AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Cloughmills: What Now?
Has your motor run since the AdBlue was put in? That single question decides almost everything about what comes next. Anywhere your vehicle stands — Cargan, Cloughmills — never run a motor that hasn't run yet. Normally that means draining and properly purging it on the spot in Cloughmills — so keep your key and motor off and phone 0333 366 0103. Pull over the minute it is safe then turn off, if it has already run. A larger job, then, but the identical first step.
Below: the cases our technicians see, anywhere across County Antrim. Choose the one that fits.
On a Cloughmills forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Only now, nozzle still in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you opened was the wrong one, right at the petrol pump. Be it the nearest petrol station, another forecourt nearby or anywhere else in Cloughmills, the case is the same.
What it means: this is the best spot to find out. The AdBlue is in the tank and nowhere else. Nothing has sucked it in.
Freeing the petrol pump is no reason to start it — and so do not get back in. Ask the staff to help you roll the vehicle into a parking spot, keep the till receipt or the bottle, then phone us from the forecourt. If it can't be shifted, it can be drained at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a working forecourt.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Cloughmills drive?
On the dash, a reminder had been lit for days. Only by the recycling, the empty container in your hand, did you glance back at the cap you'd opened at the drive. Houses just off B842 are caught out as much as everywhere else.
In short: if the car hasn't been driven since, it's almost equal to finding out at the pump. As it is unable to blend, AdBlue drops low in that tank and stays. One night standing alters none of that.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so no one moves the car in the morning. Then call. Our engineers drain it on your drive, whether that is around Cloughmills or out in Clogh. Our equipment works quietly enough not to disturb the street at night.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel around Cloughmills?
Filled up, pulled away, and before long the motor was running roughly, smoking, losing power, or lighting up your dash. It might have been driving to Belfast, under 50 miles away, or just down Dunaverty Court.
In short: the AdBlue has been sucked through the system. Distance decides how far it goes: filter and lines first, then the injection pump and every injector. More driving, more restarts: further it travels.
Do this: pull up anywhere sensible, then switch the engine off. Service stations farther along are too far: on the M77, over 50 miles out of Cloughmills, use the next junction. No trial restarts: clearing itself isn't something AdBlue will do. About what distance did it go? Tell us when you phone.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
It is a vehicle you have had for a week. Your own motor either does without AdBlue or keeps it somewhere different, and so no one warned you the AdBlue inlet was right beside the diesel. Any driver, anywhere around County Antrim, might do it.
The upshot: exactly as above, split by if it ran, only with an added stage. Any work on your car often needs the owner's approval under hire or fleet agreements.
Settling it before the van arrives is quicker, so ring the rental company or your fleet manager, and then us. Hanging on for an answer in the car park at the nearest station, or near the centre? Keep your car off throughout.
Cloughmills: unsure if it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Honestly, the only answer might be that you think it did. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia about your filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. The gates of the local primary school in a hurry, perhaps, or a friend's driveway out in Loughguile.
In short: spillage round the filler leaves the motor no harm. Inside the diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue harms it. If there is AdBlue in the tank, turning on the vehicle will pull it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Take it that it went in, and never start the engine. Inspecting a tank that proves free of AdBlue is better than emptying one once it's been run — so ring and describe to us what you saw.
Cloughmills: what each AdBlue drain has in common
The work opens the same way, whichever the case. Three things come when our engineers reach your car — on a forecourt, a driveway, a road by a street just off the centre or the car park outside the pub in the village: the fluid, the amount, and if it has run. Those answers determine the work, and you get the price on the phone, before anyone heads out.
A thorough flush comes after this drain. With petrol it is routine; with AdBlue it's crucial, because crystals form and certain metals corrode, and neither washes out unaided. Fresh diesel is put in once your filter is cleaned or changed, and the car is finally tested. The majority of unstarted vehicles are a half-hour visit after the moment we get there.
Firing it up comes at the end. Our check that it runs smoothly on fresh diesel comes before we leave. The whole job is done where the car is, and if it is caught quickly, lasting damage is very unusual. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money upfront. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Cloughmills itself
Cloughmills is a small locality in County Antrim, situated inland at an elevation of 159 metres. Cloughmills lies approximately 31 miles northwest of Belfast, in a rural area surrounded by nearby settlements such as Clogh and Newtown Crommelin. Cloughmills is characterised by its predominantly detached housing stock, reflecting its quiet, residential nature. Cloughmills has a population of around 679 people, according to recent estimates.
AdBlue drains round Cloughmills and across County Antrim
Newtown Crommelin and Martinstown get the identical teams as Cloughmills, a small village, along with other places over BT postcodes. Quickest of all: a BT44 9 postcode to show your location.
Central Cloughmills or a lay-by towards the green space at the edge of the village: wherever it is, your car never needs to move an inch for us. Our technicians drain the car where it sits. If you are somewhere hard to describe, near the far end of the built-up part or close to a border, ring and ask rather than guessing.
In one line: your situation
Not run yet: keep the car off then call. Already run: stop, switch off then ring. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there in Cloughmills and anywhere around County Antrim on 0333 366 0103.