What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Belcoo
Has the motor turned over since the AdBlue got in? That single question decides almost everything about what comes next. Out in Florencecourt or here in Belcoo, an unrun motor must remain unrun. Switch nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, and expect a proper flush after a drain, carried out just where the car sits around Belcoo. When your engine has run, pull in safely straight away, then turn it off. It's a larger job, though stage one does not change.
Below: the cases we see, anywhere across County Fermanagh. Pick yours.
On a Belcoo forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
You're at the petrol pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Anywhere around Belcoo, then — the nearest petrol station, another forecourt nearby, or anywhere else close by.
What it means: this is the best place to find out. Still in that tank, and nothing pulled onwards: that's where the AdBlue sits.
Freeing the petrol pump is no reason to start it — so do not get back in. Get the staff to lend a hand pushing it into a space, save the bottle, then ring us right there. Our equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt, and so a car that can't be pushed away gets drained right at the pump.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home in Belcoo
On the dash, a warning had shown for days. Only at the recycling bin, the empty bottle in hand, did you look back at the cap you had used at the drive. Homes just off Crown Street get hit as much as anywhere else.
In short: if your vehicle has not been driven since, it is nearly equal to finding out at the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue keep apart: the AdBlue drops to the floor of that tank and stays there, no matter how long the night.
Your move: keys indoors, and so nobody takes the vehicle anywhere first thing. Then, ring. We drain the car on your driveway, whether that's around Belcoo or out in Holywell. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
On the road in Belcoo with AdBlue in a diesel
A mile or two beyond filling up, your motor started misbehaving: roughness, smoke, less power, warnings on the dash. Rock Street, perhaps, or the route to Armagh — a trip of under 50 miles.
The point: your system has drawn AdBlue in by now. Past your filter, through the lines, and — the more the mileage — on into the injection pump and each injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
What to do: pull over where it is safe and switch off. Service stations farther along are too far: from the M77, over 50 miles out of Belcoo, use the next junction. No test restarts: clearing is not something AdBlue will do. Phone, saying how far the car was driven.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
It is a car you have had for a week. The AdBlue filler is right next to the diesel filler, which you didn't know, since your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Throughout County Fermanagh, nobody is immune.
The point: just as above, divided by if it ran, only with an added stage. Plenty of hire and company contracts require the owner's approval for repairs.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is quicker settled before our engineers get there than after. If you are stuck in the car park outside the nearest station, or by the centre, while you wait for an answer, leave the car off.
Belcoo: unsure if it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Occasionally the fair answer is "I think so". Lighter, the bottle; a trace of ammonia round your filler; a hazy memory of the cap. Look familiar? It might have been on a friend's drive in Drumlaghy, or rushing by the local primary school at the school run.
The upshot: the engine isn't harmed by some AdBlue spilled around the filler. Once it is inside your diesel tank, though, that changes. Any AdBlue in the tank will be drawn in by starting the car, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
What to do: treat it as if it got in. Do not crank it. Ring and give what you saw: we'd rather confirm a tank free of AdBlue than drain one after the motor has run.
The common ground in every Belcoo AdBlue drain
No matter the situation, one start is used. Our technicians come to the vehicle, whether it is at a forecourt, a drive, the car park outside the pub in the village or a side street close to a street just off the centre, and ask three things: what got in, about how much, and whether the motor has been run. On the phone, ahead of anything else, you are told the price, and those answers shape the work too.
Draining that tank comes next, followed by a careful flush — more important with urea than after petrol, because crystals and corrosion will not go by themselves, however long it sits. Fresh diesel goes in once your filter is flushed or changed, and your car is then tested. Where your engine hasn't run, allow about half an hour once we arrive, for most cases.
Firing it up comes last. We check it runs correctly on clean diesel before we leave. The whole job is done where the vehicle is, and when it is caught soon, permanent damage is very uncommon. Paying comes on the day, never in advance. For your insurer, there is a VAT invoice and a written report from the engineer. Dig out your insurance before we arrive: cover for misfuelling is built into plenty of policies.
About Belcoo and where it is
Belcoo is a small locality in County Fermanagh, situated inland at an elevation of 57 metres. Belcoo lies near the villages of Holywell, Boho, and Letterbreen, and is approximately 49 miles from Armagh. Belcoo has a population of around 947 people, predominantly living in detached housing. Belcoo is located in a rural area, with the nearest major city being Armagh
AdBlue drains in Belcoo, and across County Fermanagh too
As a small village, Belcoo has the same vans as the nearby places — Letterbreen, Boho — all the way across BT postcodes. A postcode starting BT93 5 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No towing is needed, be it stopped in the centre of Belcoo or in a layby heading to the green space at the edge of the village, and so keep it put. The drain happens on the spot. If you are somewhere hard to describe, near the far end of the built-up part or close to a border, ring and ask rather than assuming.
Your situation, in one line
Not run yet: keep it off then ring. Started already? Pull over, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest whatever case, across Belcoo and County Fermanagh, on 0333 366 0103.