AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Altishane: What Now?
Has your motor run since the AdBlue went in? This one question decides almost everything about what comes next. Not started so far? Then keep the vehicle like that, whether the vehicle is — Altishane or Plumbridge. Switch nothing on, phone 0333 366 0103, then count on a proper flush after a drain, carried out right where your vehicle sits around Altishane. Pull over the moment you safely can then turn off, if it has been run. It is a larger job, though step one doesn't change.
Anywhere in County Tyrone it happened, one of the cases below matches yours.
At the pump in Altishane: AdBlue in a diesel
Picture it: stood by the pump, holding the bottle, you realise the filler you opened was not the right one. It might be the the nearest petrol station, or perhaps the another forecourt nearby, or a different forecourt around Altishane.
What it means: this is the ideal spot to find out. Still in that tank, and nothing drawn onwards: that is where the AdBlue sits.
Freeing the pump is no reason to start it — so do not get back in. Get the staff to help pushing it to a bay, hold on to the bottle, then ring us from there. Draining it right at the pump is possible when it can't be moved, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home around Altishane with AdBlue in your diesel tank
On the dash, a reminder had shown all week. Picked up a bottle, tipped it in at home, binned the empty — and only then looked at the cap again, too late. It occurs on driveways just off Crown Street as regularly as anywhere.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. Being unable to mix, AdBlue drops low in that tank and stays. A night standing changes nothing.
Next: keys in the house, and so nobody takes the car anywhere at breakfast. After that, phone. Our engineers drain the vehicle on your drive, whether that is in Altishane or out in Dunnamanagh. Our equipment works quiet enough that it won't wake the street at night.
On the road around Altishane with AdBlue in a diesel
Topped up, drove away, and soon your engine was running roughly, smoking, losing power, or flashing up the dash. Perhaps it was on Rock Street, maybe on the way out towards Derry, under 15 miles away.
The upshot: your system has drawn AdBlue in already. It's been through the filter and the fuel lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and your injectors. Each restart, like each mile, carries it deeper.
Your move: stop somewhere safe, then switch the motor off. Leave at the first junction — not the services beyond — if you are on the M77, over 50 miles from Altishane. Do not restart the car to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Let us hear the mileage covered as you call.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You have only had this car for days. Unknown to you, the AdBlue and diesel fillers sit side by side here — unlike your own car, which has no AdBlue or stores it elsewhere. Across County Tyrone, no one is immune.
Meaning? Whatever applies above counts too — run or unrun — and one extra stage. Plenty of hire and company agreements require the owner's sign-off before repairs.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's quicker settled before we get there than after. Stranded near the centre or at the nearest station until someone replies, your vehicle remains turned off the whole time.
Altishane: unsure whether it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Now and then, "I think so" is the most you can truthfully say. Which cap came off, you cannot say; but the bottle weighs lighter than it ought to, and a whiff of ammonia lingers by the filler. It might have been on a friend's drive in Landahaussy, or rushing outside the local primary school on the school run.
The upshot: the motor is not harmed by a little AdBlue spilled on the outside. Once it's inside the diesel tank, though, it does. Any AdBlue in that tank would be drawn in by firing up the vehicle, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Assume it got in, and don't start your engine. Ring and give the details: we would sooner find a clean tank than drain one once your engine has run.
The common ground in every Altishane AdBlue drain
Whichever situation you are in, this job starts the same way. Our technicians come to your car, whether it is at a forecourt, a driveway, the car park outside the pub in the village or a side street near a street just off the centre, and ask three things: what was put in, roughly how much, and whether the engine has been run. Over the phone, before dispatch, you hear our quote, and those replies decide the job too.
Draining your tank comes first, then a full flush — more important with urea than after petrol, since crystals and corrosion won't go by themselves, no matter how long you wait. Then is your filter — cleaned, or swapped when needed — then clean diesel, and a test of your car. Never started? In that case roughly half an hour on site is most jobs.
The last step is starting the engine. Our test that it runs properly on new diesel comes before our technicians head off. If it's caught early, the vehicle very seldom has permanent damage, and the whole job takes place where it is. Nothing is paid upfront, settlement happens on the day, and you receive what the insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Altishane
Altishane is a locality in County Tyrone, situated inland at an elevation of 141 metres, approximately 11 miles from Derry. Altishane is characterised by its predominantly detached housing stock, reflecting the area's residential nature. Altishane sits within a network of nearby places, including Dunnamanagh, Glenmornan, and Artigarvan, in the wider countryside of Northern Ireland.
AdBlue drains in Altishane, and across County Tyrone too
Being a small village, Altishane shares its vans with the nearby places — Artigarvan, Glenmornan — all the way through BT postcodes. A postcode starting BT82 0 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Centre of Altishane or a lay-by near the green space at the edge of the village: wherever it is, your car never needs to move at all for the drain. Our engineers drain the car where it stands. Assuming doesn't help near the far end of the built-up part, close to a county line or anywhere hard to describe; phone and ask.
The one-line version
Not run yet: keep the vehicle off and call. Run by now: stop, power down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, within Altishane or anywhere across County Tyrone.