AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Garthdee: What Now?
One thing counts above all once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is if your engine has been started afterwards. Not run so far? Then leave the vehicle like that, wherever your vehicle is — Garthdee or Seafield. Phone 0333 366 0103 with the ignition and motor both off. In Garthdee, that is typically emptied and cleaned on the spot. When your engine has been run, pull in somewhere safe first, then switch it off. A bigger job, then, but the same opening move.
Below: the situations our technicians meet, anywhere in Aberdeen City. Pick the one that fits.
At the petrol pump around Garthdee: AdBlue in a diesel
Picture it: stood by the pump, holding the nozzle, you spot the filler you took off wasn't the right one. It could be the Sainsbury's, or the Asda, or a different forecourt in Garthdee.
Meaning? Finding out on the forecourt is the best it can be. Still in the tank, with nothing drawn onwards: that's where the AdBlue sits.
Next: resist the temptation to fire it up just to free up the pump. Ask the attendants to help you roll the car into a parking bay, keep the receipt or the bottle, and call us from the forecourt. The equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a live forecourt, so a car that cannot be pushed away gets cleared right at the pump.
At home around Garthdee with AdBlue in the diesel tank
Several days had passed with the dash light on. Only by the recycling, the empty bottle in hand, did you look back at the cap you had used at the driveway. Homes just off Ramsay Crescent get hit as often as anywhere else.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. Being reluctant to blend, AdBlue settles low inside that tank and waits. One night standing alters nothing.
Keep the keys in the house overnight — or someone might take it off first thing — then phone us. We drain the vehicle on your driveway, whether that is around Garthdee or out in Kaimhill. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
On the road around Garthdee with AdBlue in a diesel
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later your motor began to run unevenly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Garthdee Drive, say, or the route to Aberdeen — a run of under 3 miles.
What it means: the fuel system has pulled the AdBlue in. Distance decides how deep it goes: filter and pipework to begin with, then the high-pressure pump and each injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Stop somewhere safe — that is the first step — then turn everything off. Garthdee lies over 50 miles from the M90; on it, come off at the first junction instead of pushing on for the services. Don't restart the car to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Tell us know the distance covered when you ring.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company motors
A week ago, the car was new to you. Your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere, and so no one warned you the AdBlue inlet was right beside your diesel. Wherever you are across Aberdeen City, any driver can be caught.
In short: one extra step on top of the cases above, which depend on whether it has run. Many hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on the vehicle.
Next: phone the rental company or the fleet manager first, then us — sorting it before we arrive is faster. Stuck near Saint Francis of Assisi Catholic Church or at Aberdeen until the firm replies, the vehicle remains switched off the whole time.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Garthdee?
"I think so" is often the most honest answer there is. Which cap came off, you can't say; meanwhile the bottle weighs less than it ought to, and ammonia lingers by the filler. Perhaps it happened in a hurry at the school gates at the local primary school, or on a friend's drive in Ruthrieston.
Meaning? Drips outside the inlet never reach your engine at all. In your diesel tank, however, AdBlue damages it. If there is AdBlue in your tank, firing up the vehicle will suck it in, and it would not tell you which either.
What to do: treat it as if it got in. Don't crank it. Ring with the details: we would rather confirm a tank free of AdBlue than drain one after the motor has run.
What each AdBlue drain in Garthdee has in common
Whichever scenario you are in, the job starts the same way. Filling station, driveway, Brig 'O' Dee's car park or a road beside Inchgarth Community Centre — our van comes to the car, and three questions come next: which fluid, what quantity, and if it has run. Your price is given over the phone, ahead of anyone setting off, and the answers set the job.
A thorough flush comes after the drain. With petrol it is routine; with AdBlue it's crucial, because deposits form and certain metals are attacked, and none of that washes away unaided. Then is the filter — cleaned, or swapped when needed — then clean diesel, and a test of the vehicle. Not started? In that case about half an hour once we are there is most jobs.
Firing it up comes last. Before our technicians head off, it's tested to be sure it runs properly on new diesel. Permanent damage is very unusual when it's caught early, and the entire job is done where the vehicle is. Nothing is paid upfront, payment is made on the day, and you receive what your insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Check your insurance while we arrive: cover for misfuelling comes included in many policies.
About Garthdee, briefly
Garthdee is a suburban area in Aberdeen City, situated near the coast and approximately 2.4 miles from Aberdeen city centre. Garthdee has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are predominant in the area. Garthdee sits at an elevation of 34 metres, overlooking the surrounding landscape. Garthdee is close to nearby places such as Kaimhill, Braeside, and Mannofield.
AdBlue drains around Garthdee and across Aberdeen City
Being a residential suburb, Garthdee has the same vans as the surrounding towns — Mannofield, Braeside — right through AB postcodes. Telling us your AB10 7 postcode pins you fastest of all.
Central Garthdee or a layby towards Aberdeenshire Cricket Club: either way it is, the car doesn't need to shift an inch for us. Where it sits, that is where it gets cleared. If you're somewhere hard to describe, near RGU SPORT or close to a boundary, ring and ask rather than assuming.
Your scenario, summed up
Not run yet: keep the car off and ring. Already run: stop, switch off then ring. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there in Garthdee and anywhere in Aberdeen City on 0333 366 0103.