What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Mapperley
One fact matters above all when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is if your motor has run afterwards. Over in Sherwood or here in Mapperley, an unrun engine must stay unrun. Switch nothing on, phone 0333 366 0103, then count on a proper flush plus a drain, done right where the vehicle sits in Mapperley. Where the engine has run, stop somewhere safe straight away, then switch the car off. A larger job, then, yet the same opening step.
Below: the cases we meet, wherever around Nottinghamshire. Pick yours.
On a Mapperley forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you just spot it while you're standing at the petrol pump, bottle or nozzle in hand. It could be the Co-op, or perhaps the BP, or another forecourt around Mapperley.
Meaning? Finding out on the forecourt is as good as it gets. The AdBlue is inside that tank and nowhere else. Nothing has drawn it in.
Next: avoid the temptation to fire it up just to move away from the petrol pump. Ask the attendants to help you push the car into a parking space, keep the till receipt or the bottle, then call us from the forecourt. Our equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt, and so a vehicle that can't be pushed clear gets drained where it is at the pump.
AdBlue in the diesel tank at home around Mapperley
For days the dash had been nagging you. A bottle bought at the garage, emptied in at the drive — and it was only at the bin that the cap caught your eye. It takes place on driveways just off Woodborough Road as regularly as anywhere.
The point: zero miles since makes it almost equal to spotting it at the pump. Diesel and AdBlue keep apart: the AdBlue drops to the base of the tank and stays put, however long it waits.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so no one moves the car in the morning. Then ring. Your driveway is where it is drained, be it in Mapperley or Woodthorpe. The equipment runs quiet enough not to disturb the neighbours at night.
On the road around Mapperley with AdBlue in a diesel
Topped up, drove away, and before long your engine was turning unevenly, smoking, losing power, or lighting up the dash. Maybe driving to Nottingham, under 3 miles away, or just down Mapperley Rise.
Meaning? The fuel pump has sucked the AdBlue in. Distance sets how far it gets: filter and pipework first, then the high-pressure pump and each injector. Each restart, like each mile, pushes it on.
Next: find a safe place, pull in, then turn the motor off. Mapperley sits under 5 miles from the M1; on it, pull off at the first junction instead of pressing on to the services. It will not have cleared, and so there's no point restarting to find out. Call, and say what distance your vehicle was driven.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You have had this vehicle hardly a week. The AdBlue filler sits right next to the diesel filler, which you did not know, because your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Throughout Nottinghamshire, nobody is immune.
Meaning? Whatever applies above counts too — run or not — and one extra step. Many hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on the vehicle.
Next: phone the hire company or the fleet manager first, and then us — sorting it before our arrival is faster. Waiting for a reply at the car park at Nottingham, or beside Mapperley Community Centre? Leave your car off throughout.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Mapperley?
At times the fair answer is "I think so". Which cap came off, you can't recall; meanwhile the bottle feels less than expected, and ammonia hangs by your filler. The gates of Walter Halls Primary and Early Years School in a rush, say, or someone's driveway out in Porchester.
In short: a spill round your filler leaves the engine no harm. The diesel tank with AdBlue inside is another matter. Firing up your car cannot tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in that tank it would pull it in.
What to do: treat it as if it went in. Do not fire it up. Inspecting a tank that turns out free of AdBlue beats emptying one after it's been run — so ring then describe to us what you noticed.
The common ground in each Mapperley AdBlue drain
No matter the situation, one start applies. Forecourt, driveway, The Duke of Cambridge's car park or a road by Winwood Community Centre — the van comes to your vehicle, and three answers follow: what liquid, what quantity, and whether it has run. On the phone, before anything else, you hear our price, and those replies decide the job too.
AdBlue forms crystals and eats at certain metals used in fuel systems, and so it won't wash out on its own; that is why a full flush, after the drain, matters much more with AdBlue than with petrol. Last come your filter, flushed or renewed if necessary; clean diesel; and a check of the car. Most unrun cars are a half-hour visit after the moment our technicians turn up.
Our engineers fire it up last. Before our engineers leave, it is checked to be sure it runs correctly on clean diesel. Our engineers do the entire job where the vehicle is, and long-term damage is very unusual when it has been noticed quickly. Nothing is paid upfront, settlement happens on the day, and you receive what your insurer asks for: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Check your insurance while we arrive: misfuelling cover comes included in plenty of policies.
About Mapperley itself
Mapperley is a suburban area located on the northern edge of Nottingham, with Mapperley sitting approximately 1.8 miles from the city centre. Mapperley occupies a gently sloping site at an elevation of around 125 metres, with Mapperley being close to nearby places such as Woodthorpe and Alexandra Park. Mapperley is characterised by its predominantly semi-detached housing stock, with Mapperley having a population of around 5856 residents.
AdBlue drains across Nottinghamshire, Mapperley included
Alexandra Park and Carrington get the same teams as Mapperley, a residential suburb, plus further places throughout NG postcodes. The whereabouts is quickest from a postcode beginning NG3 5.
Central Mapperley or a lay-by towards Formal Gardens: either way it sits, the vehicle never needs to shift at all for us. The drain is done right there. Phone and ask rather than guess when you're by Mapperley Methodist Church, on a border, or somewhere tricky to pin down.
Your situation, in one line
Not run yet: keep the car off then call. Run already: pull over, switch down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, in Mapperley or anywhere in Nottinghamshire.