AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Endon: What Now?
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: whether the motor has been run since it got in. Over in Stanley Moor or here around Endon, an unstarted motor should remain that way. Keep nothing on, call 0333 366 0103, then expect a proper flush plus a drain, done just where the car sits in Endon. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. A bigger job, then, yet the same opening move.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever across Staffordshire it happened.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Endon forecourt
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you just notice it while you're stood at the pump, bottle or nozzle in hand. Be it Esso, Shell or anywhere else in Endon, the situation is identical.
Meaning? Finding out here is the best it gets. Only your tank has AdBlue; no component past it has drawn it in.
What to do: do not get back in and crank it to clear the petrol pump. Ask the attendants to help you push the vehicle into a parking spot, keep the receipt or the bottle, and ring us from the forecourt. Draining it there at the petrol pump is fine when it cannot be moved, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
Endon, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
On the dash, a reminder had shown for days. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the driveway, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look a second time at the cap. Homes just off Clay Lake get caught out as much as anywhere else.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue stay separate: the AdBlue settles to the base of your tank and stays there, however long it waits.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so no one moves your car in the morning. Then ring. We drain it on your driveway, whether that's in Endon or out in Endon Bank. Even at night, our pumps are quiet enough for a driveway.
On the road in Endon with AdBlue in a diesel
Topped up, drove away, and soon your engine was turning unevenly, smoking, losing power, or flashing up the dash. Station Road, perhaps, or the route to Stoke-on-Trent — a run of under 5 miles.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been sucked through your fuel system. It has been through the fuel filter and the fuel lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and your injectors. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Next: find a sensible spot, pull in, then switch your engine off. Leave at the first junction — not the services further along — if you're on the M6, under 10 miles from Endon. Starting it again to test gets nothing — AdBlue never clears itself. Call us and say how far you travelled.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You've had this car barely a week. Unbeknown to you, the two inlets sit side by side here — not like your own vehicle, which has no AdBlue or stores it elsewhere. Anywhere you happen to be around Staffordshire, any driver can be caught.
The upshot: exactly as above, divided by if it ran, but with an added step. The owner often needs to approve any work, under many hire and fleet contracts.
Your move: rental firm or fleet manager first, us second, since sorting it beforehand saves time. Stranded by Endon Methodist Church or outside Longport until the firm answers, your vehicle remains switched off throughout.
Endon: unsure whether it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
"I think so" is often the most honest as it gets. Lighter, that bottle; a hint of ammonia near the filler; a hazy memory of the cap. Sound familiar? Possibly it happened in a hurry at the school gates at St Luke's CofE Academy Endon, or on a friend's drive in Stockton Brook.
The point: your motor isn't hurt by some AdBlue spilled on the outside. Once it is inside your diesel tank, though, it does. If there is AdBlue in your tank, turning on the car would suck it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Next: assume it got in, then keep the engine off. Checking a tank that turns out free of AdBlue beats emptying one after it has been run — so ring then tell us what you noticed.
What each AdBlue drain around Endon has in common
Whichever situation you are in, this job starts the same way. Filling station, driveway, The Plough's car park or a road by Endon Saint Luke's — our van reaches the vehicle, and three questions come next: which liquid, what quantity, and whether it ran. Answers set the work; the quote follows on the call while nobody has left yet.
A thorough flush comes after this drain. With petrol it is standard; with AdBlue it's crucial, because deposits build up and certain metals are attacked, and neither rinses out unaided. The fuel filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the car is tested. If the motor has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Last, our technicians start the car. Our engineers confirm it runs smoothly on new diesel before we leave. If it is caught soon, the car very rarely has long-term damage, and the whole job takes place where it is. Payment comes that day, never in advance. For your insurer, there is a VAT invoice and a written report from the engineer. Worth remembering: lots of insurers offer misfuelling cover, so a check of your policy while we travel pays.
About Endon and where it is
Endon is a village in Staffordshire, situated on the banks of a river at an elevation of 157 metres, with Endon being close to the city of Stoke-on-Trent, approximately 4.5 miles away. Endon has a population of around 1201 residents, with Endon predominantly featuring detached housing. Endon is located in the West Midlands region, about 137.1 miles from London.
AdBlue drains around Endon and across Staffordshire
Throughout ST postcodes, the vans covering Endon — a village — reach nearby places as well, Stanley Moss and Stanley included. A postcode starting ST9 9 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Parked heading to Endon Cricket Club, or bang in the centre of Endon, your vehicle remains where it is — there's no need to move it anywhere. Wherever it stands, that's where it gets emptied. Awkward to explain? Close to Railway Bridge Pivot or a county line? Asking beats guessing, so ring.
The one-line version
Unstarted? Leave it that way then phone. Run by now: pull over, power down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder, within Endon or anywhere across Staffordshire.