AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Kirkconnel, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: whether your engine has run since it was put in. Out in Mennock or here in Kirkconnel, an unstarted engine should remain that way. Normally this is draining and thoroughly cleaning it on the spot in Kirkconnel — so keep your key and engine off then ring 0333 366 0103. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. It is a bigger job, though step one doesn't change.
Compare your case to one of the list below, anywhere around Dumfries and Galloway you happen to be.
Kirkconnel forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
You're at the petrol pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Anywhere in Kirkconnel, then — Burnside, another forecourt nearby, or anywhere else close by.
What it means: this is the best location to find out. Just your tank has AdBlue; not one component past it has taken it in.
Freeing the pump is no reason to run it — so do not get back in. Ring us from the forecourt after your car sits in a space — the attendants will help push it — then save the bottle. If it can't be moved, it can be drained at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Kirkconnel drive?
For days the dashboard had been nagging you. A bottle from the garage, tipped in on the driveway — and it's just at the bin that the cap caught your eye. Just off Glengaber Avenue is no different from anywhere.
Meaning? As long as your car has not been driven since, it's close to the forecourt case. As it is unable to mix, AdBlue settles to the base inside the tank and waits. A night parked alters nothing.
Put the keys indoors tonight — or a person might drive it away first thing — then call us. Kelloholm or Kirkconnel: whichever your driveway is, that's where it gets cleared. Even at night, our pumps are quiet enough for a residential street.
Kirkconnel: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Lumpy running, smoke, falling power or a lit dashboard started a mile or two after the fill. Greystone Avenue, perhaps, or the way to Glasgow — a trip of under 50 miles.
What it means: the fuel system has drawn the AdBlue in. It has been through the filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and the injectors. Every restart, like each mile, pushes it deeper.
Pull in safely — that is the first job — then turn it off. Kirkconnel lies under 15 miles from the A74(M); there, come off at the first junction rather than pressing on for the services. Starting it again to test gets nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear on its own. Ring us and say how far you travelled.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company motors
You have only had the car a week. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is absent or elsewhere. On this one, the cap is just next to your diesel cap — news to you. Any driver, wherever across Dumfries and Galloway, could make the same.
Put simply: one extra stage on top of the situations above, and those turn on whether it has run. Plenty of hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on the car.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's quicker settled before our engineers arrive than after. If you are stranded in the car park outside the nearest station, or by A-frame Mining Memorial, while you wait for an answer, leave your car off.
Unsure about AdBlue in your diesel tank around Kirkconnel?
Now and then, "I think so" is the most you can truthfully say. Too light, the bottle; a trace of ammonia near the filler; no clear recollection of the cap. Sound familiar? The gates of the local primary school in a hurry, say, or someone's drive over in Afton Bridgend.
The point: your engine isn't hurt by a little AdBlue splashed around the outside. In the diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue damages it. Starting the vehicle won't tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in that tank it would pull it in.
Do this: behave as though it did, and don't start the motor. Tell us what you saw on the phone. A clean tank looked at is a happier outcome than a run one emptied.
Kirkconnel: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Whatever the case, a single start applies. Forecourt, drive, the pub in the village's car park or a road beside Hillview Leisure Center — the van comes to the car, and three questions follow: which fluid, which quantity, and if it has run. Replies shape the work; the quote comes by phone while no one has set off yet.
Then the tank is cleared and the system flushed thoroughly, which matters more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not rinse out on its own. Clean diesel goes in after your filter is cleaned or changed, and your car is then checked. The majority of unstarted cars are a half-hour job from the moment our technicians get there.
Starting the car comes last. Our technicians confirm it runs correctly on clean diesel before leaving. Our technicians do the entire job where the car is, and permanent damage is very unusual if it has been caught quickly. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money upfront. It is worth remembering: lots of insurers include misfuelling cover, and so a quick look at your policy as we travel is worthwhile.
About Kirkconnel itself
Kirkconnel is a village situated on the banks of the River Nith in Dumfries and Galloway, with a mix of semi-detached housing and other residential properties. Kirkconnel sits at an elevation of 162 metres, surrounded by rolling countryside and nearby villages such as Kelloholm and Sanquhar. Kirkconnel is located near the town of Sanquhar and is close to the Crawick Multiverse, a popular tourist attraction. Kirkconnel has a population of around 1246 people and is within commuting distance of Glasgow, which is 34.7 miles away.
AdBlue drains across Dumfries and Galloway, Kirkconnel included
Kirkconnel is a village, and the same teams that cover it work the places near it too, Crawick and Sanquhar among them, across the DG postcode area. A postcode starting DG4 6 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No towing is needed, whether parked centrally in Kirkconnel or in a layby en route to Kelloside Plantation, so keep it where it is. The drain is done on the spot. Guessing won't help near Mine Head Wheel Mining Memorial, on a border or somewhere hard to pin down; phone and ask.
Your scenario, in one line
Where it has not run, ring then keep it off. Already run: stop, switch off then call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there around Kirkconnel and anywhere around Dumfries and Galloway on 0333 366 0103.