What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Anchorsholme
One fact counts above all once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is if your engine has run afterwards. If it has not, keep it that way, whether your car is in Anchorsholme itself or out in Cleveleys. Leave the motor and your ignition off then ring 0333 366 0103; it is generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is in Anchorsholme. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. Step one remains the same, even if the job is bigger.
Compare what happened to a situation from the ones below, anywhere around Lancashire you happen to be.
At the petrol pump in Anchorsholme: AdBlue in a diesel
You are at the pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Maybe you're at the Morrisons, perhaps at the Esso, possibly somewhere else around Anchorsholme.
In short: no better spot to be to spot it. Still inside that tank, with nothing drawn through: that is where the AdBlue sits.
Next: resist the urge to fire it up only to free up the pump. Ask the attendants to help you push the car into a parking space, keep the till receipt or the bottle, and ring us from the forecourt. Emptying it right at the petrol pump is fine when it cannot be moved, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
Anchorsholme, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. Picked up a bottle, tipped it in at home, binned the empty — and at that point checked the cap a second time, too late. Driveways close to Beryl Avenue get it as much as any other street.
Meaning? Provided the vehicle hasn't moved since, it's close to the pump case. As it is reluctant to mix, AdBlue drops to the base in the tank and waits. A night parked changes nothing.
Next: keys indoors, and so nobody takes your car off at breakfast. After that, phone. In Whiteholme or here around Anchorsholme, the draining happens on your drive. Our pumping kit runs quiet enough that it won't wake the neighbours at night.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in Anchorsholme?
Lumpy running, smoke, lost power or a glowing dashboard arrived a short way after the fill. Anywhere on Neville Avenue or heading to Lancaster — under 25 miles away.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been pulled through the fuel system. It's been through the fuel filter and your lines and, the further you went, into your high-pressure pump and your injectors. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
What to do: pull over where it is safe to do so then switch off. Leave at the next junction — not the services further along — if you're on the M55, under 10 miles from Anchorsholme. No trial starts: clearing isn't something AdBlue will do. Call us and say how far you travelled.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You've only driven the vehicle a week. On your own car, AdBlue is absent or somewhere else. On this one, its inlet is right by the diesel cap — news to you. Wherever you are in Lancashire, any driver could be caught.
In short: an extra step on top of the situations above, which turn on if it's run. Plenty of rental and fleet agreements need the owner's sign-off for work.
Next: phone the rental company or the fleet manager first, and then us — settling it before our arrival is faster. Stranded near Anchorsholme Library or at Poulton-Le-Fylde until someone replies, the vehicle remains turned off the whole time.
Anchorsholme: unsure if it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Occasionally the fair answer is "I think so". What cap was taken off, you can't say; but the bottle feels lighter than expected, and a whiff of ammonia hangs by the filler. A hurried stop by the gates of St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, or a call to a friend in Norcross: both fit.
What it means: a little spilled round the filler does no damage to the motor. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. If there is AdBlue in that tank, firing up your car will pull it in, and it would not tell you which either.
What to do: treat it as if it was put in. Do not start the car. Ring and give what you saw: we'd sooner confirm a clean tank than drain one once your engine has run.
Anchorsholme: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Each case has the same start to the job. Three things are asked when our engineers reach the car — on a filling station, a drive, a street by All Saints or the car park outside The Victoria: the liquid, the quantity, and whether the motor has been started. Those answers decide the work, and you get our quote by phone, before anyone heads out.
Draining your tank comes next, then a careful flush — more important with urea than with petrol, since crystals and corrosion will not clear by themselves, no matter how long you wait. Clean diesel is put in once the fuel filter has been cleaned or changed, and your car is finally checked. The majority of unrun cars are a half-hour visit after the moment our technicians arrive.
Starting the car comes last. With new diesel in, it runs while our technicians check it's running properly, and then we go. When it is caught early, the vehicle very rarely has lasting damage, and the whole job takes place where it is. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, no money in advance. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Anchorsholme, for a moment
Anchorsholme is a coastal suburban area in Lancashire, situated near the towns of Blackpool and Lancaster. Anchorsholme has a relatively low elevation of around 6 metres above sea level, and its population of approximately 7733 people live in predominantly semi-detached housing. Anchorsholme is close to other nearby places such as Whiteholme, Little Bispham, and Norbreck, and is about 15.5 miles from the city of Lancaster.
Anchorsholme and Lancashire: AdBlue drains across the area
Little Bispham and Norbreck get the identical vans as Anchorsholme, a residential suburb, plus further places over FY postcodes. Your location is clearest from a postcode beginning FY5 3.
Stopped en route to East Pines Park, or right in the centre of Anchorsholme, the car stays where it is — there's no need to move it anywhere. Our technicians drain the car where it stands. Ring and ask rather than guess when you are close to Senior Citizens Hall, on a border, or somewhere awkward to explain.
Your situation, in one line
Motor never started: phone, and leave it alone. Run by now: pull over, switch down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, in Anchorsholme or wherever across Lancashire.