What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Armadale
Has your motor turned over since the AdBlue was put in? This one question decides almost everything else from here. Over in Falside or here in Armadale, an unstarted motor must stay that way. Normally that is emptying and thoroughly purging it right there in Armadale — and so keep the ignition and motor off then phone 0333 366 0103. Where the engine has been run, pull in safely first, then switch the vehicle off. Step one remains unchanged, even if the work grows.
Wherever around West Lothian it took place, one of the cases below fits yours.
Armadale forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Only now, bottle yet in your hand, you realise that the cap you opened was the wrong one, right at the petrol pump. Perhaps you are at the JET, maybe at the Asda, maybe somewhere else in Armadale.
Meaning? Spotting it on the forecourt is the best it can be. The AdBlue is inside the tank and nowhere else. Nothing has pulled it in.
Next: resist the temptation to start it just to free up the pump. Get the attendants to help rolling it into a bay, hold on to the bottle, then phone us right there. Draining it there at the petrol pump is fine when it can't be moved, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Armadale drive?
The warning light had been on for days. A bottle bought at the shop, tipped in at the drive — and it's just by the bin that the cap got your eye. Houses just off East Main Street get caught out as often as anywhere else.
In short: if your vehicle has not been driven since, it is almost as good as spotting it at the forecourt. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Put your keys in the house overnight — or a person may take it off at breakfast — and call us. In Barbauchlaw or right here around Armadale, the drain happens at your drive. Late-night clears outside a house are fine: the pumps are quiet.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in Armadale?
Filled up, drove away, and soon the engine was running roughly, blowing smoke, down on power, or lighting up your dash. Maybe heading for Dunfermline, under 25 miles away, or just along South Street.
Meaning? The pump has taken the AdBlue in. Past the fuel filter, through the pipework, and — the further the distance — deeper into the high-pressure pump and every injector. More driving, more restarts: deeper it travels.
What to do: pull over where it's safe to do so then switch off. On the M8, under 3 miles from Armadale, that means the next junction, not the services further on. It will not have cleared, and so there's no sense restarting to check. About how far had it go? Say so as you call.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You have had this vehicle barely a week. Your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere, so nothing told you the AdBlue inlet sits just next to your diesel. It can happen to anyone, anywhere across West Lothian.
The point: just as above, split by if it ran, but with an added stage. The owner often needs to sign off the work, under many hire and company agreements.
Settling it before the van arrives is quicker, and so phone the hire company or your fleet manager, then us. Stranded near Kerr Memorial or outside the nearest station till someone replies, your vehicle stays switched off the whole time.
Armadale: unsure if it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Truthfully, the best answer may be that you think it did. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia around your filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. It might have been on a friend's drive in Windyknowe, or rushing by the local primary school on the school run.
Meaning? Drips outside the filler don't reach the motor at all. In your diesel tank, however, AdBlue damages it. Any AdBlue in that tank would be sucked in by turning on the car, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Do this: behave as if it did, and don't start your engine. Phone and give what you saw: we'd rather find a tank free of AdBlue than empty one once your motor has been run.
The common ground in every Armadale AdBlue drain
The job opens identically, whatever your case. Three questions come once our engineers arrive — on a filling station, a drive, a road beside The Armadale Shed or the car park at Krossbar: the liquid, the amount, and whether it has run. The price is given over the phone, before a van leaves, and the replies shape the work.
AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some metals in fuel systems, and so it does not wash out unaided; that's why a full flush, after the drain, counts much more here than with petrol. Last are the filter, cleaned or renewed if necessary; fresh diesel; and a test of your vehicle. Where your motor hasn't run, allow roughly half an hour once we arrive, in most jobs.
The final step is starting it. Our test that it runs correctly on clean diesel comes before we go. Our engineers do the entire job where the vehicle is, and permanent damage is very unusual when it has been spotted early. Paying comes that day, never upfront. For your insurer, there is a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer. Plenty of policies cover misfuelling, so look at yours while the van travels.
About Armadale itself
Armadale is a town situated on the riverside in West Lothian, with a mix of semi-detached housing and other residential types. Armadale sits at an elevation of 168 metres, near the towns of Barbauchlaw, Mayfield, and Bathville. Armadale is located approximately 15 miles from Dunfermline and is home to around 12,411 people. Armadale has a relatively low elevation compared to other areas in Scotland, with London being around 337 miles to the south.
AdBlue drains across West Lothian, Armadale included
As a riverside town, Armadale shares its vans with the surrounding towns — Bathville, Mayfield — all the way across EH postcodes. The location comes clearest from a postcode that starts EH48 2.
Central Armadale or a lay-by near Watson Park: either way it is, your vehicle doesn't need to shift at all for us. We drain the car where it is. If you are somewhere hard to explain, close to Volunteer Park or close to a boundary, ring and ask instead of assuming.
Your scenario, in one line
Engine not started: ring, and leave it switched off. Run by now? Pull over, switch off, phone. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest whichever case, in Armadale and West Lothian, on 0333 366 0103.