Broomhill: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Leave It Off
If AdBlue has gone into the diesel tank, leave the engine off then keep your ignition off. AdBlue is urea mixed in water. Unlike fuel, it neither ignites nor blends, and no harm starts till the engine pulls it through. A drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is around Broomhill, is usually what AdBlue in a diesel tank takes — if it is caught before the engine has been run. First, phone us on 0333 366 0103.
AdBlue in the diesel tank around Broomhill: the first few minutes
Things to do:
- Pull your keys out, so nobody switches the ignition on.
- If you're anywhere close to moving traffic, put the hazard lights on.
- So you can give us which liquid it was and about what quantity, keep the till receipt or the empty bottle.
- The van locates you quickest with a postcode starting IV10 8, or simply the name of a street close by, so phone from the spot.
Never:
- Moving the vehicle even a short way is no reason to fire up your motor.
- Your ignition stays off: on lots of diesels, switching it on is enough to start the pump.
- Pouring in more diesel doesn't help: AdBlue settles out instead of thinning.
- Don't drive it anywhere, not even a short stretch along Feddon Hill.
- No emptying it yourself, either, on the roadside.
The staff on duty at any Broomhill forecourt — the Fraser's Garage included — will usually help pushing it aside if you ask. Stopped on your own driveway? Then it remains exactly as it is.
AdBlue in a diesel tank, and what it does there
The engine is not what AdBlue is made for; the exhaust is. Stored in a dedicated tank, it's injected into the exhaust stream to clean the gases. Nothing in it is meant to pass through a fuel pump, and nothing in a fuel pump is made to handle it.
Tipped in with the diesel, it stays apart instead of blending — entirely unlike fuel. It drops, since it's heavier than diesel, and pools down where the intake takes its supply from. A motor topped up on a drive in The Dock overnight and left unstarted counts as the straightforward case. Nothing has sucked the AdBlue up so far — but when the engine turns, that's what is pulled first, straight from the bottom of the tank.
After it's sucked in, the damage comes in two forms. It attacks some metals found in fuel components, attacking whatever it touches until it's cleared completely. And when the water goes, the urea forms crystals that clog filters and lodge in tiny channels. Lines carrying AdBlue mean harm overnight for a vehicle sitting around Broomhill. Just in that tank, it stays the same. Then there's the water: it offers no lubrication to the parts that need it the most — the high-pressure pump and each injector.
Why AdBlue in a diesel is often more serious than petrol
Put petrol in a diesel at the another forecourt nearby and you have a fault of thin fuel. It mixes with the diesel, and while it's inside the tank it causes no damage; the harm comes from running your motor on it.
AdBlue in a diesel is a different problem: not thin fuel, yet no fuel at all. Not burning, it cannot simply be run through. Whether the car sits in Raddery or the heart of Broomhill, firing it up "to see" does more harm with AdBlue than nearly any other mistake, and the flush counts more. Why: it will not stay blended, and so watering it down fails; and crystals and corrosion outlast the following tankful.
The same good news applies as with petrol. If your motor has not run, the AdBlue is still in the tank, and that tank is the quickest part of a fuel system to clear, wherever around Highland the vehicle is sitting.
How AdBlue ends up in a diesel tank in Broomhill
It is not deliberate. Plenty of vehicles have the AdBlue cap beside the diesel inlet, now and then behind a single flap, and mixing them up is easy in poor light. A bottle picked up when heading home and poured in at home, instead of at the filling station, is the typical route.
Usually, it takes place in one of a few familiar ways. A warning light comes on during the school run, and the top-up occurs in a hurry outside the local primary school. Near The Orchard, someone pours a container in at home in the evening. Or the vehicle is topped up in the car park outside Union Tavern, in poor light, by somebody who has never opened that flap before.
Hired vehicles, new motors, fleet motors, or the second vehicle in a home with both fuels: the least known cars get it most. Wherever around Highland, Broomhill as well, the slip does not change, and neither does the first step: leave it off.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Broomhill, and the engine started?
In that case, the AdBlue is no longer inside the tank. Via the fuel filter, through the pipework, and — given any running — on to the injection pump and each injector: that's how far it has gone.
Watch for rough running, exhaust smoke, falling power, warnings on the dash, or a cut-out — coming back from Viewmount Wood, say, or midway across Broomhill. Once you safely can, pull over then turn it off — with no turning it on again to see. With each start, more of it is pulled through.
On the M90, over 50 miles from Broomhill, the first junction is where to leave, and somewhere safe is where to stop — not driving on.
Every mile carries the AdBlue deeper in. That is why crossing Broomhill to park beside Mercat Cross and a drive of under 10 miles towards Inverness are very different jobs. About how far it had come is worth telling us.
There is more to flush once the engine has been run, and our technicians do all of it where the car has ended up. Very rarely does it leave lasting damage if it's caught early.
Broomhill: how AdBlue is drained from a diesel
The vehicle remains where it is, whether that is a road beside Fortrose Town Hall, a drive, a lay-by or a filling station in Broomhill, and our van comes to it. Three replies decide the job, so first our engineers ask which fluid was put in, roughly the amount, and if the engine has turned over.
The polluted diesel and the urea come out together after your tank is drained, on the spot. What remains from AdBlue will not flush out unaided, so the whole system gets a careful flush, which matters far more with urea than with petrol. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and your car is tested. The majority of these jobs are a half-hour job once our technicians get there, if the engine has not run. The pumps are explosion-proof, safe on a working forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
The final step is to prime the fuel system on fresh diesel. You head off as soon as we have fired it up, and it makes no difference whether the car is on a drive around Broomhill or in a space outside Inverness Airport. It is checked on clean diesel to make sure it runs properly before our technicians go. The entire job is done where your car is, so it never needs to go to a workshop. Insurers ask for a VAT invoice and an engineer report, and both come at the end.
About Broomhill and where it is
Broomhill is a small suburban area situated on the coast of the Moray Firth in Highland, Scotland, with a mix of detached housing and scenic views. Broomhill sits approximately 7.7 miles from Inverness and is close to nearby places such as Fortrose, Rosemarkie, and Avoch. Broomhill has a relatively small population of around 510 residents and is located at an elevation of 123 metres. Broomhill is also a considerable distance from major cities like London, being around 449.4 miles away.
AdBlue drains across Highland, Broomhill included
Fortrose, Rosemarkie and Avoch are among the towns near Broomhill that the same teams serve, along with much of Highland further out, over the IV postcode area. If you are close to a border, or somewhere hard to explain, ring and ask instead of assuming.
A mobile service suits Broomhill, a residential suburb: you have no need to take your car to us, because our technicians drain it on the spot, in a drive, a residential street, a parking area or a forecourt.
AdBlue in a diesel tank in Broomhill: the cost of fixing it
Because each callouts vary, a single figure would not be honest. Three things change the price: whether the motor has been running and for how long, how much AdBlue went in, and where the vehicle is. That last one turns on whether a technician can reach it safely, and an open drive is simpler than a tight space behind Fortrose Free Church of Scotland.
What was put in, how much, plus if the engine ran: each Broomhill call begins by asking precisely those, before any figure, never afterwards. Those replies narrow the range right down to one number.
Our price is quoted during the call, before anyone sets off; payment comes on the day, by card or over the phone, and nothing upfront. While the van is on the way, check your policy: plenty cover misfuelling.
Next to the vehicle around Broomhill, right now?
In that case, do nothing — that's the best move there is. Ignition off, engine off, keys out. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, across Broomhill or wherever within Highland, after you phone 0333 366 0103 saying it's AdBlue, about what quantity, and whether it ran.