AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Middleforth Green, and What to Do Next
Everything turns on one fact: if your engine has been run after the AdBlue was added — far more than anything else. Anywhere your car is — Broadgate, Middleforth Green — don't run a motor that hasn't run yet. Leave your motor and your ignition off and call 0333 366 0103; it's generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is in Middleforth Green. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. The job is bigger, but the first stage is the same.
Anywhere in Lancashire it happened, one of the cases below matches yours.
On a Middleforth Green forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Just now, nozzle still in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you took off was the wrong one, there at the petrol pump. It might be the Esso, or the another forecourt nearby, or another station around Middleforth Green.
What it means: this is the best spot to find out. Only the tank holds AdBlue; no component beyond it has taken it in.
Do this: keep out of the car, even if the pump wants freeing. A few jobs: a push into a space with the staff helping, the receipt kept, and a call to us from the forecourt. Can't move the vehicle beside the pump? Explosion-proof equipment keeps a busy forecourt sensible, and so we can drain the vehicle where it is.
AdBlue in the diesel tank at home around Middleforth Green
Days had gone by with the dash light on. Picked up a bottle, tipped it in at home, binned the empty — and only then looked at the cap a second time, too late. Just off Leyland Road is not different from any other place.
Meaning? As long as your vehicle hasn't been driven since, it is close to the pump case. Being reluctant to blend, AdBlue drops to the base in your tank and waits. A night parked changes none of that.
Next: prevent an early drive by keeping the keys in the house, then ring us. We drain the car on your drive, whether that's in Middleforth Green or out in Lower Penwortham. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
Middleforth Green: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Filled up, pulled away, and before long your motor was running roughly, blowing smoke, down on power, or flashing up the dash. Possibly it was on Marshalls Brow, possibly on the way out towards Preston, under 3 miles away.
The upshot: your system has drawn AdBlue through by now. The high-pressure pump and every injector see it as well on a bigger trip, once your filter and pipework have had it. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
What to do: pull over where it is safe to do so and switch off. Exit by the first junction — not the services further along — if you are on the M65, under 3 miles from Middleforth Green. Starting it again to check gets nothing — AdBlue never clears itself. Roughly what distance had it go? Say so when you phone.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
Seven days ago, the car was new to you. The AdBlue filler sits right beside the diesel filler, which you didn't know, because your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Anywhere you are around Lancashire, every motorist can slip up.
Meaning? Whichever case above counts here — run or not — and one extra stage. Many hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on the vehicle.
Your move: rental firm or your fleet manager first, us second, since sorting it beforehand saves time. Stranded near St. Mary Magdalen's R.C. Church Penwortham or outside Preston till someone answers, your vehicle remains turned off throughout.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank around Middleforth Green?
Sometimes the fair answer is "I think so". Too light, the bottle; a hint of ammonia round your filler; no clear recollection of the cap. Look familiar? A rushed top-up by the gates of St Mary Magdalen's Catholic Primary School, or a call to a friend in Higher Penwortham: either fits.
The upshot: your motor is not hurt by a little AdBlue splashed around the filler. In your diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue damages it. If there is AdBlue in your tank, firing up the vehicle will suck it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Take it that it got in, and don't turn your key. Checking a tank that turns out free of AdBlue is better than emptying one once it's been run — so ring and tell us what you saw.
Middleforth Green: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Each case has the same start to the job. We come to the car, whether it's on a forecourt, a drive, the car park at Penwortham Sports and Social Club or a side street near St Leonard, and ask three things: what got in, roughly how much, and whether the motor has been run. Your price comes over the phone, before a van leaves, and the replies shape the work.
Draining that tank comes next, then a full flush — more important after urea than after petrol, because crystals and corrosion will not clear by themselves, however long you wait. Finally come the fuel filter, cleaned or renewed as needed; fresh diesel; and a test of the vehicle. Never started? In that case about half an hour on site is most jobs.
Our technicians fire it up at the end. Our check that it runs smoothly on new diesel comes before our technicians leave. Our engineers do the entire job where the vehicle is, and lasting 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 in advance. Many insurance policies include misfuelling, so check yours while the van travels.
About Middleforth Green itself
Middleforth Green is a suburban area located on the outskirts of Preston in Lancashire, situated near the River Ribble at a low elevation of around 10 metres. Middleforth Green sits in close proximity to nearby places such as Lower Penwortham and Kingsfold, and is connected to the city centre via Penwortham Lane. Middleforth Green is characterized by its predominantly semi-detached housing stock, reflecting the typical residential architecture of the region. Middleforth Green is also relatively close to the city of Preston, being only 1.3 miles away from the city centre.
Middleforth Green and Lancashire: AdBlue drains across the area
Middleforth Green is a residential suburb, and the same teams that cover it work the places around it too, Kingsfold and Penwortham Lane among them, across the PR postcode area. Fastest of all: a PR1 9 postcode for where you stand.
No towing is required, whether stopped centrally in Middleforth Green or in a layby en route to the green space at the edge of the village, and so keep it where it is. Our van empties it in place. Guessing doesn't help near Vernon Carus Sports and Social Club, close to a border or somewhere awkward to describe; ring and check.
Your situation, summed up
Not run yet: keep the car off and ring. Run by now? Pull over, turn off, ring. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder whatever it is, in Middleforth Green and Lancashire, on 0333 366 0103.