AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Crooke, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: whether the engine has been run since it was put in. Wherever the car is — Beech Hill, Crooke — never start an engine that has not run yet. Phone 0333 366 0103 with the key and motor both off. In Crooke, such a case is typically emptied and flushed on the spot. Already started? Pull over once you safely can, then turn it off. The job is bigger, but the first stage is the same.
Match your case to a situation from the ones below, wherever in Greater Manchester you are.
On a Crooke forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Picture it: stood by the pump, holding the bottle, you spot the cap you opened was not the correct one. Somewhere around Crooke, then — BP, Esso, or somewhere else close by.
In short: no better spot to be to discover it. Only that tank holds AdBlue; no part beyond it has taken any in.
What to do: don't get back in and start the vehicle to clear the pump. A few jobs: a shove into a bay with the staff helping, the receipt kept, and a call to us from the forecourt. Our equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt, so a vehicle that cannot be pushed clear gets cleared where it is at the petrol pump.
Crooke, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
On the dash, a reminder had shown all week. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the driveway, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look again at the cap. Right off St Christopher Court is no different from any other place.
Put simply: if the vehicle hasn't been driven since, it is nearly as good as spotting it at the forecourt. At the bottom of that tank is where AdBlue waits, since it won't blend with diesel — and a night going by changes nothing of the difference.
Next: the keys in the house, so nobody drives your car anywhere at breakfast. Then, ring. Your driveway is where it gets drained, whether in Crooke or Standish Lower Ground. Night-time drains beside a house are no problem: the pumps are low-noise.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel around Crooke?
Topped up, pulled away, and soon the motor was running roughly, smoking, losing power, or lighting up your dash. Possibly it was on Princess Road, perhaps on the way out towards Preston, under 15 miles away.
What it means: your fuel system has drawn the AdBlue in. The injection pump and every injector get it as well on a longer trip, once your filter and pipework have had it. It travels further with every extra mile driven and each restart.
What to do: pull over where it is safe to do so and switch off. Crooke sits under 3 miles from the M6; on it, pull off at the next junction rather than pressing on to the services. Restarting it to check gets nothing — AdBlue never clears itself. Roughly what distance had it go? Tell us when you phone.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company motors
A week back, it was new to you. Your own car either does without AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere, and so no one warned you the AdBlue inlet sits just beside the diesel. Any driver, anywhere across Greater Manchester, might make it.
Meaning? Whatever case above counts too — run or unrun — plus one extra stage. Many hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on the vehicle.
Your move: rental firm or your fleet manager to begin with, us second, because sorting it early cuts time. Hanging on for an answer at the car park outside Gathurst, or beside Wigan Athletic Community Trust? Keep your engine off meanwhile.
Crooke: unsure if it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Occasionally the honest answer is "I 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. The gates of Standish Lower Ground St Anne's CofE Primary School in a hurry, say, or a friend's drive out in Marsh Green.
Put simply: spillage round your filler does the motor no harm. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. If there is AdBlue in your tank, turning on the vehicle will suck it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Take it that it went in, and never turn the engine. Inspecting a tank that turns out free of AdBlue is better than emptying one once it has been run — so ring and describe to us what you saw.
What each AdBlue drain in Crooke has in common
Whatever the situation, one opening is used. Forecourt, driveway, Crooke Hall Inn's car park or a street beside John Taylor's Pit War Memorial — the van comes to the car, and three answers come next: what fluid, which quantity, and if it ran. On the phone, ahead of dispatch, you hear our price, and those answers decide the work too.
AdBlue crystallises and eats at some metals in fuel systems, so it does not wash out on its own; that's why a full flush, after the drain, counts far more with AdBlue than with petrol. Last come your filter, cleaned or replaced if necessary; clean diesel; and a check of your vehicle. Where your engine hasn't run, expect about half an hour once we arrive, for most jobs.
We fire it up at the end. Before our technicians leave, it's tested to be sure it runs properly on new diesel. The entire job is done where the car is, and when it's spotted quickly, long-term damage is very unusual. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Dig out your insurance before we're en route: misfuelling cover comes included in many policies.
About Crooke itself
Crooke is a small village in Greater Manchester, situated on the riverside at a low elevation of 32 metres. Crooke lies near the towns of Standish and Wigan, with nearby places including Standish Lower Ground, Martland Mill, and Gathurst. Crooke has a population of approximately 739 people, predominantly living in semi-detached housing. Crooke is located 13.7 miles from Preston and 177.8 miles from London.
Crooke and Greater Manchester: AdBlue drains across the area
Crooke is a village, and the same teams that cover it work the places around it too, Martland Mill and Gathurst among them, across the WN postcode area. Your whereabouts is quickest from a postcode beginning WN6 8.
Central Crooke or a layby towards Coronation Park: wherever it is, your car never needs to shift at all for this drain. Wherever it stands, that's where it is cleared. If you are somewhere hard to explain, close to St Bernadette's or close to a boundary, ring and ask instead of guessing.
Your situation, in one line
Motor not started: ring, and leave it alone. Run already? Stop, turn off, phone. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest whatever case, in Crooke and Greater Manchester, on 0333 366 0103.