AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Birkenside: What Now?
One thing matters most when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is if the engine has run afterwards. Out in Gowkshill or right in Birkenside, an unstarted motor should remain unrun. Call 0333 366 0103 with your ignition and motor both off. In Birkenside, such a case is typically drained and flushed where it stands. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. Stage one remains the same, even if the job grows.
Compare what happened to a situation from the ones below, wherever around Midlothian you are.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Birkenside forecourt
Imagine it: standing by the petrol pump, holding the bottle, you realise the cap you took off was not the correct one. Be it Shell, BP or somewhere else in Birkenside, the case is identical.
The point: of every spot to notice, the forecourt is the best. Nothing has drawn it through, and so the AdBlue stays just inside your tank.
Do this: keep out of the car, however much the pump wants clearing. Ask the attendants to help you roll your car into a parking bay, keep the receipt or the bottle, and ring us from the forecourt. Emptying it there at the pump is possible when it cannot be moved, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
Birkenside, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
On the dash, a reminder had been lit for days. Picked up a bottle, poured it in outside the house, binned the empty — and at that point checked the cap a second time, too late. Houses just off Birkenside get caught out as often as anywhere else.
The point: no miles since makes it nearly as good to finding it at the petrol pump. Diesel and AdBlue stay apart: the AdBlue settles to the base of that tank and remains there, however long the night.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so nobody moves the vehicle in the morning. Then call. Your driveway is where it is drained, whether around Birkenside or Gorebridge. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around Birkenside?
Topped up, drove away, and soon your motor was turning roughly, smoking, down on power, or lighting up the dash. Powdermill Brae, say, or the route to Edinburgh — a trip of under 10 miles.
In short: the AdBlue has been sucked through your fuel system. Mileage decides how far it goes: filter and lines first, then the injection pump and each injector. More miles, more restarts: deeper it travels.
Your move: stop somewhere safe, then switch the motor off. Birkenside lies under 15 miles from the M8; there, come off at the first junction rather than pushing on to the services. It won't have cleared, and so there is no point starting it again to find out. Phone us and say how far you went.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You have had this car barely a week. Unknown to you, the two fillers sit side by side here — not like your own car, which has none or keeps it elsewhere. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in Midlothian.
Meaning? Whatever case above applies here — run or not — plus one further stage. Plenty of rental and fleet contracts need the owner's sign-off for work.
Settling it before we arrives is quicker, and so phone the hire company or your fleet manager, and then us. If you are stuck in the car park at Gorebridge, or by St. Margaret's, while you wait for an answer, leave your car off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Birkenside?
At times the fair answer is "I think so". Too light, the bottle; a trace of ammonia near the filler; a hazy recollection of the cap. Sound familiar? The gates of the local primary school in a hurry, perhaps, or a friend's drive over in Borthwick.
The point: the motor isn't hurt by a little AdBlue spilled around the outside. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. You can't tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so will pull in any AdBlue that is in your tank.
Assume it was put in, and never start your key. Checking a tank that proves free of AdBlue beats emptying one once it's been run — so ring then tell us what you saw.
Birkenside: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Every situation gets the same opening to the work. Forecourt, driveway, Stobsmill Inn's car park or a street beside War Memorial — the van comes to the vehicle, and three questions come next: what fluid, what amount, and if it has run. Your price comes over the phone, ahead of anyone setting off, and the replies shape the job.
A thorough flush comes after the drain. With petrol it's standard; with AdBlue it is essential, since crystals form and certain metals are attacked, and none of that rinses away unaided. Clean diesel goes in once the fuel filter is flushed or replaced, and your car is then checked. If your engine has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Firing it up comes at the end. Before we go, it's checked to confirm it runs smoothly on clean diesel. We do the entire job where the vehicle is, and permanent damage is very unusual if it has been spotted quickly. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Check your insurance while we're en route: misfuelling cover comes included in many policies.
About Birkenside itself
Birkenside is a suburban area situated on the riverside in Midlothian, with a mix of semi-detached housing and a population of around 2465 residents. Birkenside sits at an elevation of 143 metres, approximately 9.8 miles from Edinburgh, and is near other local communities such as Gorebridge and Arniston. Birkenside is part of the wider Edinburgh urban area, yet maintains its own distinct character. Birkenside residents are likely to commute to Edinburgh for work and other amenities.
AdBlue drains around Birkenside and across Midlothian
Birkenside is a residential suburb, and the same vans that cover it work the towns around it too, Arniston and North Middleton among them, across the EH postcode area. Fastest of all: a EH23 4 postcode for your location.
Parked en route to Auld Gala Park, or right in the heart of Birkenside, the vehicle remains put — there's no need to move it at all. We drain the vehicle where it stands. Phone and check rather than guess when you are by War Memorial Nurses Hostel, near a border, or somewhere tricky to pin down.
Your situation, summed up
Unstarted? Keep it off then phone. Run by now: stop, power down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, within Birkenside or wherever across Midlothian.