AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Freshfield: What Now?
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: if the motor has run since it went in. Out in Great Altcar or here in Freshfield, an unstarted motor should remain that way. Switch nothing on, phone 0333 366 0103, then count on a thorough flush plus a drain, done right where your vehicle sits around Freshfield. When the motor has been run, pull in somewhere safe straight away, then turn the vehicle off. A larger job, then, but the same opening move.
Compare your case to one of the list below, anywhere in Merseyside you happen to be.
At the petrol pump in Freshfield: AdBlue in a diesel
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. Perhaps you are at the the nearest petrol station, maybe at the EG On the Move, maybe somewhere else in Freshfield.
The upshot: of every spot to notice, the forecourt is the best. Only your tank has AdBlue; no part past it has drawn it in.
What to do: do not get back in and fire it up to clear the pump. Have the staff to help pushing it into a space, hold on to the bottle, then phone us from there. The equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a live forecourt, and so a vehicle that can't be pushed away gets drained right at the pump.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Freshfield drive?
For days the dashboard had been nagging you. Only at the recycling bin, the empty bottle in your hand, did you glance back at the cap you'd used on the drive. It takes place on drives just off Victoria Road as commonly as anywhere.
Put simply: if your car has not moved since, it's almost equal to finding out at the forecourt. At the bottom of your tank is where AdBlue stays, because it will not mix with diesel — and a night going by changes nothing of the difference.
Keep your keys indoors overnight — or a person might drive it off first thing — and call us. Formby or Freshfield: wherever your driveway is, that is where it is drained. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel around Freshfield?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later the motor began to run unevenly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Anywhere on Freshfield Road or heading to Liverpool — under 15 miles away.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been pulled through the fuel system. It has been through the filter and the lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure pump and your injectors. It goes further with each mile driven and each restart.
Next: find a sensible spot, pull in, then turn the motor off. Service stations further along are too far: on the M58, under 10 miles out of Freshfield, take the first junction. No test restarts: clearing is not something AdBlue will do. Tell us know the distance driven as you ring.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You have had this vehicle barely a week. Unbeknown to you, the two fillers sit next to each other here — unlike your own car, which has no AdBlue or stores it in another spot. Anywhere you are around Merseyside, any driver can be caught.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it has run, with one more step. Any work on your car frequently requires the owner's go-ahead under rental or fleet agreements.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's faster settled before our technicians get there than after. If you're stuck in the car park outside the nearest station, or by St Peter's Church, while you wait for an answer, leave your car off.
Freshfield: unsure whether it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Occasionally the honest answer is "I think so". The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia around the filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. A rushed top-up by the gates of Trinity St Peter's CofE Primary School, or a visit to a friend in Ainsdale-on-Sea: both fit.
What it means: a little spilled around the filler does no harm to your engine. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. If there is AdBlue in your tank, firing up the car will pull it in, and it would not tell you which either.
What to do: treat it as if it was put in. Don't start the vehicle. Ring us and explain what you saw; we would rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
Freshfield: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Each situation gets the same start to the job. We come to the car, whether it's at a forecourt, a driveway, the car park at Beer Station or a side street near Formby Little Theatre, and ask three things: what went in, about how much, and whether the motor has run. The price is given on the call, ahead of anyone setting off, and those answers shape the work.
Emptying that tank comes first, followed by a full flush — more important after urea than after petrol, because crystals and corrosion won't clear by themselves, however long you wait. Last come the fuel filter, cleaned or renewed if necessary; clean diesel; and a check of your car. Where the engine has not run, expect about half an hour once we arrive, for most cases.
We start the car last. With clean diesel in, it runs while we confirm it is running correctly, and then we head off. If it's caught quickly, the vehicle very rarely has long-term damage, and the entire job takes place where it is. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, no money in advance. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Freshfield itself
Freshfield is a coastal suburban area in Merseyside, situated near the town of Formby and approximately 11.5 miles from Liverpool. Freshfield has a relatively low elevation of around 13 metres above sea level, and its population is predominantly housed in detached properties. Freshfield is also close to other nearby places such as Little Altcar and Woodvale, and is about 188.4 miles northwest of London.
AdBlue drains around Freshfield, and across Merseyside too
Little Altcar and Woodvale have the identical teams as Freshfield, a residential suburb, plus other places over L postcodes. The whereabouts comes clearest from a postcode beginning L37 1.
Central Freshfield or a lay-by near Formby Ladies Golf Club: either way it is, the vehicle doesn't need to move at all for us. Where it sits, that's where it is cleared. Ring and ask instead of guessing when you're close to Holy Trinity Church, near a boundary, or anywhere tricky to explain.
Your situation, in one line
Unstarted? Leave the car off then phone. Whatever case fits, Petrol in Diesel handles the rest on 0333 366 0103, across Merseyside and in Freshfield — after you pull over, turn off and phone, if it has run.