What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Astley Green
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if the motor has been run since it got in. Anywhere the vehicle stands — Astley, Astley Green — never run a motor that has not run yet. Phone 0333 366 0103 with the key and motor both off. In Astley Green, that is generally emptied and cleaned where it stands. Where your motor has run, pull in somewhere safe first, then switch the car off. The job is bigger, but the first step is the same.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever in Greater Manchester it happened.
Astley Green forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you just notice it as you are stood at the pump, bottle or the nozzle in hand. Maybe you're at the BP, perhaps at the another forecourt nearby, possibly somewhere else in Astley Green.
Meaning? Finding out on the forecourt is the best it can be. Still inside that tank, and no fuel drawn onwards: that's where the AdBlue sits.
Your move: keep out of the driver's seat, even if the pump needs clearing. Three things: a push into a space with the attendants helping, the receipt kept, and a ring to us from the forecourt. Can't move the vehicle beside the petrol pump? Explosion-proof equipment keeps a busy forecourt safe, so we can drain the car where it is.
AdBlue in the diesel tank at home in Astley Green
Days had gone by with the warning light on. A bottle from the shop, emptied in on the driveway — and it was just at the bin that the cap caught a second look. Right off Cleworth Close is not different from anywhere.
Put simply: if your car has not been driven since, it's nearly as good as finding out at the forecourt. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of the tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so nobody moves the vehicle in the morning. Then call. Out in Lark Hill or here in Astley Green, the drain happens on your driveway. The pumping kit works quiet enough that it won't wake the neighbours at night.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around Astley Green?
A short way beyond filling up, your engine began misbehaving: roughness, smoke, less power, lights on your dash. Lower Green Lane, say, or the route to Salford — a run of under 10 miles.
The upshot: your system has pulled AdBlue in by now. Past the filter, along the lines, and — the more the mileage — deeper into the high-pressure pump and every injector. Each restart, like each mile, pushes it deeper.
Do this: stop somewhere safe, then switch the motor off. On the M62, under 3 miles from Astley Green, that means the next exit, not the services further on. Don't restart the car to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Tell us hear the distance driven when you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company vehicles
It is a car you have had for a week. Unknown to you, the two inlets are next to each other here — unlike your own car, which has none or stores it in another spot. Across Greater Manchester, nobody is immune.
The upshot: exactly as above, split by if it ran, only with one added step. Plenty of hire and company contracts require the owner's sign-off before repairs.
Do this: rental firm or fleet manager to begin with, us next, because sorting it beforehand saves time. If you're stuck in the car park at Atherton, or by Lancashire Mining Museum, whilst you wait for an answer, leave your car off.
Astley Green: unsure whether it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Now and then, "I think so" is all anyone can truthfully say. A faint ammonia-like smell lingers around the filler, the bottle feels too light, and which cap came off is a blur. It might have been at a friend's driveway in Blackmoor, or in a rush outside St Ambrose Barlow Catholic Primary School at the school run.
In short: spillage near the filler leaves the engine unharmed. Once it is inside the diesel tank, though, that changes. Turning on your car cannot tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in the tank it would suck it in.
Do this: behave as though it got in, and don't start the motor. Call us and describe what you saw; we'd rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
Every AdBlue drain in Astley Green shares these stages
Each case has the same start to the work. Three questions are asked once we reach the car — at a filling station, a driveway, a road by Winding House or the car park at The Old Boathouse: the liquid, the amount, and if the motor has run. Those answers decide this work, and you hear our price by phone, before anybody sets off.
Draining that tank comes next, followed by a full flush — more important with urea than after petrol, because crystals and corrosion won't clear on their own, however long you wait. Last are the fuel filter, cleaned or renewed as needed; clean diesel; and a test of your car. The majority of unrun vehicles are a half-hour job after the moment our engineers turn up.
Our engineers fire it up at the end. Our check that it runs correctly on clean diesel comes before we go. When it's noticed quickly, the car very seldom has permanent damage, and the whole job happens where it is. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, nothing upfront. Dig out your insurance before we're en route: cover for misfuelling comes included in many policies.
About Astley Green, briefly
Astley Green is a suburban area in Greater Manchester, situated on the riverside at an elevation of around 25 metres. Astley Green lies approximately 6.4 miles from Salford and is surrounded by nearby places such as Lark Hill and Higher Green. Astley Green has a population of around 1084 people and predominantly consists of semi-detached housing. Astley Green is located in the North West region of England, about 168.4 miles from London.
AdBlue drains around Astley Green, and across Greater Manchester too
Throughout M postcodes, the vans serving Astley Green — a residential suburb — work surrounding towns as well, Town Lane and Higher Green included. A postcode starting M29 7 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Centre of Astley Green or a layby near Village Green: either way it is, your car never needs to shift at all for us. Where it sits, that is where it is drained. Tricky to explain? By The Scout Association or a border? Asking is better than guessing, and so phone.
The one-line version
Unstarted? Leave it that way and phone. Run already: pull over, switch down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, within Astley Green or anywhere in Greater Manchester.