What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Bellsquarry
One fact counts most when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is if your engine has run afterwards. Anywhere the car is — Almondvale, Bellsquarry — don't start an engine that has not been started yet. Leave the motor and the ignition off and call 0333 366 0103; it is generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Bellsquarry. Already started? Pull over once you safely can, then switch it off. Step one stays the same, even if the job is bigger.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever in West Lothian it happened.
On a Bellsquarry forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Picture it: stood by the pump, holding the bottle, you realise the cap you took off wasn't the right one. Maybe you're at the Morrisons, perhaps at the Morrisons Daily, possibly somewhere else around Bellsquarry.
What it means: this is the best spot to find out. The AdBlue is in your tank and nowhere else. Nothing has pulled it in.
What to do: don't get back in and fire it up to clear the pump. Ring us from the forecourt once the car sits in a space — the staff will lend a hand to roll it — and save the receipt. If it can't be shifted, it can be drained at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Bellsquarry drive?
The warning light had been on for days. A bottle bought at the shop, emptied in on the driveway — and it's just by the bin that the cap got your eye. Drives near Bellsquarry South Road see it as much as any other street.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue keep apart: the AdBlue settles to the base of your tank and stays there, however long it waits.
Put the keys in the house overnight — otherwise a person may take it off at breakfast — and phone us. Our technicians drain the vehicle on your driveway, whether that's around Bellsquarry or out in Murieston. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Bellsquarry: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Rough running, smoke, falling power or a lit dashboard arrived a mile or two beyond the top-up. Somewhere along Carrick Gardens or on the road to Edinburgh — under 15 miles away.
What it means: the fuel system has pulled the AdBlue in. Distance decides how deep it goes: filter and pipework first, then the injection pump and each injector. It goes further with every mile driven and every restart.
Do this: stop somewhere sensible, then turn the engine off. Exit at the first junction — not the services further along — if you're on the M8, under 5 miles from Bellsquarry. Do not restart the car to see if it has cleared; it will not have. About what distance had it go? Tell us as you call.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You have had this vehicle hardly 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. Across West Lothian, nobody is immune.
Meaning? Whichever case above counts here — run or unrun — plus one extra stage. Any work on your car often needs the owner's go-ahead under rental or company agreements.
Settling it before the van turn up is quicker, so phone the hire company or your fleet manager, then us. If you're stranded in the car park at Livingston South, or by Oozlum Bird, whilst you wait for an answer, leave your car off.
Bellsquarry: unsure if it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
"I think so" is sometimes as honest as it gets. What cap came off, you can't say; meanwhile the bottle feels less than it ought to, and ammonia lingers by the filler. Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at the local primary school, or on a friend's drive in Polbeth.
Meaning? Drips outside the filler never reach your engine at all. A diesel tank with AdBlue in it is a different story. Any AdBlue in the tank will be pulled in by firing up the vehicle, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Do this: act as though it did, and don't start the motor. Describe what you saw on your phone. A clear tank looked at counts as a happier result than an already-run one emptied.
Each AdBlue drain around Bellsquarry shares these stages
Whatever the situation, a single opening applies. Filling station, driveway, The Chain Runner's car park or a road beside Dyke-Swarm — the van comes to the vehicle, and three answers follow: what liquid, what amount, and whether it ran. Answers shape the work; the quote comes by phone whilst nobody has set off yet.
Then your tank is cleared and the system flushed thoroughly, which matters more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't rinse out on its own. Last come the filter, flushed or renewed if necessary; clean diesel; and a check of your car. The majority of unstarted cars are a half-hour visit from the moment we turn up.
Our technicians start it last. Our test that it runs properly on fresh diesel comes before our technicians head off. The whole job is done where the vehicle is, and when it's caught soon, long-term damage is very unusual. Payment is on the day, never upfront. For the insurer, you get a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. Dig out your insurance while we arrive: cover for misfuelling is built into many policies.
About Bellsquarry, briefly
Bellsquarry is a suburban area situated on the riverside in West Lothian, with a mix of detached housing and local amenities. Bellsquarry sits at an elevation of 165 metres, overlooking the surrounding countryside and the nearby towns of Murieston and Dedridge. Bellsquarry is located approximately 14 miles west of Edinburgh, Scotland's capital city, and is part of the wider commuter belt around Edinburgh. Bellsquarry has a population of around 1946 residents, living in predominantly detached homes.
AdBlue drains about Bellsquarry and across West Lothian
Throughout EH postcodes, the vans covering Bellsquarry — a residential suburb — work surrounding towns as well, Adambrae and Dedridge included. A postcode starting EH54 9 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Stopped heading to Bellsquarry Plantation, or right in the heart of Bellsquarry, the vehicle remains put — there's no need to move it anywhere. Draining happens right there. Guessing won't help beside 9th West Lothian (Dedridge) Scout Group, on a border or somewhere hard to describe; phone and ask.
Your scenario, summed up
Unstarted? Leave it off and phone. Whatever case fits, Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest on 0333 366 0103, across West Lothian and in Bellsquarry — after you stop, turn off then phone, if it has run.