AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Lounsdale? Don't Start It
If AdBlue has got into the diesel tank, leave your motor off and leave the ignition off. Urea dissolved in water is what AdBlue is. Being water-based, it won't burn and never combines with diesel; trouble only starts when your pump starts drawing it. If your engine hasn't run yet, AdBlue in a diesel tank is usually emptied and carefully flushed where the vehicle stands around Lounsdale. No step comes before calling 0333 366 0103.
Lounsdale, AdBlue in the diesel tank: what to do right away
Do these:
- Pocket the keys, which stops anyone switching the power on.
- Put your hazards on if you are anywhere near moving traffic.
- The empty bottle or the till receipt tells us the fluid and the quantity, so do not throw it away.
- Tell us a postcode starting PA2 9, or whichever street is closest, and our van finds you directly — so ring wherever you are.
Not to do:
- Do not start your engine, even for a moment to move the vehicle.
- Many diesels run their fuel pump the moment the ignition goes on, so keep it off.
- Adding extra diesel does not work: AdBlue separates out rather than thinning.
- Even a short distance along Cross Road is too far to drive it.
- Don't try to drain the car yourself by the roadside.
On a forecourt in Lounsdale, whether it is the Paisley Mill Service Station or another one, ask the staff to help you push the vehicle away from the pump. On the drive, the vehicle stays exactly as it is.
What AdBlue does in a diesel tank
Not the engine but the exhaust is where AdBlue belongs. From a dedicated tank it goes directly to the exhaust, treating what the motor lets out. A fuel pump is not made to take it, and AdBlue was never intended to travel through one.
Fuel mixes; AdBlue, after poured in, will not. Its behaviour is not at all like diesel's. It's heavier than diesel, so it sinks and collects at the bottom of your tank, which is where the pickup sucks fuel from. A vehicle filled on a drive in Castlehead yesterday evening and left unstarted is the straightforward one. No pump has sucked the AdBlue up so far — but once the engine turns, that's what is pulled first, directly from the bottom of that tank.
From there it does two kinds of damage. It attacks some metals found in fuel systems, working on whatever it reaches till it is cleared completely. And once the water evaporates, the urea forms crystals that clog filters and settle in narrow passages. Pipes carrying AdBlue spell damage by morning for a vehicle parked around Lounsdale. Only inside that tank, it stays the same. Diesel protects the high-pressure pump and each injector as it passes; water gives no lubrication, and that is a second kind of damage.
Why is AdBlue in a diesel frequently the bigger fault?
A problem of thinned fuel is what you end up with from filling a diesel with petrol from the JET. Blended into your diesel and left unused, it's no threat for now; using the motor does the damage.
The issue with AdBlue in a diesel is a completely unsuitable substance. Because it doesn't burn, running it through is not an option. It doesn't stay mixed, so it can't be weakened. And crystals and corrosion do not wash out with the next tank of fuel. That's why the flush matters more with AdBlue than with petrol, and why starting your engine "to see" costs more here than almost anywhere else, whether the car is in Carriagehill or the middle of Lounsdale.
The good news is the same as with petrol. Anywhere in Renfrewshire your car has stopped, an unrun engine means the AdBlue yet inside the tank: the easiest bit of a fuel system to empty.
Lounsdale: how AdBlue ends up in a diesel tank
It's not on purpose. Plenty of vehicles have the AdBlue cap alongside the diesel inlet, occasionally behind a single flap, and muddling them up is simple after dark. Usually it is not the forecourt: someone buys a bottle heading home and tips it in at home.
It tends to take place in a few familiar ways. A warning light comes on during the school run, and the top-up occurs in a hurry outside the local primary school. After work, a bottle is tipped in on a drive close to Lounsdale Road. Otherwise, after dark outside Lord Lounsdale, the car gets topped up by someone using that flap for the first time.
It happens most in the cars drivers know least: a hire car, a new vehicle, a company car, or the second motor of a household with one diesel and one petrol. Leave it switched off: that's the first response to an identical slip, anywhere in Lounsdale or the rest of Renfrewshire you happen to be.
Already started the engine with AdBlue in the diesel tank around Lounsdale?
Then the AdBlue has left the tank. With any running, it goes on to the high-pressure pump and every injector, after passing through the filter and pipework.
Expect lumpy running, exhaust smoke, lost power, warnings on the dash, or a stall — returning from Ferguslie Cricket Club, say, or midway across Lounsdale. Once safe, pull over and switch everything off — with no turning it on again to test. Each start pulls more of it through.
Exit the M8, under 3 miles from Lounsdale, at the next junction and park somewhere safe, rather than driving on.
Every mile carries the AdBlue further in. That's why crossing Lounsdale to park beside Meikleriggs Bowling Club and a drive of under 10 miles towards Glasgow are very different jobs. Roughly how far it had come is worth telling us.
There's more to flush once the engine has been run, and our engineers do all of it where the car has ended up. Lasting damage is very uncommon if it's caught quickly.
What draining AdBlue from a diesel involves around Lounsdale
Anywhere it has come to rest around Lounsdale — a forecourt, a lay-by, a driveway, a road by St Mary's — our van travels to the car. Three replies decide the job, so first our engineers ask which fluid got in, roughly the amount, and if your engine has run.
Next, draining your tank on the spot removes the contaminated diesel and the AdBlue in one go. The fuel system is flushed thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol, because what it leaves behind does not rinse out on its own. Testing your vehicle follows last, after clean diesel goes in and the fuel filter gets flushed or, if necessary, replaced. Engine not run? In that case expect about half an hour once we are there for most jobs. Explosion-proof pumps make a live forecourt sensible to work on, and they're quiet enough to spare the neighbours at night.
The last step is to prime the fuel system on new diesel. You set off as soon as our engineers have started it, and it makes no difference whether the car is on a drive in Lounsdale or in a bay at Paisley Canal. Before we go, our engineers confirm it is running smoothly with fresh diesel in. No workshop is required at any stage, with the whole job done on the spot. The insurer will want an engineer's report and the VAT invoice — both yours once this job is done.
About Lounsdale
Lounsdale is a suburban area situated on the riverside in Renfrewshire, with a relatively low elevation of 27 metres. Lounsdale lies close to the city of Glasgow, approximately 8.5 miles away, and is near other local places such as Meikleriggs and Stanely. Lounsdale has a population of around 5986 people, predominantly residing in flat-type housing.
Lounsdale and Renfrewshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Over the PA postcode area, the vans answering AdBlue call-outs around Lounsdale serve much of Renfrewshire as well, Meikleriggs, Stanely and Brediland included. Ring and check rather than guess when you're by a border, or somewhere awkward to explain.
A van that comes to you suits Lounsdale, a residential suburb: there's no need to take your vehicle to us, since our engineers drain it there, in a drive, a residential street, a parking area or a filling station.
Lounsdale: what AdBlue in a diesel tank costs to fix
Because each jobs vary, a flat price wouldn't be honest. Whether the engine has been running, and for how long, comes first in what changes the cost. How much AdBlue got in comes next, and then the location of your car, since an open drive is simpler for a van to reach safely than a tight gap behind Maxwellton Cross Memorial.
What was put in, what quantity, plus if the engine ran: each Lounsdale enquiry begins by asking precisely those, ahead of a figure, not afterwards. With those replies, the range shrinks to one fixed number.
Before anyone heads out, you are told our quote on the phone. Then you pay on the day, by card or over the phone, with nothing upfront. Look at your policy whilst we're on the way: plenty include misfuelling cover.
Still next to the vehicle in Lounsdale?
In that case, do nothing — that is the most helpful step there is. Keys out; motor and ignition off. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, across Lounsdale or wherever in Renfrewshire, after you call 0333 366 0103 to say it was AdBlue, roughly how big an amount, and if it ran.