AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Maydown, and What to Do Next
Everything turns on one detail: if your engine has been run since the AdBlue went in — more than anything else. Not started yet? Then leave the vehicle that way, wherever the vehicle is — Maydown or Derry. Call 0333 366 0103 with your ignition and engine still off. In Maydown, that is typically drained and cleaned on the spot. Stop the minute it is safe and turn off, if it has already run. The job is bigger, but the first step is the same.
Wherever across County Londonderry it took place, one of the cases below fits yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Maydown forecourt
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you only spot it as you're standing at the pump, bottle or nozzle in your hand. Anywhere in Maydown, then — the nearest petrol station, another forecourt nearby, or somewhere else close by.
What it means: this is the best location to find out. Just the tank holds AdBlue; not one component beyond it has taken any in.
Do this: keep out of the car, however much the pump wants clearing. Have the attendants to help rolling it to a space, save the receipt, then phone us from there. The equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a live forecourt, and so a car that cannot be pushed clear gets emptied right at the petrol pump.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Maydown drive?
The warning light had been on for days. Picked up a container, tipped it in outside the house, binned the empty — and at that point checked the cap again, too late. Houses just off Crown Street get hit as often as everywhere else.
In short: if the vehicle hasn't been driven since, it is nearly equal to spotting it at the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue keep apart: the AdBlue settles to the floor of your tank and stays there, no matter how long the night.
Put your keys indoors tonight — or someone may drive it off at breakfast — and call us. We drain the car on your driveway, whether that is around Maydown or out in Strathfoyle. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving in Maydown?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later your motor began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Maybe it was on Crom Street, maybe on the way out towards Derry, under 5 miles away.
Meaning? Your fuel pump has sucked the AdBlue up. Mileage sets how far it gets: filter and lines first, then the injection pump and every injector. It travels further with every extra mile driven and each restart.
What to do: pull over where it's safe to do so then switch off. Exit at the first junction — not the services beyond — if you are on the M77, over 50 miles from Maydown. It will not have cleared, and so there is no point restarting to check. Phone, and say what distance your car went.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
It's a vehicle you have had for a week. Unknown to you, the AdBlue and diesel fillers are side by side here — unlike your own car, which has none or keeps it elsewhere. Anyone, anywhere around County Londonderry, might do it.
Put simply: an extra stage on top of the cases above, and those depend on if it's run. The owner frequently needs to sign off the work, under many rental and company contracts.
Settling it before we turn up is quicker, and so phone the rental company or your fleet manager, and then us. Stranded near the centre or at the nearest station till someone replies, your car remains switched off the whole time.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank in Maydown?
At times the fair answer is "I think so". Which cap came off, you cannot say; but the bottle weighs less than expected, and ammonia lingers by the filler. A hurried stop by the gates of the local primary school, or a call to a friend in Lettershendoney: either fits.
Put simply: spillage near your filler leaves your motor unharmed. Inside your diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue harms it. If there is AdBlue in that tank, starting the vehicle would draw it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Assume it was put in, and never turn your engine. Ring and give what you saw: we would sooner find a tank free of AdBlue than empty one after the motor has been run.
What each AdBlue drain in Maydown has in common
Whichever scenario you are in, this job starts the same way. Wherever the vehicle stands — the pub in the village's car park, a street beside a street just off the centre, a driveway, a filling station — our van arrives and we ask about the fluid, the amount, plus if the motor has been run. Answers set the work; the price comes by phone while nobody has left yet.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to some metals used in fuel systems, and so it does not rinse out unaided; that's why the flush, after the drain, matters much more here than with petrol. Next comes the fuel filter — cleaned, or swapped when necessary — then clean diesel, and a test of your vehicle. Never started? Then roughly half an hour on site is most jobs.
Starting the engine comes at the end. Our engineers check it runs correctly on clean diesel before leaving. Our engineers do the whole job where the vehicle is, and lasting damage is very unusual when it has been caught early. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money upfront. It is worth knowing: lots of insurers include misfuelling cover, and so a quick look at your documents as we travel is worthwhile.
About Maydown itself
Maydown is a small coastal locality in County Londonderry, situated near the city of Derry and close to the villages of Strathfoyle and Culmore. Maydown lies at a low elevation of around 4 metres, looking out over the coastal landscape. Maydown has a population of approximately 598 people, living in predominantly detached housing.
AdBlue drains across County Londonderry, Maydown included
As a coastal area, Maydown has the same vans as the nearby towns — Eglinton, Culmore — all the way across BT postcodes. A postcode starting BT47 3 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Whether the car is on a lay-by on the way to the green space at the edge of the village or in a car park in the middle of Maydown, it doesn't need to shift. Where it stands, that is where it is cleared. Tricky to explain? By the far end of the built-up part or a border? Asking beats guessing, and so phone.
Your situation, summed up
Engine not started: phone, and leave it alone. Whichever case fits, Petrol in Diesel handles the rest on 0333 366 0103, throughout County Londonderry and in Maydown — once you stop, switch off and ring, if it's run.