AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Hunslet: What Now?
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: whether the motor has run since it was put in. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether your car is around Hunslet itself or out in Thwaite Gate. Keep nothing on, phone 0333 366 0103, and expect a thorough flush after a drain, carried out right where your car sits in Hunslet. Stop the moment you safely can then turn off, if it has been run. A larger job, then, yet the identical first step.
Below: the situations our technicians meet, anywhere in West Yorkshire. Pick yours.
Hunslet forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you only notice it while you're stood at the pump, bottle or nozzle in your hand. It could be the Morrisons, or perhaps the JET, or a different station around Hunslet.
What it means: this is the best place to find out. Nothing has drawn it through, and so the AdBlue stays only in your tank.
Freeing the pump is no excuse to run it — and so don't get back in. Three jobs: a shove into a space with the staff helping, the bottle saved, and a call to us from where you stand. Emptying it there at the petrol pump is possible when it can't be moved, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home around Hunslet
For days the dash had been warning you. A bottle bought at the garage, emptied in on the drive — and it was only by the bin that the cap caught a second look. Just off Hillidge Road is not less likely from anywhere.
The point: no miles since leaves it almost equal to spotting it at the pump. As it is unable to blend, AdBlue drops low inside the tank and waits. A night parked alters none of that.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so no one moves the car in the morning. Then ring. In Hunslet Carr or here in Hunslet, the draining is done on your drive. Even at night, our pumps stay quiet enough for a driveway.
Hunslet: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Rough running, smoke, lost power or a lit dashboard arrived a mile or two after the top-up. It might have been driving for Leeds, under 3 miles away, or just along A61.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been sucked through the fuel system. The high-pressure pump and each injector get it too on a longer trip, once the fuel filter and pipework have it. More driving, more restarts: deeper it travels.
Next: find a safe spot, stop, then switch your motor off. On the M621, under a mile from Hunslet, that means the next exit, not the services further on. No test restarts: clearing is not something AdBlue will do. Ring us and say how far you travelled.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
Seven days back, it was unknown to you. On your own car, AdBlue is absent or elsewhere. On this one, its cap is just by your diesel inlet — a surprise to you. Anyone, wherever across West Yorkshire, might do the same.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it's run, with one more stage. Any work on the car frequently requires the owner's approval under hire or fleet agreements.
Next: ring the rental company or your fleet manager first, and then us — settling it before we arrive is faster. Keep the vehicle switched off while the answer comes, whether you're parked at Leeds or close to Middleton Railway Museum.
Hunslet: unsure if it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Occasionally the honest answer is "I think so". What cap was taken off, you can't say; but the bottle feels lighter than it ought to, and a whiff of ammonia hangs by the filler. A rushed top-up by the gates of Hunslet Moor Primary School, or a visit to a friend in Beeston Hill: both fit.
Meaning? Spills outside the inlet never reach your motor at all. A diesel tank with AdBlue inside is a different matter. Turning on the car won't tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in that tank it would pull it in.
Assume it was put in, and don't turn your engine. Inspecting a tank that proves free of AdBlue is better than draining one after it's been run — so phone then tell us what you noticed.
Hunslet: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Whichever situation you are in, the job starts the same way. Forecourt, driveway, Station Hotel's car park or a street by St Mary the Virgin — the van reaches your vehicle, and three answers follow: which liquid, which quantity, and if it has run. Over the phone, before anything else, you hear the price, and those replies decide the work too.
AdBlue forms crystals and eats at certain metals in fuel systems, so it does not wash out on its own; that is why a full flush, after the drain, matters far more here than with petrol. Clean diesel is put in after the filter has been flushed or changed, and the car is finally tested. If your engine hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
The final step is firing it up. Our check that it runs correctly on clean diesel comes before our engineers go. When it is spotted soon, the vehicle very rarely has long-term damage, and the whole job happens where it is. Payment is that day, never upfront. For the insurer, you get a VAT invoice and a written report from the engineer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Hunslet and where it is
Hunslet is a suburban area in West Yorkshire, situated on the banks of the River Aire, with Hunslet being close to the city centre of Leeds. Hunslet has a mix of terraced housing and local amenities, with Hunslet being near to other areas such as Hunslet Carr and Pottery Field. Hunslet sits at an elevation of around 32 metres above sea level, with Hunslet being part of the larger Leeds urban area.
AdBlue drains across West Yorkshire, Hunslet included
Hunslet is a residential suburb, and the same teams that cover it work the towns near it too, Atkinson Hill and Pottery Field among them, across the LS postcode area. Giving us your LS10 1 postcode pins you quickest of all.
Central Hunslet or a lay-by towards Hunslet Green: either way it is, the car doesn't need to shift an inch for us. The drain happens on the spot. Awkward to explain? Close to Dewsbury Road Library or a border? Checking beats guessing, so ring.
In one line: your scenario
Motor not started: ring, leaving it alone. Whatever line applies, Petrol in Diesel handles the rest on 0333 366 0103, across West Yorkshire and in Hunslet — once you pull over, turn off then phone, if it has run.