What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Burslem
Has your engine run since the AdBlue got in? That single question settles almost everything about what comes next. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether the car is around Burslem itself or out in Smallthorne. Ring 0333 366 0103 with your key and motor both off. In Burslem, such a case is typically drained and cleaned where it stands. When your motor has run, pull in safely straight away, then turn the car off. A larger job, then, but the same first step.
Compare your case to a situation from the list below, wherever in Staffordshire you happen to be.
At the pump around Burslem: AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you only spot it as you're standing at the petrol pump, bottle or the nozzle in hand. It could be the the nearest petrol station, or perhaps the BP, or a different forecourt in Burslem.
Meaning? Spotting it here is as good as it can be. No pump has pulled it in, so the AdBlue stays just inside that tank.
Next: resist the temptation to start it only to free up the pump. Get the staff to lend a hand pushing it to a space, save the receipt, then ring us from there. The equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt, and so a car that can't be pushed clear is cleared where it is at the pump.
At home in Burslem with AdBlue in the diesel tank
On the dash, a reminder had been lit all week. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look a second time at the cap. Driveways near Moorland Road see it as much as any other street.
The upshot: no miles since makes this nearly equal to finding it at the petrol pump. Diesel and AdBlue stay separate: the AdBlue settles to the floor of the tank and remains there, no matter how long it waits.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so nobody moves the car in the morning. Then call. Your driveway is where it gets drained, whether in Burslem or Middleport. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
On the road in Burslem with AdBlue in a diesel
Lumpy running, smoke, lost power or a lit dashboard arrived a mile or two after the fill. Perhaps it was on Jackson Street, possibly on the way out towards Stoke-on-Trent, under 3 miles away.
Meaning? Your pump has sucked the AdBlue in. The injection pump and each injector see it as well on a longer run, once the filter and lines have it. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Next: find a safe spot, stop, and turn the motor off. On the M6, under 5 miles from Burslem, that means the next exit, not the services further on. Do not restart the vehicle to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Let us know the mileage driven when you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company vehicles
You've had the car barely a week. Unknown to you, the AdBlue and diesel fillers sit side by side here — unlike your own car, which has none or keeps it in another spot. Any driver, anywhere in Staffordshire, could make it.
Meaning? Whatever case above counts too — run or unrun — and one extra stage. The owner often needs to approve any work, under many hire and company agreements.
Sorting it before we arrives is quicker, so ring the rental company or your fleet manager, then us. Leave the vehicle switched off while the answer arrives, whether you are parked at Longport or close to United Reformed Church.
Burslem: unsure whether it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
At times, "I think so" is the most you can honestly say. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia round your filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. It might have been on a friend's driveway in Stanfield, or rushing by Moorpark Junior School at the school run.
In short: spillage round your filler does the engine unharmed. The diesel tank with AdBlue inside is a different matter. If there is AdBlue in that tank, firing up your car will draw it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Do this: act as if it got in, and never start the motor. Ring with what you saw: we would rather confirm a tank free of AdBlue than empty one once the engine has been run.
Each AdBlue drain in Burslem shares these steps
Whatever the situation, a single opening applies. Three questions are asked when we arrive — on a forecourt, a driveway, a road beside Swan Bank or the car park at The Vine Inn: the liquid, the quantity, and if the motor has been started. On the phone, before dispatch, you are told our quote, and those answers shape the work too.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to certain metals used in fuel systems, and so it does not wash out unaided; that is why a full flush, after this drain, matters far more here than with petrol. Then is your filter — flushed, or replaced when needed — then clean diesel, and a test of the car. If your engine has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
Lastly, our engineers start it. With clean diesel in, it runs while our technicians check it is running correctly, and then we head off. The whole job is done where your car is, and if it's caught soon, lasting damage is very uncommon. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. It is worth remembering: many insurers offer misfuelling cover, and so a quick look at your policy as we travel is worthwhile.
About Burslem and where it is
Burslem is a suburban area in Staffordshire, situated near the city of Stoke-on-Trent, and is characterised by its terraced housing. Burslem sits at an elevation of 153 metres, inland in the West Midlands region, and is close to nearby places such as Middleport, Longport, and Cobridge. Burslem has a population of approximately 4866 residents and is located about 1.9 miles from Stoke-on-Trent. Burslem is also about 137.6 miles from London, making it a relatively distant suburb from the capital city.
AdBlue drains around Burslem, and across Staffordshire too
Burslem is a residential suburb, and the same teams that cover it work the towns around it too, Longport and Cobridge among them, across the ST postcode area. The location comes quickest from a postcode beginning ST6 1.
Whether the vehicle is on a lay-by on the way to Burslem Park or in a car park in the middle of Burslem, it does not need to move. Our van empties it in place. Tricky to explain? By John Baskeyfield plaque or a border? Asking is better than guessing, so phone.
The one-line version
Where it hasn't started, ring and keep it off. Started by now? Stop, turn off, ring. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest whatever it is, in Burslem and Staffordshire, on 0333 366 0103.