What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Brown Lees
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if your engine has run since it got in. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether the car is around Brown Lees itself or out in Knypersley. Leave the motor and the ignition off and call 0333 366 0103; it's usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Brown Lees. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. The job is bigger, but the first step is the same.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever around Staffordshire it happened.
Brown Lees forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Picture it: standing by the petrol pump, holding the nozzle, you realise the filler you opened was not the correct one. Somewhere around Brown Lees, then — Texaco, Sainsbury's, or somewhere else close by.
Put simply: there is no better place exists to spot it. Still in the tank, with no fuel pulled onwards: that is where the AdBlue is.
Your move: keep out of the car, even if the pump wants clearing. A few jobs: a shove into a bay with the attendants assisting, the receipt kept, and a call to us from the forecourt. Our equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt, so a vehicle that can't be pushed away gets emptied where it is at the pump.
Brown Lees, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
For days the dashboard had been nagging you. Picked up a bottle, tipped it in outside the house, binned the empty — and at that point looked at the cap a second time, too late. Driveways near Endon Drive see it as much as anywhere.
In short: if your car has not moved since, it's almost equal to finding out at the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue stay separate: the AdBlue drops to the base of that tank and stays there, however long it waits.
Keep the keys indoors tonight — otherwise a person may take it away first thing — and call us. We drain it on your drive, whether that's in Brown Lees or out in Newpool. The equipment runs quietly enough that it won't wake the neighbours at night.
On the road around Brown Lees with AdBlue in a diesel
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later your motor began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Maybe it was on Newpool Terrace, possibly on the way out towards Stoke-on-Trent, under 10 miles away.
In short: the AdBlue has been sucked into your fuel system. Past your filter, along the lines, and — the more the distance — on into the high-pressure pump and each injector. More driving, more restarts: deeper it goes.
Next: find a safe place, pull in, then switch your engine off. On the M6, under 10 miles from Brown Lees, that means the next junction, not the services further on. It won't have cleared, so there is no sense restarting to find out. About what distance did it gone? Tell us when you call.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
It's a vehicle you have had for a week. Unknown to you, the AdBlue and diesel fillers sit next to each other here — unlike your own vehicle, which has none or stores it elsewhere. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in Staffordshire.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it has run, with one more stage. Work on the vehicle frequently needs the owner's approval under rental or fleet agreements.
Do this: rental firm or fleet manager first, us second, because sorting it beforehand saves time. Stranded near St John the Evangelist or at Kidsgrove until someone replies, the car stays turned off the whole time.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Brown Lees?
At times the honest answer is "I think so". What cap was taken off, you can't recall; but the bottle weighs less than it ought to, and a whiff of ammonia hangs by the filler. It might have been on a friend's driveway in Stadmorslow, or rushing by Knypersley First School at the school run.
What it means: a little spilled around your filler does no harm to your motor. The diesel tank with AdBlue inside is a different story. If there is AdBlue in that tank, starting your car would suck it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Assume it was put in, and don't start the engine. Ring and give what you saw: we'd sooner confirm a tank free of AdBlue than drain one after the motor has run.
The common ground in each Brown Lees AdBlue drain
No matter the situation, a single start applies. We come to the car, whether it is at a forecourt, a driveway, the car park outside The Gardeners Arms or a side street near Biddulph Library, and ask three things: what got in, about how much, and whether your motor has been run. On the phone, ahead of dispatch, you hear the quote, and those replies shape the job too.
Then your tank is drained and your system purged thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not rinse out on its own. Finally come the filter, cleaned or replaced as needed; clean diesel; and a check of the vehicle. Never started? In that case about half an hour once we are there covers most jobs.
Finally, we fire it up. We make sure it runs properly on fresh diesel before we leave. Lasting damage is very unusual when it's caught early, and the whole job is done where your car is. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, nothing in advance. Plenty of policies cover misfuelling, so look at yours as we head over.
About Brown Lees, for a moment
Brown Lees is a suburban area situated in Staffordshire, approximately 5.7 miles from Stoke-on-Trent, and is characterised by its semi-detached housing stock. Brown Lees sits at an elevation of 212 metres, inland within the West Midlands region. Brown Lees is close to nearby places such as Newpool, Wain Lee, and Knowle Style, and is home to around 2165 residents. Brown Lees is located about 140.5 miles northwest of London.
AdBlue drains around Brown Lees, and across Staffordshire too
Wain Lee and Knowle Style get the identical teams as Brown Lees, a residential suburb, along with other places throughout ST postcodes. Your whereabouts comes clearest from a postcode that starts ST8 6.
Whether the car is on a lay-by on the way to Brown Lees Rec or in a car park in the middle of Brown Lees, it does not need to shift. Our technicians drain the car where it is. Guessing won't help beside Biddulph Youth Centre, on a border or somewhere awkward to pin down; ring and check.
Your scenario, in one line
If it has not run, phone and leave it off. Started by now? Stop, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest whatever it is, in Brown Lees and Staffordshire, on 0333 366 0103.