What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Great Howarth
All of it turns on a single detail: whether the motor has started since the AdBlue went in — more than anything else. Anywhere your car is — Greengate, Great Howarth — don't start an engine that has not been started yet. Normally this means emptying and properly cleaning it right there around Great Howarth — so leave the ignition and engine off and phone 0333 366 0103. When your motor has been run, stop safely first, then switch the car off. The job is bigger, yet the first stage is the same.
Wherever in Greater Manchester it happened, one of the situations below fits yours.
On a Great Howarth forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
You're at the pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Be it Shell, Texaco or anywhere else around Great Howarth, the situation is identical.
What it means: this is the best spot to find out. The AdBlue is in the tank and nowhere else. Nothing has pulled it in.
Your move: stay out of the driver's seat, however much the pump wants freeing. Phone us from the forecourt after the car sits in a space — the attendants will help roll it — then keep the receipt. Our equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt, and so a car that can't be pushed clear gets drained where it is at the petrol pump.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Great Howarth drive?
Several days had passed with the warning light on. A bottle bought at the garage, emptied in at the drive — and it's just by the recycling that the cap caught your eye. Houses just off Wardle Road get hit as much as anywhere else.
Meaning? As long as the car has not moved since, it's close to the pump case. Diesel and AdBlue keep separate: the AdBlue settles to the base of the tank and remains put, however long the night.
Next: the keys in the house, so no one drives the car anywhere at breakfast. Then, phone. Out in Hurstead or right here around Great Howarth, the drain happens on your drive. Even at night, the pumps are quiet enough for a residential street.
On the road around Great Howarth with AdBlue in a diesel
A short way after filling up, your engine started playing up: roughness, smoke, lost power, lights on the dash. Anywhere along Kings Grove or on the road towards Manchester — under 15 miles away.
What it means: the system has sucked the AdBlue in. It's been through your filter and the lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors. Each restart, like every mile, pushes it deeper.
What to do: pull over where it is safe to do so then switch off. Great Howarth lies under 3 miles from the M62; on it, pull off at the next junction instead of pressing on to the services. No trial starts: clearing itself isn't something AdBlue does. Roughly what distance had it go? Tell us when you call.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You have had the vehicle barely a week. The AdBlue filler is right next to the diesel one, which you did not know, because your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Any driver, anywhere in Greater Manchester, might do it.
Put simply: one extra step on top of the cases above, which turn on whether it has run. Plenty of hire and company contracts need the owner's sign-off for work.
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. Stuck by Wardle War Memorial or at Smithy Bridge till someone answers, the car remains switched off the whole time.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank in Great Howarth?
Sometimes the fair answer is "I think so". What cap came off, you cannot say; meanwhile the bottle feels lighter than expected, and a whiff of ammonia lingers by the filler. A hurried top-up by the gates of Kentmere Primary Academy, or a visit to a friend in Howarth Cross: either fits.
The upshot: the engine is not hurt by a little AdBlue splashed around the outside. The diesel tank with AdBlue inside is a different story. You cannot tell which by turning the key, and doing so would draw in any AdBlue that is in your tank.
Assume it went in, and don't start the key. Call us and describe what you saw; we would rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
What each AdBlue drain in Great Howarth has in common
Whatever the situation, a single start applies. We come to the car, whether it's on a forecourt, a driveway, the car park outside The Bulls Head or a side street close to Smallbridge St John, and ask three things: what was put in, about how much, and if your engine has run. Those answers decide the work, and you get our quote by phone, before anyone heads out.
Emptying the tank comes next, then a full flush — more vital after urea than with petrol, since crystals and corrosion won't clear on their own, however long it sits. Fresh diesel goes in once the fuel filter is cleaned or replaced, and your car is then checked. Never started? In that case about half an hour on site covers most jobs.
The final step is starting the car. With fresh diesel in, it runs while our engineers confirm it is running properly, and then we go. The whole job is done where the car is, and when it's noticed early, long-term damage is very uncommon. Paying is that day, never upfront. For the insurer, you get a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. It is worth knowing: many insurers offer misfuelling cover, and so a quick look at your policy as we travel is worthwhile.
About Great Howarth, briefly
Great Howarth is a suburban area in Greater Manchester, situated near the riverside and surrounded by nearby places such as Hurstead and Smallbridge. Great Howarth has a population of approximately 4853 people and is characterized by predominantly terraced housing. Great Howarth sits at an elevation of 176 metres, within commuting distance of Manchester, which is 11.9 miles away.
AdBlue drains around Great Howarth and across Greater Manchester
Being a residential suburb, Great Howarth has the same vans as the surrounding places — Buckley, Smallbridge — all the way across OL postcodes. A postcode starting OL12 9 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Whether the car is on a lay-by on the way to Wardle War Memorial Garden or in a car park in the middle of Great Howarth, it doesn't need to move. The drain is done on the spot. Guessing won't help beside Smallbridge Library, close to a county line or somewhere awkward to pin down; ring and check.
The one-line version
Engine never started: ring, and leave it switched off. Started already? Stop, turn off, phone. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest whichever it is, in Great Howarth and Greater Manchester, on 0333 366 0103.