AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Middlerig: What Now?
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if the motor has run since it got in. Out in Westquarter or right in Middlerig, an unrun motor should remain that way. Normally that means draining and properly cleaning it on the spot in Middlerig — so keep your ignition and motor off then call 0333 366 0103. Stop the minute you safely can and turn off, if it has already run. Stage one remains the same, even though the work grows.
Wherever across Falkirk it took place, one of the cases below fits yours.
On a Middlerig forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you only spot it while you're stood at the pump, bottle or nozzle in hand. Be it Esso, Thames or somewhere else around Middlerig, the case is identical.
Meaning? Finding out here is as good as it can be. Still in your tank, and nothing drawn onwards: that is where the AdBlue sits.
Next: resist the temptation to start it only to move away from the petrol pump. Ring us from the forecourt once the car sits in a space — the staff will lend a hand to roll it — then save the bottle. If it can't be shifted, it can be drained at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt.
At home around Middlerig with AdBlue in your diesel tank
On the dash, a reminder had been lit all week. Only by the recycling, the empty container in your hand, did you look back at the cap you had opened at the drive. Drives near Wallacestone Brae get it as much as any other street.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue keep apart: the AdBlue settles to the base of your tank and remains put, no matter how long it waits.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so no one moves the car in the morning. Then ring. Reddingmuirhead or Middlerig: wherever your driveway is, that's where it is drained. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around Middlerig?
A mile or two after topping up, your motor started misbehaving: rough running, smoke, less power, lights on the dash. Somewhere along Epworth Gardens or else on the road towards Stirling — under 15 miles away.
What it means: the fuel system has sucked the AdBlue in. Through your filter, along the lines, and — the more the distance — on into the high-pressure pump and every injector. Every restart, like every mile, carries it on.
Next: find a safe place, stop, then turn your motor off. Leave at the next junction — not the services beyond — if you are on the M9, under 3 miles from Middlerig. Do not restart it to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Phone, and say what distance the car was driven.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
It's a motor you have had for a week. The AdBlue filler sits right alongside the diesel filler, which you did not know, because your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Wherever you are in Falkirk, any driver can be caught.
In short: one extra step on top of the situations above, which depend on if it has run. Many hire and fleet contracts require the owner's approval for work.
Do this: rental firm or your fleet manager first, us second, since sorting it beforehand cuts time. If you are stranded in the car park at Polmont, or by Reddingmuirhead Community Centre, whilst you wait for an answer, leave the vehicle off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Middlerig?
Occasionally the fair answer is "I think so". Too light, that bottle; a trace of ammonia near your filler; a hazy memory of the cap. Sound familiar? The gates of the local primary school in a hurry, perhaps, or someone's drive over in Easter Shieldhill.
What it means: a little spilled around your filler does no harm to your engine. A diesel tank with AdBlue inside is another story. Any AdBlue in the tank will be pulled in by starting the car, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
Next: assume it got in, and leave the engine off. Tell us what you noticed on the phone. A clean tank looked at is a better outcome than a run one drained.
Middlerig: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Every case has the same opening to the job. Our engineers come to your car, whether it is at a forecourt, a driveway, the car park at Canalside or a side street near Wallacestone Memorial, and ask three things: what got in, roughly how much, and whether your engine has run. Replies set the job; the quote follows on the call while nobody has left yet.
Emptying your tank comes first, then a full flush — more vital after urea than with petrol, because crystals and corrosion will not clear by themselves, no matter how long it sits. Clean diesel is put in after the fuel filter is cleaned or changed, and the car is finally checked. Where the engine hasn't run, expect about half an hour once we arrive, in most cases.
Firing it up comes at the end. Our test that it runs properly on fresh diesel comes before we leave. Permanent damage is very uncommon when it's caught quickly, and the whole job is done where your car is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Worth remembering: lots of insurers include misfuelling cover, so a check of your policy as you wait is worthwhile.
About Middlerig itself
Middlerig is a locality situated on the riverside in Falkirk, with an elevation of 102 metres and a mix of detached housing. Middlerig lies near the cities of Stirling and Falkirk, and is close to the nearby places of Reddingmuirhead, Wallacestone, and Redding. Middlerig has a population of approximately 1476 residents and is located 342.3 miles from London. Middlerig is characterized by its rural setting and residential community.
Middlerig and Falkirk: AdBlue drains across the area
Being a small village, Middlerig shares its vans with the nearby places — Redding, Wallacestone — right across FK postcodes. The whereabouts is clearest from a postcode beginning FK2 0.
No towing is required, whether stopped in the centre of Middlerig or on a layby heading to Burnside Community Woodland, so keep it where it is. The drain happens right there. Guessing doesn't help near Redding Mining Disaster Memorial, close to a county line or somewhere hard to describe; phone and check.
The one-line version
Not run yet: keep the vehicle off then ring. Already run: stop, switch off and ring. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there around Middlerig and anywhere across Falkirk on 0333 366 0103.