What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Breedy Butts
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: if your engine has been run since it was put in. Anywhere your car stands — Little Thornton, Breedy Butts — don't run a motor that has not run yet. Leave the engine and the ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103; it is usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is in Breedy Butts. Stop the moment you safely can and turn off, if it has already run. It is a bigger job, though stage one does not change.
Below: the cases we meet, anywhere in Lancashire. Pick the one that fits.
Breedy Butts forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Picture it: stood by the petrol pump, gripping the nozzle, you spot the filler you opened was not the right one. It might be the Applegreen, or perhaps the BP, or a different forecourt around Breedy Butts.
In short: no better place exists to spot it. Still inside that tank, and nothing pulled through: that is where the AdBlue sits.
Next: resist the urge to fire it up just to free up the pump. Ask the attendants to help you push the vehicle into a parking spot, keep your receipt or the bottle, then phone us from the forecourt. Draining it there at the petrol pump is fine when it cannot be moved, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Breedy Butts drive?
The warning light had been on for days. Only by the recycling, the empty bottle in your hand, did you glance back at the cap you had opened at the drive. Driveways near Hadleigh Road get it as much as any other street.
The upshot: no miles since leaves this almost equal to finding it at the petrol pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Next: keys indoors, so nobody takes the car anywhere first thing. After that, phone. Out in Carleton or here in Breedy Butts, the drain is done at your driveway. Late-night drains beside a house are fine: the pumps are quiet.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in Breedy Butts?
Lumpy running, smoke, falling power or a lit dashboard started a short way after the fill. Maybe it was on Harewood Close, possibly on the way out towards Preston, under 15 miles away.
What it means: your fuel system has drawn the AdBlue in. Distance decides how deep it goes: filter and pipework first, then the injection pump and every injector. Every restart, like each mile, carries it deeper.
What to do: pull over where it is safe to do so then switch off. Breedy Butts sits under 5 miles from the M55; on it, come off at the first junction instead of pushing on to the services. No test starts: clearing itself isn't something AdBlue will do. Let us know the distance covered when you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You have only driven this vehicle a week. Your own car either does without AdBlue or keeps it somewhere different, and so no one told you the AdBlue inlet was just beside the diesel. It can happen to anyone, anywhere across Lancashire.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it has run, with one more step. Plenty of hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on the car.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is quicker settled before our technicians turn up than after. If you are stranded in the car park outside Poulton-Le-Fylde, or by Church of Saint Martin & Saint Hilda, while you wait for an answer, leave the car off.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank around Breedy Butts?
"I think so" is sometimes as honest as it gets. A slight ammonia-like smell lingers near the filler, the bottle feels too light, and the cap you took off is a blur. It might have been at a friend's drive in Norcross, or in a rush outside Carleton Green Community Primary School at the school run.
What it means: a little spilled around the filler does no damage to your motor. In the diesel tank, however, AdBlue damages it. You can't tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so would pull in any AdBlue that is in your tank.
Do this: behave as if it did, and never start the engine. Checking a tank that turns out free of AdBlue is better than emptying one once it has been run — so ring and describe to us what you saw.
Breedy Butts: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Every case gets the same opening to the job. Three things come when our technicians reach your car — on a filling station, a drive, a road by YMCA Poulton Health and Fitness Centre or the car park outside Castle Gardens: the fluid, the quantity, and if it has run. Over the phone, before dispatch, you are told the quote, and those answers decide the work too.
Emptying the tank comes next, then a full flush — more vital with urea than with petrol, because crystals and corrosion won't go on their own, however long it sits. Finally come the fuel filter, cleaned or replaced if necessary; clean diesel; and a test of the car. Most unstarted vehicles are a half-hour visit from the moment our engineers turn up.
Finally, our technicians fire it up. Our check that it runs smoothly on fresh diesel comes before our engineers go. We do the entire job where the car is, and permanent damage is very unusual when it has been caught early. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money upfront. Plenty of insurance policies cover misfuelling, and so look at yours as we head over.
About Breedy Butts
Breedy Butts is a coastal locality in Lancashire, situated near the towns of Carleton and Poulton-le-Fylde. Breedy Butts lies at a low elevation of around 6 metres, close to the shore. Breedy Butts is characterised by its predominantly detached housing stock, reflecting its residential nature. Breedy Butts is located approximately 13.9 miles from Preston, the nearest city.
Breedy Butts and Lancashire: AdBlue drains across the area
Breedy Butts is a coastal area, and the same vans that cover it work the towns near it too, Skippool and Poulton-le-Fylde among them, across the FY postcode area. Fastest of all: a FY6 7 postcode for your location.
Stopped heading to Poulton le Fylde Golf Club, or bang in the heart of Breedy Butts, the car stays where it is — there is no need to shift it at all. Where it stands, that is where it is drained. Assuming doesn't help beside Moorland Tennis Club, close to a border or somewhere hard to pin down; ring and ask.
Your scenario, in one line
Where it hasn't started, phone and keep it off. Whichever case fits, Petrol in Diesel handles from there on 0333 366 0103, throughout Lancashire and in Breedy Butts — after you stop, turn off then ring, if it's run.