AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Hillside, and What to Do Next
One fact matters most when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is if the engine has been started afterwards. Over in Ainsdale-on-Sea or right in Hillside, an unrun motor must remain that way. Keep nothing on, call 0333 366 0103, then expect a proper flush plus a drain, carried out just where your vehicle sits around Hillside. Pull over the moment you safely can and switch off, if it has already run. It is a larger job, yet step one does not change.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever across Merseyside it happened.
On a Hillside forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Only now, nozzle yet in hand, you realise that the cap you took off was the wrong one, right at the pump. Be it Shell, Texaco or anywhere else around Hillside, the case is the same.
The upshot: of all places to notice, this is the best. The AdBlue is in that tank and nowhere else. Nothing has sucked it in.
Do this: stay out of the driver's seat, however much the queue wants freeing. Ask the attendants to help you roll your car into a parking space, keep the receipt or the bottle, and ring us from the forecourt. The equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt, so a vehicle that cannot be pushed clear gets emptied where it is at the pump.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Hillside drive?
For days the dashboard had been warning you. A bottle bought at the garage, tipped in on the driveway — and it's just by the recycling that the cap got a second look. It occurs on driveways just off Hillside Road as regularly as anywhere.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. Being reluctant to blend, AdBlue settles low inside your tank and waits. A night parked alters nothing.
Next: stop any early drive by putting the keys in the house, then ring us. Our technicians drain the vehicle on your drive, whether that's around Hillside or out in Birkdale. Our pumping kit works quiet enough that it won't wake the neighbours at night.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in Hillside?
A mile or two after filling up, your engine began misbehaving: roughness, smoke, less power, lights on your dash. Perhaps it was on Lynton Road, perhaps on the way out towards Liverpool, under 15 miles away.
Meaning? The pump has taken the AdBlue in. Past the filter, along the pipework, and — the more the mileage — deeper into the high-pressure pump and each injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Next: pick a safe spot, stop, then turn the engine off. On the M58, under 10 miles from Hillside, that means the next exit, not the services further on. No trial starts: clearing itself is not something AdBlue does. Tell us know the mileage driven as you ring.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You've only driven this vehicle for days. The AdBlue filler is right alongside the diesel filler, which you did not know, because your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. It can happen to anyone, anywhere around Merseyside.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it's run, with one more step. Plenty of hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on your car.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is quicker settled before our technicians arrive than after. Stranded near Our Lady of Lourdes or at the nearest station till someone answers, your vehicle remains turned off throughout.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Hillside?
At times the honest answer is "I think so". Too light, the bottle; a trace of ammonia near the filler; a hazy recollection of which cap. Sound familiar? A rushed stop by the gates of Farnborough Road Junior School, or a visit to a friend in Woodvale: either fit.
What it means: a little spilled about your filler does no damage to the engine. Inside the diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue harms it. Starting the vehicle will not tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in your tank it will suck it in.
Your move: act as though it got in, and never start your motor. Checking a tank that proves free of AdBlue is better than draining one once it's been run — so ring then tell us what you noticed.
Hillside: what each AdBlue drain has in common
The work begins the same way, whatever the case. Three questions come once we reach your car — on a filling station, a driveway, a road beside Birkdale Library or the car park at The Crown: the fluid, the quantity, and whether the motor has been started. Your price is given on the call, ahead of anyone setting off, and those answers set the work.
AdBlue forms crystals and eats at some metals used in fuel systems, so it does not rinse out unaided; that's why a full flush, after this drain, counts far more here than with petrol. Finally come the filter, flushed or replaced if necessary; clean diesel; and a check of the car. Most unrun vehicles are a half-hour visit after the moment our technicians turn up.
Our technicians start it last. Our test that it runs correctly on fresh diesel comes before our engineers head off. Permanent damage is very unusual when it is caught soon, and the whole job is done where the vehicle is. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, nothing upfront. Worth knowing: many insurers include misfuelling cover, and so a check of your policy while you wait pays.
About Hillside and where it is
Hillside is a suburban area in Merseyside, situated on the coast near Southport, with Birkdale and Ainsdale to the north. Hillside has a relatively low elevation of 13 metres above sea level and is located approximately 14.7 miles from Liverpool. Hillside is characterised by its predominantly semi-detached housing stock, reflecting the typical residential architecture of the region. Hillside is one of several suburban areas that make up the wider Southport urban area.
AdBlue drains across Merseyside, Hillside included
Being a residential suburb, Hillside shares its vans with the surrounding places — Southport, Ainsdale — right through PR postcodes. Quickest of all: a PR8 4 postcode for your location.
Central Hillside or a lay-by towards Waterloo Road Recreation Ground: either way it sits, the vehicle doesn't need to move an inch for us. We drain it where it is. Phone and ask instead of guessing if you are close to St John's, near a border, or anywhere awkward to explain.
The one-line version
Engine not started: ring, and leave it switched off. Already run: stop, switch off and ring. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there in Hillside and anywhere around Merseyside on 0333 366 0103.