What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Coalpit Hill
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: whether the engine has been run since it went in. Anywhere the vehicle stands — Woodshutts, Coalpit Hill — don't run a motor that hasn't been started yet. Leave the motor and your ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103; it is generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Coalpit Hill. Stop the moment you safely can and switch off, if it has already run. Stage one remains the same, even though the job is bigger.
Match what happened to a situation from the ones below, wherever in Staffordshire you happen to be.
At the pump around Coalpit Hill: AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you only notice it while you're standing at the petrol pump, bottle or the nozzle in your hand. Maybe you are at the Tesco, possibly at the Shell, perhaps somewhere else in Coalpit Hill.
What it means: this is the best spot to find out. The AdBlue is in the tank and nowhere else. Nothing has pulled it in.
Next: resist the urge to start it only to free up the pump. Ring us from the forecourt once the car is in a bay — the staff will help push it — and save the receipt. Stuck by the pump? Our explosion-proof kit makes a busy forecourt safe, and so we can drain the vehicle in place.
Coalpit Hill, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
On the dash, a reminder had been lit all week. Only at the recycling bin, the empty container in hand, did you glance back at the cap you had used at the drive. Houses just off Milton Crescent are caught out as often as anywhere else.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. As it is unable to mix, AdBlue drops low in that tank and waits. One night standing alters none of that.
Next: the keys in the house, so no one takes the vehicle off at breakfast. Then, phone. Talke or Coalpit Hill: whichever your drive is, that's where it gets emptied. Night-time empties beside a house are fine: the pumps are quiet.
Coalpit Hill: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later your engine began to run unevenly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Possibly it was on Thomas Street, possibly on the way out towards Stoke-on-Trent, under 10 miles away.
Meaning? The fuel pump has taken the AdBlue up. Past your filter, along the lines, and — the further the distance — on into the high-pressure pump and every injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
What to do: pull over where it's safe and switch off. Service stations farther on are too far: on the M6, under 5 miles out of Coalpit Hill, take the first junction. No trial starts: clearing itself isn't something AdBlue will do. Tell us know the distance covered when you ring.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You have had the vehicle barely a week. The AdBlue filler sits right alongside the diesel one, which you didn't know, because your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Anyone, wherever across Staffordshire, might make it.
The upshot: just as above, split by whether it ran, but with one added step. Many hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on the vehicle.
Sorting it before the van turn up is quicker, so ring the rental company or your fleet manager, then us. If you are stuck in the car park outside Kidsgrove, or by St. Martins Parish Church, while you wait for an answer, leave the car off.
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Not sure, in Coalpit Hill
Truthfully, the best answer might be that you think it did. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia round the filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. Maybe on a friend's driveway in Talke Pits, or rushing outside St Saviour's CofE Academy on the school run.
Meaning? Spills outside the inlet never reach your engine at all. The diesel tank with AdBlue in it is a different story. If there is AdBlue in your tank, turning on the car will draw it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Do this: act as if it got in, and don't start your motor. Call us and describe what you saw; we would rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
Coalpit Hill: what each AdBlue drain has in common
The job opens the same way, whatever the case. Three things come once our technicians arrive — on a filling station, a drive, a street beside The Baptist Church Butt Lane or the car park outside Swan Inn: the liquid, the amount, and if it has run. Those answers settle this work, and you hear our price on the phone, before anyone sets off.
Then that tank is drained and the system cleaned 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 doesn't rinse out on its own. Then comes the fuel filter — flushed, or swapped when needed — then clean diesel, and a test of your car. If the engine hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
Firing it up comes at the end. With fresh diesel in, it runs while our engineers confirm it's running smoothly, and then we head off. Our engineers do the entire job where the car is, and permanent damage is very uncommon when it has been caught quickly. Payment comes that day, never upfront. For your insurer, you get a VAT invoice plus a written report from the engineer. Many policies include misfuelling, and so look at yours while the van travels.
About Coalpit Hill, briefly
Coalpit Hill is a locality in Staffordshire, situated inland at an elevation of 198 metres, approximately 5.4 miles from Stoke-on-Trent. Coalpit Hill is characterised by its predominantly detached housing stock, reflecting its residential nature. Coalpit Hill sits near several nearby places, including Talke, Hollins, and Butt Lane, in the West Midlands region.
Coalpit Hill and Staffordshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Coalpit Hill is a small village, and the same teams that cover it work the places around it too, Hollins and Butt Lane among them, across the ST postcode area. Fastest of all: a ST7 1 postcode to show where you stand.
Central Coalpit Hill or a layby near Clough Hall Recreation Ground: either way it sits, your vehicle never needs to shift at all for us. The drain is done on the spot. Awkward to pin down? Close to Affinity Staffordshire or a county line? Checking is better than guessing, and so phone.
The one-line version
Not run yet: keep the car off then ring. Already run: stop, switch off and ring. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there around Coalpit Hill and anywhere around Staffordshire on 0333 366 0103.