Invergordon: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Find Your Situation
Has the engine run since the AdBlue got in? That single point settles almost everything about what comes next. Out in Achnagarron or right in Invergordon, an unstarted engine must remain unrun. Switch nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, then expect a thorough flush after a drain, done just where your car stands in Invergordon. Already started? Stop when you safely can, then switch everything off. It's a bigger job, though step one doesn't change.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever around Highland it happened.
Invergordon forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
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. Perhaps you're at the Invergordon Services, perhaps at the another forecourt nearby, maybe somewhere else in Invergordon.
Put simply: no better spot exists to discover it. No pump has pulled it in, so the AdBlue sits only inside that tank.
Your move: keep out of the car, even if the queue wants clearing. Ask the staff to help you roll your car into a parking space, keep your receipt or the bottle, then ring us from the forecourt. The equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt, so a vehicle that can't be pushed clear is emptied right at the petrol pump.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home around Invergordon
For days the dash had been nagging you. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the driveway, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look once more at the cap. Driveways close to Castle Road get it as much as anywhere.
The upshot: zero driving since leaves it almost equal to spotting it at the petrol pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
Next: prevent any early move by keeping the keys in the house, then phone us. Balblair or Invergordon: wherever your drive sits, that's where it is cleared. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel around Invergordon?
Topped up, drove away, and before long the motor was turning unevenly, smoking, down on power, or flashing up your dash. King Street, perhaps, or the way towards Inverness — a run of under 15 miles.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been pulled into the system. It's been through the fuel filter and the lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and the injectors. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Next: pick a safe spot, stop, and switch your motor off. Services further along are too far: on the M90, over 50 miles out of Invergordon, take the next junction. Do not restart the car to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Call us and say how far you went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company vehicles
It's a vehicle you have had for a week. Your own car either does without AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere, and so nothing warned you the AdBlue cap was just beside your diesel. It can happen to anyone, anywhere around Highland.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it's run, with one more step. Many hire and fleet contracts require the owner's approval before repairs.
Sorting it before we arrives is quicker, and so phone the hire company or your fleet manager, then us. If you're stranded in the car park at the nearest station, or by 9. Pipes and Drams, whilst you wait for an answer, leave your car off.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank around Invergordon?
"I think so" is sometimes the most honest answer there is. Which cap was taken off, you can't say; but the bottle weighs lighter than expected, and ammonia lingers by your filler. Perhaps it happened in a hurry at the school gates at the local primary school, or on a friend's drive in Broomhill.
What it means: a little spilled round your filler does no harm to the engine. A diesel tank with AdBlue in it is a different matter. You can't tell which by turning the key, and doing so would draw in any AdBlue that is in your tank.
Your move: behave as though it did, and never start your motor. Describe what you saw on your phone. A clean tank checked is a happier outcome than an already-run one emptied.
What every AdBlue drain in Invergordon has in common
No matter the situation, one opening is used. Anywhere your vehicle stands — Silver Dollar Lounge's car park, a street by 10. Gather Round, a driveway, a filling station — the van arrives and we ask about the fluid, the amount, plus if the engine has turned over. Those replies decide this work, and you hear the quote by phone, before anyone heads out.
Emptying that tank comes next, followed by a full flush — more vital with urea than after petrol, because crystals and corrosion won't clear on their own, however long it sits. Next is the fuel filter — cleaned, or replaced where necessary — then fresh diesel, and a test of your car. Where your motor has not been started, allow roughly half an hour once we arrive, in most jobs.
Our engineers fire it up last. With fresh diesel in, it runs while we make sure it's running properly, and then we go. Our technicians do the entire job where the car is, and lasting damage is very unusual if it has been noticed early. Paying is that day, never upfront. For your insurer, there is a VAT invoice and a written report from the engineer. It is worth knowing: lots of insurers offer misfuelling cover, so a check of your documents as you wait pays.
About Invergordon itself
Invergordon is a coastal town in the Highland county of Scotland, situated on the shores of the Cromarty Firth at a low elevation of around 10 metres. Invergordon lies approximately 14 miles north of Inverness and is surrounded by nearby places such as Balblair, Saltburn, and Tomich. Invergordon has a population of around 3530 people and is characterised by its predominantly terraced housing.
AdBlue drains across Highland, Invergordon included
Invergordon is a coastal town, and the same teams that cover it work the places around it too, Saltburn and Tomich among them, across the IV postcode area. A postcode starting IV18 0 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to Natal Gardens or in a car park in the middle of Invergordon, it does not need to move. Our van empties it in place. If you are somewhere hard to explain, near Water Supply Commemorative Plaque or close to a boundary, ring and ask rather than guessing.
Your situation, in one line
If it hasn't started, ring and keep it off. Already run: stop, switch off and call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there in Invergordon and anywhere in Highland on 0333 366 0103.