AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Easter Pencaitland, and What to Do Next
All of that turns on a single fact: whether your engine has started after the AdBlue went in — far more than anything else. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether the car is around Easter Pencaitland itself or out in West Saltoun. Usually that means emptying and properly rinsing it on the spot around Easter Pencaitland — and so keep the key and motor off and call 0333 366 0103. Stop the moment it is safe and switch off, if it has been run. The job is bigger, yet the first step is the same.
Match your case to a situation from the ones below, wherever across East Lothian you happen to be.
Easter Pencaitland forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Just at this point, nozzle yet in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you took off was the wrong one, right at the petrol pump. It could be the Gulf, or perhaps the UK Petroleum, or another forecourt around Easter Pencaitland.
Put simply: there is no better place to be to spot it. Only your tank holds AdBlue; not one component past it has taken it in.
What to do: do not get back in and crank it to clear the petrol pump. Have the attendants to help rolling it to a space, save the bottle, then phone us from there. The equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a live forecourt, and so a car that can't be pushed clear gets drained where it is at the petrol pump.
At home in Easter Pencaitland with AdBlue in your diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look once more at the cap. It takes place on driveways just off The Glebe as regularly as anywhere.
Meaning? As long as your car has not been driven since, it's second to the forecourt case. Diesel and AdBlue stay apart: the AdBlue settles to the floor of your tank and remains there, however long it waits.
Next: keys indoors, and so nobody drives your car anywhere at breakfast. After that, phone. Our engineers drain the vehicle on your drive, whether that's around Easter Pencaitland or out in Wester Pencaitland. Night-time empties beside a house are no problem: the pumps are low-noise.
Easter Pencaitland: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
A short way after topping up, the engine started playing up: roughness, smoke, lost power, warnings on your dash. It might have been heading to Edinburgh, under 15 miles away, or just along The Green.
What it means: the fuel system has drawn the AdBlue in. Mileage decides how deep it gets: filter and pipework first, then the high-pressure pump and each injector. It goes deeper with each mile covered and each restart.
Next: pick a safe place, stop, then switch your engine off. Exit by the next junction — not the services further along — if you are on the M8, under 25 miles from Easter Pencaitland. Starting it again to check achieves nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear itself. Ring us and say how far you travelled.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
It's a car you have had for a week. The AdBlue filler is right alongside the diesel one, which you did not know, because your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. It can happen to anyone, anywhere around East Lothian.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it's run, with one more stage. The owner often has to sign off any work, under many hire and fleet agreements.
Do this: rental firm or fleet manager first, us next, because sorting it early cuts time. If you are stuck in the car park at Prestonpans, or by Pencaitland Parish Church, whilst you wait for an answer, leave your car off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Easter Pencaitland?
"I think so" is often the most honest answer there is. A slight ammonia whiff lingers near the filler, the bottle feels too light, and which cap came off is a blur. Possibly it happened in a hurry at the school gates at the local primary school, or on a friend's drive in Peaston Bank.
Put simply: a spill near the filler does your engine unharmed. A diesel tank with AdBlue in it is a different story. If there is AdBlue in that tank, starting the vehicle will suck it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Do this: act as though it did, and don't start your motor. Phone and give the details: we'd rather find a clean tank than drain one after the engine has run.
Easter Pencaitland: what each AdBlue drain has in common
The job begins identically, whichever the situation. Three things come once our technicians reach your car — on a forecourt, a driveway, a street by Pencaitland War Memorial or the car park at Winton Arms: the fluid, the quantity, and whether it has run. Those replies decide the work, and you hear the price by phone, before anybody heads out.
A thorough flush comes after the drain. With petrol it's routine; with AdBlue it's crucial, because crystals build up and some metals are attacked, and neither washes away unaided. Next comes the fuel filter — cleaned, or swapped where needed — followed by fresh diesel, and a test of your car. If the motor has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Our engineers start the car last. We make sure it runs smoothly on new diesel before we leave. Lasting damage is very unusual if it's noticed early, and the entire job is done where your car is. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, nothing in advance. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Easter Pencaitland itself
Easter Pencaitland is a village in East Lothian, situated on the banks of a river at an elevation of around 90 metres. Easter Pencaitland lies approximately 12 miles east of Edinburgh and is part of a wider network of settlements including Wester Pencaitland and Pencaitland. Easter Pencaitland has a population of around 685 people, predominantly living in detached houses. Easter Pencaitland is located near the rural area of Boggs Holdings.
AdBlue drains round Easter Pencaitland and across East Lothian
Over EH postcodes, the vans serving Easter Pencaitland — a village — reach nearby towns as well, Pencaitland and Boggs Holdings among them. The location is clearest from a postcode that starts EH34 5.
Parked heading to The Green, or right in the centre of Easter Pencaitland, the car stays where it is — there's no need to shift it anywhere. The van empties it in place. Assuming won't help beside Mercat Cross, on a county line or anywhere hard to pin down; ring and check.
In one line: your scenario
Not run yet: keep it off and ring. Run already: pull over, switch down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, in Easter Pencaitland or wherever in East Lothian.