AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Clermiston: What Now?
One thing counts above all once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is if the engine has run afterwards. Not started yet? Then keep it like that, wherever your vehicle sits — Clermiston or Corstorphine. Ring 0333 366 0103 with the ignition and motor both off. In Clermiston, that is typically emptied and flushed where it stands. Stop the moment it is safe then switch off, if it has already run. It's a bigger job, though step one does not change.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever in City of Edinburgh it happened.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Clermiston forecourt
Picture it: standing by the pump, gripping the bottle, you realise the filler you opened was not the right one. It might be the Shell, or perhaps the Tesco, or another forecourt around Clermiston.
Put simply: no better place exists to discover it. Still inside the tank, with no fuel pulled onwards: that's where the AdBlue is.
What to do: don't get back in and fire it up to clear the petrol pump. Get the staff to help pushing it to a space, save the receipt, then phone us right there. Our equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a live forecourt, so a vehicle that cannot be pushed away gets cleared where it is at the petrol pump.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home in Clermiston
For days the dashboard had been warning you. A bottle from the shop, tipped in at the drive — and it's only at the recycling that the cap got a second look. Just off Drum Brae Drive is no different from anywhere.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue stay apart: the AdBlue settles to the floor of that tank and remains put, however long it waits.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so no one moves the car in the morning. Then ring. Our engineers drain it on your drive, whether that is in Clermiston or out in Drumbrae. Night-time clears outside a house are fine: the pumps are quiet.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving in Clermiston?
Filled up, drove away, and soon your motor was turning roughly, smoking, losing power, or lighting up your dash. Somewhere on Clermiston Gardens or on the road to Edinburgh — under 5 miles away.
The upshot: the system has drawn AdBlue through by now. Distance decides how far it gets: filter and lines to begin with, then the injection pump and every injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Your move: stop somewhere sensible, then turn the engine off. Services further on can wait: from the M8, under 3 miles out of Clermiston, use the next junction. Don't restart the vehicle to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Roughly how far did it go? Tell us when you phone.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
It's a motor you have had for a week. On your own car, AdBlue is missing or somewhere else. On this one, its cap is right next to the diesel inlet — news to you. Wherever you are around City of Edinburgh, every driver can be caught.
In short: one extra step on top of the situations above, which turn on whether it has run. Many rental and fleet agreements need the owner's sign-off for repairs.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's faster settled before our technicians get there than after. If you are stuck in the car park at South Gyle, or by The Drumbrae Library Hub, whilst you wait for an answer, leave your car off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Clermiston?
Truthfully, the best answer might be that you think so. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia about the filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. Perhaps it happened in a hurry at the school gates at the local primary school, or on a friend's drive in The Gyle.
What it means: a little spilled round your filler does no damage to the motor. In the diesel tank, however, AdBlue harms it. You cannot tell which by turning the key, and doing so would pull in any AdBlue that is in the tank.
Take it that it got in, and never start your key. Tell us what you noticed on the phone. A clear tank looked at counts as a better outcome than a run one emptied.
Each AdBlue drain around Clermiston shares these stages
Every situation gets the same start to the work. Wherever your vehicle is — The Clermiston's car park, a street beside The Rannoch Centre, a drive, a forecourt — our van gets there and asks for the liquid, the quantity, plus whether the motor has been run. On the phone, before dispatch, you hear the price, and those replies shape the work too.
AdBlue forms crystals and eats at certain metals used in fuel systems, so it won't wash out on its own; that's why the flush, after the drain, matters much more here than with petrol. Last come the fuel filter, flushed or replaced as needed; fresh diesel; and a check of the car. Where your engine has not been started, allow roughly half an hour once we arrive, in most jobs.
Firing it up comes last. Before our technicians head off, it's checked to confirm it runs correctly on fresh diesel. If it is spotted quickly, the car very seldom has long-term damage, and the whole job happens where it is. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, nothing upfront. Check your insurance before we're en route: cover for misfuelling comes included in many policies.
About Clermiston and where it is
Clermiston is a suburban area in the City of Edinburgh, situated approximately 3.8 miles west of Edinburgh's city centre. Clermiston occupies a coastal setting, with its elevation at around 80 metres above sea level. Clermiston is characterised by its predominant housing type, which is mainly flat. Clermiston is close to nearby places such as Drumbrae, Bughtlin, and Davidsons Mains.
AdBlue drains across City of Edinburgh, Clermiston included
Being a residential suburb, Clermiston shares its vans with the surrounding towns — Davidsons Mains, Bughtlin — all the way through EH postcodes. The whereabouts is clearest from a postcode that starts EH4 7.
Centre of Clermiston or a layby towards Clermiston Park: wherever it is, the car doesn't need to move an inch for this drain. The drain happens on the spot. Phone and ask rather than guess if you're by St Andrew’s Church Clermiston, on a boundary, or somewhere tricky to pin down.
The one-line version
If it hasn't run, phone and keep it that way. Started already? Pull over, turn off, phone. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder whichever it is, across Clermiston and City of Edinburgh, on 0333 366 0103.