AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Drumbrae? Keep It Switched Off
If AdBlue has got into your diesel tank, keep your engine off and leave the ignition off. AdBlue is urea dissolved in water. As it is water-based, it won't burn and never combines with diesel; damage only comes once the pump starts pulling it. If the engine hasn't run yet, AdBlue in a diesel tank is usually drained and carefully purged where the vehicle stands around Drumbrae. Nothing comes before ringing 0333 366 0103.
AdBlue in the diesel tank around Drumbrae: the first few minutes
Things to do:
- So no one can turn your ignition on, take your keys away.
- Put your hazards on if you are anywhere near moving traffic.
- Which fluid, and roughly what amount? Save the bottle or your receipt, and we can see.
- The van locates you quickest with a postcode starting EH4 8, or just the name of a street close by, so phone from the spot.
Don't do these:
- Not even for a second, and not to shift the vehicle: your engine remains off.
- Your ignition remains off: on many diesels, switching it on is enough to run the fuel pump.
- Do not top up with diesel to thin it. AdBlue doesn't mix in diesel; it separates out.
- Leave it where it is rather than driving it anywhere, even a short stretch up Drum Brae North.
- Draining the tank yourself beside the road isn't worth trying.
Moving the car off the island is a job for staff to help with, whichever Drumbrae forecourt you are on, the Shell or any other. At home, the vehicle stays exactly as it is.
AdBlue in a diesel tank, and what it does there
The motor isn't what AdBlue is made for; the exhaust is. It goes into its own tank and is sprayed into the exhaust gas to clean it. Nothing in it is meant to pass through a fuel pump, and nothing in a fuel pump is made to handle it.
Fuel blends; AdBlue, after poured in, will not. Its behaviour is nothing like diesel's. It's heavier than diesel, so it sinks and collects at the bottom of your tank, which is where the pickup draws fuel from. A vehicle topped up on a driveway in Barnton overnight and not started since is the simple one. Nothing has sucked the AdBlue up yet — but once the engine turns, that is what goes first, directly from the bottom of the tank.
It does two kinds of damage from there. As its water goes, the urea left behind crystallises, and the crystals block filters and settle in fine passages. And it is corrosive to some of the metals a fuel system is made from, and so it keeps working on the components it gets to for as long as it stays there. Lines holding AdBlue spell damage overnight for a car parked in Drumbrae. Just inside the tank, it stays the same. And there's the water: it brings no lubrication to the parts that rely on it most — the high-pressure pump and each injector.
AdBlue in a diesel: why it's commonly worse than petrol
A problem of thin fuel is what you get after filling a diesel with petrol at the Tesco. No harm comes while it sits put, blended into your diesel — only once your engine works on it.
With AdBlue in a diesel, the liquid as such is plainly the wrong one. It cannot simply be run through, since it doesn't burn. Crystals and corrosion stay after the following fill, and AdBlue separates again out of your diesel, and so thinning it can't work. Hence the flush matters so much, and trying the engine "to see" costs more with AdBlue than almost any other mistake — in East Craigs or the heart of Drumbrae alike.
The good news is the same as with petrol. Wherever in City of Edinburgh the car has come to rest, an unstarted motor leaves the AdBlue yet inside the tank: the easiest part of a fuel system to clear.
How does AdBlue end up in a diesel tank around Drumbrae?
It's not deliberate. Many vehicles have the AdBlue cap alongside the diesel inlet, occasionally behind a single flap, and mixing them up is easy after dark. Mostly it takes place with a bottle bought on the way home and poured in on the drive, not at the pump.
The ways it happens are few and familiar. The top-up gets hurried outside the local primary school, after your dash flashed with a warning as the children were dropped in. Near Drum Brae Terrace, a driver tips a container in at home in the evening. Else, after dark by Mid Yoken Pub, your car is topped up by a driver opening that flap for the first time.
The least known vehicles see it the most — hire cars, brand-new cars, company cars, and the other vehicle of a home with one of each fuels. Leave it switched off: that is the first step to the same mistake, anywhere in Drumbrae or the rest of City of Edinburgh you happen to be.
Already started your engine with AdBlue in your diesel tank in Drumbrae?
In that case, the AdBlue is no longer inside your tank. The fuel filter and lines have had it pulled along, and any running takes it on to the high-pressure pump and each injector.
You may notice the engine running unevenly, smoking, losing power, showing warning lights or cutting out, maybe on the way back from Drum Brae Park or halfway across Drumbrae. When safe, stop then switch it off — without turning it on again to see. With each start, more of that is pulled through.
Exit the M8, under 3 miles from Drumbrae, at the first junction and park safely, rather than carrying on.
Each mile pushes the AdBlue deeper into the system. That is why crossing Drumbrae to park beside Drumbrae Leisure Centre and a drive of under 5 miles for Edinburgh are such distinct jobs. About how far it had come is worth telling us.
We do all of the flushing where the vehicle has ended up, and once your engine has run there is more of it. Lasting damage is very uncommon when it's noticed early.
Draining AdBlue in a diesel around Drumbrae: what it takes
The vehicle remains where it is, whether that is a road beside St Kentigern’s RC Church, a driveway, a layby or a forecourt around Drumbrae, and the van travels to it. Which fluid got in, about the quantity, plus whether your motor has been run: we ask before all else, because those decide the job.
The contaminated diesel and the urea leave together after that tank is emptied, on the spot. With AdBlue, more so than with petrol, flushing counts: the whole system is flushed all the way through because what remains won't flush away by itself. Next, the fuel filter: flushed, or changed when it must be. After that fresh diesel, then a check of the car. Most of these jobs are a half-hour job once our engineers get there, if your engine hasn't run. Explosion-proof pumps mean a busy forecourt sensible to work on, and they run quiet enough to spare the street at night.
Finally, the system is bled with clean diesel. You set off as soon as we have started it, and it makes no difference whether your car is on a drive in Drumbrae or in a space outside South Gyle. The check before we leave is that it runs smoothly on clean diesel. Since the job is done in full where your car is, a workshop never comes into it. You receive a VAT invoice and an engineer report later on, which is what insurers ask for.
About Drumbrae
Drumbrae is a suburban area in the City of Edinburgh, situated approximately 4.2 miles west of Edinburgh's city centre. Drumbrae occupies a coastal setting, with its elevation at around 75 metres above sea level. Drumbrae is characterised by predominantly flat-type housing and is located near other suburban areas such as Bughtlin and Clermiston.
Drumbrae and City of Edinburgh: AdBlue drains across the area
The vans that answer AdBlue calls around Drumbrae also cover the spots around it, Bughtlin, Clermiston and The Gyle among them, and most of City of Edinburgh beyond, across the EH postcode area. Guessing won't help close to a county line or anywhere tricky to describe; ring and check.
No moving is needed. In Drumbrae, a residential suburb, a mobile service works: the vehicle is drained on the spot, whether on a drive, a side street, a parking area or a forecourt.
What AdBlue in a diesel tank costs to put right in Drumbrae
Because the jobs vary, a single price wouldn't be fair. Whether the motor has been running, and for how long, comes first in what moves the cost. How much AdBlue got in comes next, and then the position of the car, because an open drive is simpler for a van to get to safely than a tight gap behind East Craigs Church Centre.
Which fluid went in, what quantity, plus whether it ran: every Drumbrae call opens by asking exactly those, before a quote, never afterwards. Those replies turn a range into a straight quote.
Priced by phone before the engineer heads out, it is settled on the day — card or phone, no deposit. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours while we are on the way.
In Drumbrae and still alongside the vehicle?
Then, do nothing — that is the best step available. Keys out; motor and ignition off. Ring 0333 366 0103 and tell us it's AdBlue, about how much, and whether it has run. Petrol in Diesel takes it from there, around Drumbrae or anywhere across City of Edinburgh.