AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Mintlaw: What Now?
Has the engine turned over since the AdBlue went in? This single point settles nearly everything else from here. Anywhere the vehicle stands — Fetterangus, Mintlaw — never start an engine that has not run yet. Keep nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, then count on a proper flush plus a drain, carried out just where the car stands in Mintlaw. When your engine has been run, stop somewhere safe straight away, then turn it off. The job is bigger, yet the first stage is the same.
Below: the cases we see, wherever around Aberdeenshire. Choose the one that fits.
At the pump in Mintlaw: AdBlue in a diesel
Just now, nozzle still in your hand, you realise that the cap you took off was the wrong one, right at the petrol pump. Perhaps you're at the Esso, possibly at the another forecourt nearby, perhaps somewhere else in Mintlaw.
What it means: this is the ideal place to find out. Just that tank holds AdBlue; no component beyond it has taken it in.
Next: resist the urge to start it just to free up the pump. Have the staff to lend a hand rolling it into a space, save the bottle, then phone us from there. Stuck by the pump? Our explosion-proof kit keeps a live forecourt sensible, and so it can be drained in place.
Mintlaw, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
On the dash, a warning had shown all week. A bottle from the shop, tipped in at the driveway — and it was only at the recycling that the cap got your eye. It happens on driveways just off The Square as regularly as anywhere.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. As it is reluctant to mix, AdBlue settles to the base in your tank and stays. A night standing alters nothing.
Next: stop an early drive by putting your keys in the house, then phone us. Our technicians drain the vehicle on your drive, whether that is in Mintlaw or out in Mintlaw Station. The equipment works quiet enough not to disturb the neighbours at night.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel in Mintlaw?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later your engine began to run unevenly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Anywhere along South Street or heading to Aberdeen — under 50 miles away.
In short: the AdBlue has been pulled into the fuel system. Distance sets how deep it goes: filter and pipework first, then the high-pressure pump and each injector. It travels deeper with every extra mile covered and each restart.
Next: find a sensible place, pull in, then switch your motor off. Exit by the first junction — not the services further along — if you are on the M90, over 50 miles from Mintlaw. It will not have cleared, so there's no sense starting it again to find out. Phone, saying what distance the car went.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You have only had this car a week. The AdBlue filler is right beside the diesel one, which you didn't know, because your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Any driver, anywhere in Aberdeenshire, could do the same.
Meaning? Whichever case above applies too — run or not — and one further stage. Work on your vehicle often requires the owner's go-ahead under hire or fleet terms.
Settling it before we turn up is faster, and so phone the hire company or your fleet manager, then us. Stuck near Mintlaw War Memorial or at the nearest station until the firm replies, your car stays turned off throughout.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Mintlaw?
Now and then, "I think so" is all anyone can honestly say. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia around the filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at the local primary school, or on a friend's drive in Millbreck.
What it means: a little spilled about your filler does no damage to the engine. Once it's inside your diesel tank, though, it does. Starting the car won't tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in your tank it will pull it in.
Next: act as though it got in, then keep your engine off. Ring us and describe what you saw; we would rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
What each AdBlue drain around Mintlaw has in common
Every situation gets the same opening to the work. Filling station, driveway, the pub in the village's car park or a road beside The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — the van comes to the car, and three questions follow: what fluid, what amount, and whether it has run. Over the phone, ahead of anything else, you are told our quote, and those answers shape the work too.
AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some metals used in fuel systems, so it does not rinse out on its own; that is why the flush, after this drain, counts much more here than with petrol. Fresh diesel is put in after the fuel filter has been flushed or replaced, and the car is then tested. Where the engine has not been started, expect roughly half an hour on site, in most jobs.
The last step is starting the car. Our check that it runs correctly on fresh diesel comes before we go. Lasting damage is very rare when it is spotted quickly, and the entire job is done where the vehicle is. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, nothing in advance. It is worth remembering: lots of insurers offer misfuelling cover, so a check of your policy as you wait pays.
About Mintlaw itself
Mintlaw is a village in Aberdeenshire, situated inland at an elevation of 54 metres, approximately 26 miles northwest of Aberdeen. Mintlaw has a population of around 1377 people, predominantly living in semi-detached housing. Mintlaw is close to nearby places such as Mintlaw Station, Dunshillock, and Old Deer, and is located about 422 miles north of London.
AdBlue drains around Mintlaw, and across Aberdeenshire too
As a rural village, Mintlaw shares its vans with the nearby towns — Old Deer, Dunshillock — all the way through AB postcodes. Quickest of all: a AB42 5 postcode to show your location.
Parked en route to Aden Country Park, or right in the heart of Mintlaw, your car stays put — there's no need to move it anywhere. Where it stands, that is where it is emptied. If you are somewhere hard to describe, near Aberdeenshire Museums Discovery Centre or close to a boundary, ring and ask instead of guessing.
Your scenario, summed up
Unstarted? Keep it off then ring. Already run: stop, switch off and call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there in Mintlaw and anywhere in Aberdeenshire on 0333 366 0103.