What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Hayfield
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if your engine has been run since it went in. If it has not, keep it that way, whether the car is around Hayfield itself or out in Port Brae. Leave the engine and your ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103; it is normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is around Hayfield. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. The job is bigger, yet the first step is the same.
Match what happened to a situation from the list below, wherever in Fife you are.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Hayfield forecourt
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you only notice it while you are stood at the pump, bottle or the nozzle in your hand. Whether Shell, Esso or somewhere else in Hayfield, the situation is the same.
Put simply: no better place to be to discover it. Still in your tank, and nothing pulled through: that is where the AdBlue sits.
Freeing the pump is no reason to start it — so do not get back in. Get the attendants to lend a hand rolling it into a bay, save the receipt, then phone us right there. Stuck beside the petrol pump? Explosion-proof kit makes a busy forecourt safe, so we can drain it where it is.
Hayfield, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
On the dash, a reminder had been lit all week. Bought a bottle, poured it in outside the house, binned the empty — and only then looked at the cap again, too late. Just off Valley Roundabout is no less likely from any other place.
The upshot: no driving since leaves it nearly equal to spotting it at the pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Keep the keys indoors tonight — or someone might drive it off first thing — and call us. Smeaton or Hayfield: whichever your drive sits, that's where it gets drained. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
On the road around Hayfield with AdBlue in a diesel
Lumpy running, smoke, lost power or a lit dashboard arrived a short way beyond the top-up. Somewhere on Wilson Avenue or else on the road to Edinburgh — under 15 miles away.
In short: the AdBlue has been sucked into your fuel system. Mileage decides how far it goes: filter and pipework to begin with, then the injection pump and every injector. Each restart, like each mile, carries it deeper.
Do this: pull up somewhere safe, then turn the engine off. On the M90, under 10 miles from Hayfield, that means the next exit, not the services further on. Do not restart it to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Call us and say how far you travelled.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company vehicles
You have only had this vehicle for days. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is absent or somewhere else. On this one, the cap is just by the diesel cap — a surprise to you. Across Fife, no one is immune.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it has run, with one more stage. The owner often has to sign off the work, under many hire and fleet contracts.
Next: ring the hire company or your fleet manager first, then us — settling it before we arrive is quicker. Waiting for an answer at the car park outside Kirkcaldy, or near Kirkcaldy YMCA? Keep the engine off throughout.
Unsure about AdBlue in your diesel tank around Hayfield?
At times, "I think so" is all you can honestly say. Too light, the bottle; a hint of ammonia round the filler; a hazy recollection of which cap. Look familiar? The gates of the local primary school in a rush, say, or someone's driveway out in Pathhead.
Meaning? Drips around the inlet never touch your engine at all. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. If there is AdBlue in that tank, starting the car will draw it in, and it wouldn't 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 empty one once the motor has been run.
Hayfield: what every AdBlue drain has in common
No matter the situation, one opening applies. Our technicians come to the car, whether it's on a forecourt, a drive, the car park at The White Heather or a side street close to Salvation Army Community Church, and ask three things: what got in, about how much, and whether your motor has run. On the phone, ahead of dispatch, you are told our price, and those answers decide the work too.
AdBlue crystallises and eats at some metals used in fuel systems, and so it does not rinse out unaided; that is why the flush, after the drain, matters much more here than with petrol. Next comes the filter — cleaned, or replaced when needed — followed by clean diesel, and a test of your vehicle. If your motor has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
Firing it up comes last. Our test that it runs correctly on fresh diesel comes before our technicians go. We do the whole job where your car is, and long-term damage is very uncommon if it has been spotted early. Paying is on the day, never upfront. For your insurer, there is a VAT invoice plus a written report from the engineer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Hayfield
Hayfield is a suburban area in Fife, situated near the coast and approximately 11.7 miles from Edinburgh. Hayfield has a relatively low elevation of 47 metres and is characterized by predominantly flat-type housing. Hayfield is part of the larger urban area surrounding Edinburgh, with nearby places including Smeaton, Templehall, and Dunnikier.
AdBlue drains about Hayfield and across Fife
Being a residential suburb, Hayfield has the same vans as the nearby towns — Dunnikier, Templehall — right through KY postcodes. Quickest of all: a KY2 5 postcode to show where you stand.
No towing is required, whether parked centrally in Hayfield or on a lay-by en route to Valley Playing Fields, and so keep it put. The drain is done on the spot. If you're somewhere hard to explain, near Hayfield Community Centre or close to a boundary, ring and ask rather than assuming.
Your situation, summed up
Still unrun? Keep the vehicle that way then phone. Started by now? Pull over, switch off, phone. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder whatever it is, in Hayfield and Fife, on 0333 366 0103.