street.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel in Abbeydale?
A short way after topping up, your motor started playing up: rough running, smoke, less power, warnings on your dash. Anywhere on Abbeydale Road South or else heading to Sheffield — under 5 miles away.
In short: the AdBlue has been sucked through your fuel system. The high-pressure pump and each injector get it too on a longer run, after the fuel filter and pipework have had it. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Your move: pull up anywhere safe, then turn your engine off. Abbeydale sits under 10 miles from the M1; there, pull off at the next junction instead of pressing on for the services. Don't restart the vehicle to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Roughly what distance had it gone? Tell us when you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
It is a car you have had for a week. Your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere, so no one warned you the AdBlue cap was just next to your diesel. Wherever you happen to be across South Yorkshire, every motorist could be caught.
Meaning? Whichever case above applies too — run or not — and one further step. The owner often has to approve any work, under plenty of hire and fleet agreements.
Next: ring the hire company or the fleet manager first, and then us — settling it before our arrival is quicker. Waiting for a reply in the car park outside Dore & Totley, or near Abbeydale Locomotives? Keep the engine off throughout.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Abbeydale?
Now and then, "I think so" is all anyone can truthfully say. A slight ammonia smell hangs near the filler, the bottle feels too light, and the cap you took off is hard to recall. A rushed top-up by the gates of Dobcroft Junior School, or a call to a friend in Millhouses: both fits.
The upshot: the motor isn't hurt by some AdBlue splashed around the filler. Inside the diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue harms it. If there is AdBlue in that tank, starting your car would pull it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Next: assume it got in, then keep your engine off. Inspecting a tank that turns out clean is better than draining one after it's been run — so ring then tell us what you saw.
Abbeydale: what each AdBlue drain has in common
No matter the situation, a single opening is used. Anywhere the vehicle stands — The Waggon & Horses's car park, a road by Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, a driveway, a forecourt — the van gets there and we ask for the fluid, the quantity, and if your engine has been run. Replies shape the job; the price follows by phone while no one has left yet.
Then your tank is drained and the fuel system rinsed thoroughly, which matters more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not rinse out on its own. Clean diesel is put in after the filter has been cleaned or replaced, and the car is finally checked. Most unrun cars are a half-hour job from the moment our technicians arrive.
Firing it up comes at the end. Our engineers confirm it runs smoothly on new diesel before we leave. The whole job is done where the vehicle is, and when it's noticed quickly, long-term damage is very unusual. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Dig out your insurance while we arrive: cover for misfuelling is included in many policies.
About Abbeydale and where it is
Abbeydale is a suburban area situated near the outskirts of Sheffield, overlooking a lake at an elevation of 112 metres. Abbeydale sits in a scenic location, with nearby places including Beauchief, Whirlow, and Little Common, and is characterised by its predominantly detached housing stock. Abbeydale is located approximately 3.6 miles from Sheffield city centre and 139.1 miles from London.
AdBlue drains round Abbeydale and across South Yorkshire
Being a residential suburb, Abbeydale shares its vans with the surrounding towns — Little Common, Whirlow — all the way across S postcodes. A postcode starting S8 0 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Stopped heading to Ecclesall Woods, or right in the heart of Abbeydale, the vehicle stays where it is — there is no need to move it at all. The van drains it in place. Phone and check instead of guessing if you are by Old boiler house, near a border, or anywhere awkward to pin down.
Your situation, summed up
Still unrun? Keep it that way then ring. Already run: stop, switch off and ring. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there in Abbeydale and anywhere in South Yorkshire on 0333 366 0103.