AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Charleston, and What to Do Next
Everything turns on a single fact: whether your engine has started since the AdBlue went in — more than anything else. Not started yet? Then keep the car that way, wherever your vehicle sits — Charleston or Ardler. Usually this is draining and properly flushing it on the spot around Charleston — and so keep the key and engine off then call 0333 366 0103. Stop the moment it is safe and turn off, if it has been run. The job is bigger, yet the first step is the same.
Below: the cases our technicians see, anywhere across Dundee City. Choose yours.
Charleston forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Only now, bottle yet in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you took off was the wrong one, right at the petrol pump. Anywhere around Charleston, then — BP, Asda, or somewhere else nearby.
Meaning? Spotting it on the forecourt is as good as it can be. Just your tank has AdBlue; not one part beyond it has drawn it in.
Next: avoid the temptation to start it only to move away from the petrol pump. Three jobs: a shove into a space with the staff assisting, the bottle saved, and a ring to us from where you stand. If it can't be moved, it can be drained at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt.
At home in Charleston with AdBlue in your diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. A bottle from the shop, emptied in at the drive — and it's only by the recycling that the cap caught a second look. Just off Liff Road is not less likely from any other place.
Put simply: if the car has not moved since, it is nearly equal to spotting it at the forecourt. At the floor of that tank is where AdBlue waits, because it won't blend with diesel — and a night passing makes nothing of the difference.
Your move: keys indoors, so no one drives your vehicle off at breakfast. After that, ring. Your drive is where it is emptied, whether in Charleston or Gourdie. Night-time empties outside a house are no problem: the pumps are low-noise.
On the road around Charleston with AdBlue in a diesel
Rough running, smoke, lost power or a glowing dashboard started a short way after the fill. It might have been driving for Dundee, under 3 miles away, or just along Smeaton Road.
In short: the AdBlue has been pulled into the system. Distance decides how deep it goes: filter and pipework first, then the high-pressure pump and each injector. More driving, more starts: further it travels.
Stop safely — that is the first job — then switch it off. On the M90, under 25 miles from Charleston, that means the next junction, not the services further on. Starting it again to check achieves nothing — AdBlue never clears itself. Tell us hear the distance driven as you ring.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company cars
You've had the vehicle hardly a week. On your own car, AdBlue is missing or somewhere else. On this one, the inlet is right next to the diesel inlet — a surprise to you. Throughout Dundee City, no one is immune.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it has run, with one more stage. Many hire and fleet agreements need the owner's sign-off for work.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is faster settled before our engineers get there than after. Hanging on for a reply in the car park outside Invergowrie, or beside Shetland Pony & Wild Donkey? Keep the car off throughout.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Charleston?
At times, "I think so" is the most you can honestly say. Which cap was taken off, you cannot say; but the bottle feels lighter than it ought to, and a whiff of ammonia lingers by your filler. A hurried top-up by the gates of the local primary school, or a visit to a friend in Lochee: both fits.
The point: the engine is not harmed by a little AdBlue splashed around the outside. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. Firing up the vehicle won't tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in that tank it will pull it in.
Next: act as though it went in, and leave the motor off. Phone and give the details: we would sooner find a tank free of AdBlue than drain one once your motor has run.
What each AdBlue drain in Charleston has in common
The job begins identically, whatever your situation. Wherever the car is — Camperdown Elm's car park, a street beside Pygmy Goat, a drive, a filling station — the van gets there and asks about the liquid, the amount, and whether the motor has turned over. Answers set the work; the quote comes by phone whilst nobody has set off yet.
AdBlue forms crystals and eats at certain metals used in fuel systems, so it does not wash out on its own; that is why a full flush, after this drain, counts much more with AdBlue than with petrol. Fresh diesel goes in once your filter has been cleaned or replaced, and the car is then tested. Most unstarted vehicles are a half-hour visit after the moment we arrive.
Last, we fire it up. With clean diesel in, it runs while our engineers confirm it's running correctly, and then we leave. Long-term damage is very uncommon when it is noticed quickly, and the entire job is done where your car is. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, nothing upfront. Check your insurance while we're en route: cover for misfuelling is built into many policies.
About Charleston, briefly
Charleston is a suburban area located on the outskirts of Dundee, situated near the coast in eastern Scotland. Charleston sits at an elevation of 68 metres, overlooking the surrounding landscape, and is close to nearby places such as Gourdie and Menzieshill. Charleston is characterized by its predominantly flat-type housing, which is typical of many Scottish suburban areas. Charleston is approximately 2.9 miles from Dundee city centre, making it a convenient residential location.
Charleston and Dundee City: AdBlue drains across the area
Throughout DD postcodes, the teams covering Charleston — a residential suburb — reach nearby places as well, Menzieshill and Denhead of Gray included. The location is quickest from a postcode that starts DD2 4.
Parked en route to Campy Growers, or right in the centre of Charleston, your vehicle remains where it is — there's no need to shift it at all. Our van drains it where it stands. Phone and ask rather than guess when you're by Scottish Wild Cat, near a boundary, or somewhere tricky to explain.
Your scenario, summed up
If it has not started, ring then keep it that way. Run already? Pull over, turn off, phone. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest whichever case, across Charleston and Dundee City, on 0333 366 0103.