AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Hilltop: What Now?
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: if your engine has run since it went in. Anywhere the car is — Wilmslow Park, Hilltop — don't run a motor that hasn't run yet. Phone 0333 366 0103 with the key and engine still off. Across Hilltop, such a case is typically drained and cleaned where it stands. Stop the moment you safely can and switch off, if it has already run. Step one remains unchanged, even if the job is bigger.
Compare your case to a situation from the list below, anywhere across Cheshire you are.
Hilltop 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. Maybe you're at the BP, maybe at the Asda Express, possibly somewhere else in Hilltop.
What it means: this is the ideal spot to find out. Just the tank has AdBlue; not one component beyond it has taken it in.
Next: resist the temptation to fire it up just to free up the petrol pump. Have the attendants to help rolling it into a bay, save the bottle, then ring us right there. The equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a live forecourt, and so a car that can't be pushed clear gets emptied where it is at the pump.
Hilltop, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
On the dash, a warning had been lit all week. Picked up a container, tipped it in outside the house, recycled the empty — and only then looked at the cap a second time, too late. Drives close to Manchester Road get it as much as anywhere.
In short: if the vehicle has not been driven since, it's almost equal to spotting it at the pump. Being unable to blend, AdBlue settles to the base inside that tank and waits. One night standing alters none of that.
Keep the keys in the house overnight — or a person may take it away at breakfast — then call us. Lacey Green or Hilltop: wherever your driveway is, that is where it gets emptied. Our pumping kit works quiet enough that it won't wake the neighbours at night.
On the road in Hilltop with AdBlue in a diesel
Topped up, pulled away, and soon the engine was running roughly, smoking, losing power, or flashing up your dash. Maybe it was on Copperfields, perhaps on the way out towards Manchester, under 15 miles away.
Meaning? The pump has sucked the AdBlue up. Mileage sets how far it gets: filter and lines to begin with, then the high-pressure pump and each injector. It goes deeper with each mile driven and every restart.
What to do: pull over where it's safe to do so then switch off. Hilltop sits under 3 miles from the M56; there, pull off at the first junction rather than pressing on for the services. It will not have cleared, and so there is no point starting it again to find out. Call, and say what distance your vehicle was driven.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You've had the car hardly a week. On your own car, AdBlue is missing or somewhere else. On this one, the cap is right by your diesel inlet — news to you. Wherever you are across Cheshire, any driver could be caught.
In short: an extra stage on top of the situations above, and those turn on if it has run. The owner frequently has to approve any work, under plenty of rental and company contracts.
Next: ring the hire company or your fleet manager first, then us — sorting it before our arrival is faster. Hanging on for an answer in the car park outside Wilmslow, or near Wilmslow Cross? Leave your engine off meanwhile.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Hilltop?
At times, "I think so" is all anyone can truthfully say. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia about the filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. The gates of Lacey Green Primary Academy in a rush, perhaps, or a friend's driveway out in Pownall Park.
The point: the motor is not hurt by a little AdBlue splashed around the filler. In the diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue harms it. Starting your car won't tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in your tank it would draw it in.
Next: assume it went in, then keep the motor off. Inspecting a tank that turns out free of AdBlue beats emptying one after it's been run — so phone and describe to us what you saw.
What each AdBlue drain around Hilltop has in common
The work begins identically, whatever your case. Our technicians come to the vehicle, whether it's on a forecourt, a drive, the car park at King William or a side street near St. Bartholomew's church, and ask three things: what was put in, about how much, and whether the motor has been run. Those answers determine this work, and you get our price by phone, before anyone sets off.
A thorough flush follows this drain. With petrol it is standard; with AdBlue it is essential, because deposits build up and some metals are attacked, and none of that washes away unaided. Finally are the fuel filter, flushed or replaced as needed; fresh diesel; and a test of the vehicle. Where the motor hasn't run, allow about half an hour once we arrive, for most cases.
The last step is firing it up. Before our engineers leave, it is tested to make sure it runs correctly on new diesel. The entire job is done where your car is, and when it's spotted quickly, lasting damage is very rare. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Hilltop itself
Hilltop is a suburban area in Cheshire, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 88 metres, with detached housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Hilltop lies approximately 10 miles from Manchester and is close to nearby places such as Lacey Green, Finney Green, and Wilmslow. Hilltop is part of the larger North West region, with London being around 154 miles to the south. Hilltop has a population of around 5732 residents.
AdBlue drains in Hilltop, and across Cheshire too
Hilltop is a residential suburb, and the same teams that cover it work the towns around it too, Finney Green and Wilmslow among them, across the SK postcode area. A postcode starting SK9 2 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Stopped en route to Lacey Green Park, or bang in the heart of Hilltop, your car remains where it is — there is no need to move it at all. Wherever it sits, that's where it gets drained. If you're somewhere hard to describe, close to Wilmslow War Memorial or close to a border, ring and ask rather than guessing.
Your scenario, in one line
Not run yet: keep the car off and call. Started already? Stop, switch off, phone. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest whatever case, in Hilltop and Cheshire, on 0333 366 0103.