Don't Start It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Gauldry
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Then keep your engine off — and your ignition too. Urea dissolved in water is all AdBlue is. Not like fuel, it neither ignites nor blends, and nothing happens until the engine pulls it round. Caught before the engine has been run, AdBlue in a diesel tank is normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Gauldry. Nothing comes before ringing 0333 366 0103.
Those opening minutes: AdBlue in your diesel tank in Gauldry
Do:
- Keys out — that way nobody can power anything on.
- Put the hazard lights on if you're anywhere close to moving traffic.
- Which fluid, and roughly how much volume? Save the bottle or your receipt, and our technicians will know.
- Ring us from where you are. A postcode starting DD6 8, or the name of the nearest street, gets the van to you without a search.
Things not to do:
- Shifting your vehicle even a short way is no reason to fire up the motor.
- Do not switch the ignition on. On plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump.
- No extra fuel added. The AdBlue will not mix, so it is wasted.
- Never drive the car anywhere, not even a short stretch along Main Road.
- Beside the road, do not try emptying it on your own.
The attendants on duty at any Gauldry forecourt — the Shell included — will usually help pushing it clear if you ask. At home, the vehicle stays exactly where it is.
What does AdBlue do in a diesel tank?
AdBlue is made for the exhaust, not your engine. Its own reservoir keeps it, and from there it is sprayed into the exhaust, and there it treats the gas. A fuel pump is not designed to take it, and AdBlue was never intended to travel through one.
Inside a diesel tank it acts very differently from fuel. It does not mix in. The pickup takes fuel from the deepest part of your tank, and that's just where AdBlue ends up: as it is denser than diesel, it sinks. A car topped up on a driveway in Balmerino overnight and not started since counts as the simple case. No pump has sucked the AdBlue up so far — though once your motor turns, that's what is pulled first, directly from the bottom of that tank.
Two kinds of damage come from there. Crystals and corrosion. As the water dries, it strands urea that hardens in filter elements and tiny passages; and, because it attacks some metals, each part it touches suffers for as long as it remains inside. Where the AdBlue has reached the lines, waiting overnight in Gauldry makes things worse. Inside the tank alone, waiting does nothing. And there is the water: it offers no protection to the components that rely on it most — the injection pump and each injector.
AdBlue in a diesel: why it's commonly worse than petrol
Top up a diesel with petrol in error at the Tesco, and this problem is thinned fuel. Damage just comes from running on it. Mixed into your diesel and sitting inside that tank, it does none.
AdBlue in a diesel is a fault of the wrong substance altogether. Because it doesn't burn, running it through isn't an option. Whether your car sits in Kilmany or the centre of Gauldry, turning it over "to see" costs more in this case than nearly any other slip, and the flush matters more. Why: it won't remain mixed, so watering it down is impossible; and deposits and corrosion outlast the following fill.
As with petrol, there is good news. Emptying a tank is the simplest job on a fuel system, and with no start-up, the AdBlue remains in it — anywhere across Fife your vehicle has stopped.
AdBlue in a diesel tank around Gauldry: how it ends up there
No one means to do it. The AdBlue filler on plenty of cars waits right next to your diesel filler, at times under the same flap, and the two caps can look alike in poor light. Usually it is not the filling station: a driver buys a bottle driving home and pours it in at home.
A couple of familiar ways cover most cases. The refill is rushed outside the local primary school, after your dash flashed with a warning as the kids were taken in. A bottle is poured in at the end of the day on a drive just off Cherry Grove. Or someone new to that flap refills your car after dark, stopped in the car park outside Gauldry Arms.
The least familiar vehicles get it most — hire cars, new ones, fleet ones, and the spare vehicle in a family with both fuels. An identical mistake, an identical first response — keep it off — anywhere you happen to be in Gauldry or the remainder of Fife.
Already started your engine with AdBlue in the diesel tank in Gauldry?
In that case, the AdBlue is no longer inside that tank. Via your filter, along the pipework, and — given any running — on to the injection pump and every injector: that is where it has gone.
Rough running, smoke, dropping power, dashboard warnings or cutting out: each may appear, maybe part way across Gauldry or coming back from Duncan Park. No restarting to check: stop once safe, then turn everything off. Each start pulls more of that through.
Gauldry sits under 15 miles from the M90; if you were on it, exit at the next junction and pull up somewhere safe instead of driving on.
Distance matters: each mile pushes the AdBlue deeper in, so driving towards Dundee, under 5 miles away, gives a much larger job than crossing Gauldry to the car park by Morison Duncan Hall. Roughly how far had it come? Tell us.
Wherever the vehicle came to a stop is where all of it gets done, even with more to clean out after your engine has been running. Very seldom does it leave long-term damage when it's caught quickly.
What emptying AdBlue from a diesel involves around Gauldry
The vehicle remains put, whether that is a road near Naughton House, a driveway, a lay-by or a filling station in Gauldry, and our van travels to it. The work rests on three replies, and our engineers get before all else — which fluid was put in, the amount, and whether the motor has run.
The contaminated diesel and the urea leave as one after the tank is emptied, right there. Residue from AdBlue won't wash out by itself, so the fuel system gets a full flush, which counts much more here than for petrol. After that, your filter: cleaned, or replaced when it has to be. After that clean diesel, then a check of your vehicle. Engine not run? Then expect about half an hour on site for most jobs. Low-noise enough to use outside a house at night, and fine on a busy forecourt, our pumps are explosion-proof.
The final step is to prime your system on fresh diesel. Firing it up comes next, and then you set off from where the vehicle is parked, at Dundee or on a driveway in Gauldry. Before we go, our technicians make sure it is running smoothly with new diesel in. Because the job is done in its entirety where the vehicle is, a workshop never comes into it. Insurers want a VAT invoice and an engineer report, and you get both afterwards.
About Gauldry, for a moment
Gauldry is a small village in Fife, situated on the coast near Dundee, with a mix of detached housing and scenic views. Gauldry sits at an elevation of 106 metres, looking out over the surrounding countryside and the sea. Gauldry is close to other nearby places such as Bottomcraig, Fincraigs, and Kirkton, and is within commuting distance of Dundee. Gauldry has a population of around 640 people, living in predominantly detached homes.
Gauldry and Fife: AdBlue drains across the area
Our teams that answer AdBlue jobs around Gauldry also cover the spots round it, Bottomcraig, Fincraigs and Kirkton among them, and most of Fife beyond, across the DD postcode area. Phone and check instead of guessing if you're by a county line, or anywhere tricky to pin down.
Anywhere the vehicle stands — your drive at home, a residential street, a parking area, a forecourt — our technicians drain it there, and there's no need to bring it to us; that suits Gauldry, a coastal village, well.
What AdBlue in a diesel tank costs to put right in Gauldry
Each job differs, and so no fixed price would be fair. The cost changes first with how long, if at all, the motor has been running, and next with the quantity of AdBlue that was put in. After that it rests on where your car is and whether a technician can reach it safely, which is easier on an open drive than in a tight gap behind Naughton Castle.
That is why every call from Gauldry starts with the same three questions, asked before giving a figure, not after: what got in, how much, and if it has run. When those are answered, a range turns into one firm number.
You get that quote on the phone, before anybody sets off, and you pay on the day, by card or over the phone, with nothing upfront. Look at your insurance while we are on the way: plenty carry misfuelling cover.
Gauldry: still next to the vehicle?
Right now, the most helpful thing to do with your car is to leave it. Ignition off, motor off, keys out. Phone 0333 366 0103 and tell us it is AdBlue, about how much, and whether it's run. Petrol in Diesel takes it from there, in Gauldry or anywhere across Fife.