AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Bigrigg: What Now?
One thing matters most once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is if the engine has been started afterwards. Over in Moor Row or right in Bigrigg, an unrun motor should remain that way. Usually that means draining and properly flushing it on the spot around Bigrigg — and so leave your key and engine off and phone 0333 366 0103. Already started? Stop when safe, then switch everything off. It is a bigger job, yet stage one does not change.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever across Cumbria it happened.
Bigrigg forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you only spot it while you are standing at the pump, bottle or the nozzle in your hand. Maybe you are at the Texaco, possibly at the BP, perhaps somewhere else in Bigrigg.
What it means: this is the best place to find out. The AdBlue is in the tank and nowhere else. Nothing has drawn it in.
Your move: keep out of the driver's seat, even if the pump needs clearing. Three jobs: a shove into a space with the staff helping, the receipt kept, and a ring to us from the forecourt. If it cannot be moved, it can be emptied at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a working forecourt.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home in Bigrigg
On the dash, a reminder had been lit for days. Picked up a container, poured it in at home, binned the empty — and only then checked the cap again, too late. Right off Croftlands is no less likely from anywhere.
The upshot: zero miles since leaves it nearly as good to finding it at the pump. Being unable to mix, AdBlue settles low inside your tank and stays. One night standing changes nothing.
Next: stop an early drive by putting the keys in the house, then ring us. Our engineers drain it on your driveway, whether that is around Bigrigg or out in Woodend. Even at night, our pumps are quiet enough for a residential street.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around Bigrigg?
A mile or two after filling up, your engine began misbehaving: roughness, smoke, less power, lights on your dash. Perhaps it was on Bankend View, perhaps on the way out towards Carlisle, under 50 miles away.
What it means: the system has pulled the AdBlue in. It has been through your filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and your injectors. Each restart, like every mile, carries it deeper.
Pull in somewhere safe — that is the first job — then switch everything off. Services further on can wait: on the M6, under 50 miles out of Bigrigg, use the first junction. Don't restart the vehicle to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Phone, and say how far your vehicle went.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You have just driven the vehicle a week. The AdBlue filler sits right beside the diesel one, which you didn't know, because your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Anywhere you happen to be across Cumbria, any motorist can slip up.
The upshot: exactly as above, split by if it ran, only with one added stage. The owner often needs to approve the work, under plenty of hire and company agreements.
Do this: hire firm or your fleet manager first, us second, because settling it beforehand saves time. Hanging on for an answer at the car park outside St Bees, or near Bigrigg Village Hall? Leave your engine off throughout.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Bigrigg?
Truthfully, the only answer might be that you think it did. A faint ammonia-like whiff hangs around your filler, the bottle seems too light, and the cap you took off is hard to recall. A rushed top-up by the gates of Moor Row Community Primary School, or a visit to a friend in High Walton: both fit.
Meaning? Drips outside the filler never reach the engine at all. In your diesel tank, however, AdBlue harms it. If there is AdBlue in your tank, starting the car will draw it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Next: act as though it went in, then leave the engine off. 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.
What each AdBlue drain around Bigrigg has in common
No matter the situation, a single opening is used. Forecourt, driveway, The Old Captains House's car park or a street by St John's Church — the van comes to your car, and three answers follow: which fluid, which quantity, and if it has run. Answers shape the work; the price comes by phone while nobody has set off yet.
Then the tank is drained and the system cleaned 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. The filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Most unrun vehicles are a half-hour job after the moment we arrive.
Our engineers fire it up last. We make sure it runs correctly on fresh diesel before we go. We do the whole job where your car is, and permanent damage is very rare when it has been noticed soon. Paying comes on the day, never in advance. For your insurer, there is a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling, so check yours as we head over.
About Bigrigg
Bigrigg is a small village in Cumbria, situated on the coastal fringe of the county, with Bigrigg being close to the towns of Cleator and Whitehaven. Bigrigg sits at an elevation of 99 metres, looking out towards the Irish Sea, and Bigrigg is part of a wider area that includes the nearby settlements of Woodend and Pallaflat. Bigrigg is characterised by its predominantly detached housing stock, reflecting its development as a residential community.
AdBlue drains across Cumbria, Bigrigg included
Bigrigg is a coastal village, and the same teams that cover it work the towns near it too, Pallaflat and Cleator among them, across the CA postcode area. The location comes clearest from a postcode beginning CA22 2.
Parked heading to Clints Quarry, or right in the heart of Bigrigg, the car stays put — there is no need to move it at all. Our technicians drain it where it stands. If you're somewhere hard to describe, close to Cleator Playgrounds or close to a border, ring and ask instead of guessing.
Your situation, in one line
Engine never started: ring, leaving it switched off. Started already? Pull over, switch off, phone. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest whichever case, in Bigrigg and Cumbria, on 0333 366 0103.