AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Croft, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if the engine has been run since it went in. Wherever the car stands — Kenyon, Croft — don't run a motor that hasn't been started yet. Leave your engine and your ignition off and phone 0333 366 0103; it's generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is in Croft. Stop the moment it is safe and turn off, if it has already run. It's a bigger job, yet stage one doesn't change.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever in Cheshire it happened.
Croft forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
You're at the petrol pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Possibly you are at the BP, possibly at the Asda, maybe somewhere else around Croft.
Meaning? Spotting it on the forecourt is as good as it gets. No pump has drawn it in, and so the AdBlue stays just inside your tank.
Next: avoid the temptation to fire it up just to free up the pump. Get the staff to lend a hand pushing it into a space, hold on to the receipt, then ring us from there. Our equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt, so a car that cannot be pushed away gets emptied where it is at the pump.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Croft drive?
For days the dash had been warning you. Picked up a bottle, tipped it in at home, binned the empty — and only then looked at the cap again, after the fact. Driveways near Kingsmead Court see it as much as anywhere.
Put simply: if the car has not been driven since, it is almost as good as finding out at the pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of that tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
Next: keys indoors, so nobody drives the vehicle off first thing. Then, ring. Your drive is where it gets emptied, be it in Croft or Little Town. Late-night drains outside a house are no problem: the pumps are low-noise.
Croft: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Rough running, smoke, lost power or a glowing dashboard started a short way beyond the fill. Somewhere on Lord Street or heading towards Salford — under 15 miles away.
The point: your system has drawn AdBlue in already. Through the fuel filter, along the lines, and — the further the distance — deeper into the high-pressure pump and every injector. Every restart, like every mile, carries it on.
Next: pick a sensible spot, stop, then switch the motor off. Leave by the next junction — not the services further along — if you are on the M6, under a mile from Croft. No test starts: clearing itself isn't something AdBlue will do. Ring us and say how far you travelled.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
It is a motor you have had for a week. Unbeknown to you, the two inlets sit side by side here — not like your own car, which has none or stores it elsewhere. Anyone, anywhere around Cheshire, might make it.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it has run, with one more stage. Plenty of hire and company agreements need the owner's sign-off before work.
Next: phone the rental company or your fleet manager first, then us — sorting it before our arrival is faster. Stuck near Croft Village Hall or outside Birchwood until someone answers, the vehicle remains turned off throughout.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank around Croft?
"I think so" is often as honest answer there is. Which cap was taken off, you can't recall; meanwhile the bottle weighs lighter than expected, and a whiff of ammonia hangs by your filler. A rushed stop by the gates of Croft Primary School, or a visit to a friend in Cinnamon Brow: either fit.
The upshot: the motor is not hurt by some AdBlue splashed on the outside. If it's inside your diesel tank, though, it does. If there is AdBlue in that tank, turning on your car would pull it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Next: act as though it went in, then leave the motor off. Phone and give what you saw: we would rather confirm a tank free of AdBlue than drain one after your engine has been run.
The common ground in every Croft AdBlue drain
No matter the case, a single start applies. Wherever your car stands — The Horseshoe Inn's car park, a road by Christ Church, a driveway, a filling station — our van gets there and we ask about the fluid, the amount, plus whether the motor has turned over. Answers set the work; the quote comes on the call while no one has left yet.
Then that tank is cleared and the fuel system cleaned thoroughly, which matters 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. Your filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. If your engine hasn't run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
Firing it up comes at the end. With new diesel in, it runs while our technicians confirm it's running smoothly, and then we go. Our engineers do the whole job where the vehicle is, and lasting damage is very unusual if it has been spotted soon. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Plenty of policies cover misfuelling, and so look at yours while the van travels.
About Croft, for a moment
Croft is a village in Cheshire, situated on the riverside at a low elevation of around 28 metres. Croft lies near several smaller settlements, including Little Town, New Lane End, and Wigshaw, and is within commuting distance of Salford, which is approximately 11 miles away. Croft has a population of around 862 people, predominantly living in semi-detached housing.
AdBlue drains round Croft and across Cheshire
As a village, Croft shares its vans with the surrounding places — Wigshaw, New Lane End — right across WA postcodes. A postcode starting WA3 7 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Central Croft or a lay-by towards Croft Playing Fields: wherever it is, your car doesn't need to shift an inch for us. We drain it where it sits. Ring and check instead of guessing if you're close to Church of Saint Lewis, on a boundary, or somewhere awkward to pin down.
Your scenario, summed up
Still unrun? Leave the car that way then phone. Run by now: pull over, switch down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder, in Croft or anywhere in Cheshire.