AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Gawsworth, and What to Do Next
One thing matters most once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is whether the motor has run since. Out in Lower Pexhill or here around Gawsworth, an unstarted engine must stay that way. Phone 0333 366 0103 with your ignition and engine still off. Across Gawsworth, such a case is typically emptied and flushed where it stands. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. The job is bigger, but the first stage is the same.
Match what happened to a situation from the ones below, anywhere around Cheshire you happen to be.
Gawsworth forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Just now, nozzle yet in your hand, you realise that the cap you opened was the wrong one, right at the petrol pump. Perhaps you are at the Shell, perhaps at the another forecourt nearby, maybe somewhere else around Gawsworth.
Put simply: there is no better place exists to spot it. Just your tank holds AdBlue; not one part beyond it has drawn any in.
Clearing the pump is no excuse to start it — so do not get back in. Three things: a shove into a bay with the staff assisting, the bottle kept, and a call to us from the forecourt. Emptying it right at the pump is possible when it can't be moved, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home in Gawsworth with AdBlue in your diesel tank
On your dash, a reminder had been lit all week. A bottle bought at the garage, emptied in at the drive — and it's just by the recycling that the cap got a second look. Drives near Church Lane see it as much as anywhere.
Meaning? As long as your vehicle hasn't been driven since, it is second to the pump case. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Next: stop any early-morning move by keeping the keys in the house, then phone us. Your drive is where it gets emptied, be it around Gawsworth or Warren. Even at night, the pumps stay quiet enough for a residential street.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel around Gawsworth?
Lumpy running, smoke, lost power or a glowing dashboard started a mile or two after the top-up. It might have been heading for Stoke-on-Trent, under 15 miles away, or just down Forge Close.
Meaning? Your fuel pump has taken the AdBlue up. It's been through the fuel filter and the fuel lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and the injectors. Every restart, like every mile, carries it deeper.
Do this: pull up anywhere sensible, then switch your engine off. Gawsworth sits under 10 miles from the M6; there, pull off at the next junction instead of pressing on to the services. It won't have cleared, and so there is no sense starting it again to find out. About what distance did it go? Tell us when you call.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
It's a motor you have had for a week. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is missing or somewhere else. On this one, its cap is just by the diesel inlet — a surprise to you. Anywhere you happen to be across Cheshire, every driver could be caught.
The upshot: just as above, split by if it ran, only with an added stage. The owner often has to sign off the work, under plenty of rental and company contracts.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's faster settled before our engineers get there than after. If you're stranded in the car park outside Macclesfield, or by Gawsworth Village Sign, while you wait for an answer, leave the vehicle off.
Gawsworth: unsure if it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
"I think so" is often as honest as it gets. A faint ammonia-like whiff lingers near your filler, the bottle feels too light, and which cap came off is hard to recall. A hurried stop by the gates of Gawsworth Primary School, or a call to a friend in Highlane: either fits.
The upshot: the motor isn't harmed by some AdBlue spilled around the filler. A diesel tank with AdBlue inside is another story. If there is AdBlue in that tank, firing up the car will pull it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Next: act as though it went in, and keep your motor off. Phone with the details: we would sooner confirm a clean tank than drain one once the motor has been run.
Gawsworth: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Each situation gets the same opening to the work. Our engineers come to your car, whether it's on a forecourt, a driveway, the car park at Harrington Arms or a side street close to Gawsworth Village Hall, and ask three things: what got in, roughly how much, and whether your engine has been run. The price comes over the phone, ahead of anyone setting off, and those answers shape the work.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to some metals in fuel systems, so it won't wash out unaided; that's why the flush, after this drain, counts far more here than with petrol. Then comes the filter — flushed, or swapped when needed — then clean diesel, and a test of your car. The majority of unrun cars are a half-hour job after the moment our technicians turn up.
Our technicians fire it up at the end. Before our technicians go, it's tested to confirm it runs smoothly on fresh diesel. The whole job is done where your car is, and if it's noticed early, lasting damage is very unusual. Nothing is paid upfront, payment is made on the day, and you receive what the insurer asks for: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Check your insurance before we arrive: misfuelling cover is built into plenty of policies.
About Gawsworth, for a moment
Gawsworth is a small village in Cheshire, situated inland at an elevation of around 150 metres, with detached housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Gawsworth lies approximately 14 miles from Stoke-on-Trent and is surrounded by nearby places such as Warren, Moss Houses, and Danes Moss. Gawsworth has a population of around 676 residents, and its rural setting provides a quiet environment for those living there. Gawsworth is also relatively far from London, at a distance of approximately 147 miles.
Gawsworth and Cheshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Being a rural village, Gawsworth shares its vans with the surrounding towns — Danes Moss, Moss Houses — right through SK postcodes. Quickest of all: a SK11 9 postcode for where you stand.
Whether the car is on a lay-by on the way to Gawsworth Park or in a car park in the middle of Gawsworth, it does not need to shift. We drain the vehicle where it is. Guessing won't help beside St James' Church, Gawsworth, on a border or somewhere hard to describe; ring and check.
Your situation, in one line
Where it has not started, ring and leave it off. Run by now: pull over, power down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, in Gawsworth or anywhere across Cheshire.