AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Arrowthwaite: 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. Anywhere your car stands — Woodhouse, Arrowthwaite — don't run an engine that has not run yet. Normally that is draining and thoroughly cleaning it right there in Arrowthwaite — so keep your ignition and motor off and call 0333 366 0103. Already run? Pull over when you safely can, then turn it off. A bigger job, then, but the same opening step.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever across Cumbria it happened.
Arrowthwaite forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you just spot it as you are stood at the petrol pump, bottle or the nozzle in your hand. Be it Morrisons, Esso or anywhere else in Arrowthwaite, the situation is the same.
Put simply: no better spot to be to spot it. Still inside that tank, with no fuel drawn onwards: that is where the AdBlue is.
Next: resist the urge to fire it up only to free up the petrol pump. Phone us from the forecourt after the vehicle is in a bay — the attendants will help push it — and save the bottle. If it can't be shifted, it can be cleared at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a working forecourt.
AdBlue in the diesel tank at home around Arrowthwaite
The warning light had been on for days. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the driveway, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look again at the cap. Driveways close to Hilltop Road see it as much as anywhere.
In short: if the vehicle hasn't moved since, it is nearly as good as spotting it at the forecourt. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of that tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
Keep your keys indoors tonight — or someone might take it away first thing — and call us. In Kells or here in Arrowthwaite, the drain happens on your driveway. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around Arrowthwaite?
A short way beyond filling up, the engine started misbehaving: roughness, smoke, less power, warnings on the dash. It might have been heading to Carlisle, under 50 miles away, or simply along Thwaiteville.
The upshot: the system has pulled AdBlue in by now. It has been through your filter and the fuel lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors. It goes further with every extra mile covered and every restart.
Pull in somewhere safe — that's the first job — then turn it off. On the M6, under 50 miles from Arrowthwaite, that means the next junction, not the services further on. Do not restart it to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Ring us and say how far you went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You have only driven the car a week. The AdBlue filler sits right beside the diesel one, which you did not know, since your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Throughout Cumbria, nobody is immune.
Meaning? Whichever applies above applies too — run or not — and one extra stage. Any work on your car often requires the owner's go-ahead under hire or fleet agreements.
Sorting it before we turn up is quicker, so ring the hire company or your fleet manager, then us. Keep it off while the answer arrives, even if you're parked at Corkickle or near St Peter's.
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Not sure, around Arrowthwaite
"I think so" is often as honest as it gets. A faint ammonia whiff lingers around the filler, the bottle seems too light, and which cap came off is a blur. Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Monkwray Junior School, or on a friend's drive in Greenbank.
In short: a spill round your filler leaves the motor no harm. Inside the diesel tank, however, AdBlue harms it. Any AdBlue in the tank would be pulled in by firing up the car, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
Assume it got in, and never start your key. Ring and give what you saw: we'd rather find a clean tank than drain one once your engine has run.
Each AdBlue drain in Arrowthwaite shares these stages
Whichever scenario you are in, the job starts the same way. Filling station, drive, Kells ARLFC's car park or a road by Saltom Pit — our van reaches the vehicle, and three answers come next: what fluid, which quantity, and if it has run. On the phone, before dispatch, you are told our quote, and those answers decide the job too.
Draining that tank comes first, then a full flush — more important with urea than with petrol, because crystals and corrosion won't clear on their own, no matter how long you wait. Last come the fuel filter, cleaned or replaced as needed; fresh diesel; and a check of the vehicle. Most unrun vehicles are a half-hour job from the moment our technicians get there.
Starting the car comes at the end. With clean diesel in, it runs while our engineers check it is running correctly, and then we leave. Long-term damage is very uncommon when it's caught quickly, and the whole job is done where the car is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Arrowthwaite, for a moment
Arrowthwaite is a suburban area located on the coast of Cumbria, with a mix of semi-detached housing and a population of around 2726 residents. Arrowthwaite sits at an elevation of 78 metres, near the towns of Kells, Corkickle, and Whitehaven. Arrowthwaite is situated approximately 35.8 miles from Carlisle and 254.3 miles from London, in the north-west of England. Arrowthwaite's coastal setting provides a distinctive character to the area.
Arrowthwaite and Cumbria: AdBlue drains across the area
Corkickle and Whitehaven get the identical teams as Arrowthwaite, a residential suburb, plus other towns throughout CA postcodes. A postcode starting CA28 9 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Stopped en route to Arrowthwaite Wood, or bang in the centre of Arrowthwaite, the vehicle remains put — there's no need to shift it at all. Our engineers drain the car where it stands. Assuming won't help near Howgill Family Centre, on a county line or somewhere hard to pin down; ring and ask.
Your scenario, summed up
Unstarted? Leave the car off then ring. Started already? Stop, switch off, phone. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest whatever it is, across Arrowthwaite and Cumbria, on 0333 366 0103.