AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Moorside? Don't Start It
If AdBlue has gone into the diesel tank, leave your engine off and leave the ignition off. Water with urea dissolved in it: that's AdBlue. Not like fuel, it neither burns nor mixes, and nothing starts until the motor sucks it round. A drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is in Moorside, is generally what AdBlue in a diesel tank takes — if it's caught before the engine has run. First, call us on 0333 366 0103.
Those opening minutes: AdBlue in the diesel tank around Moorside
Things to do:
- Keys out — that way nobody can power anything on.
- Near moving traffic? Then put the hazards on.
- Which fluid, and roughly how much volume? Hang on to the bottle or the receipt, and we will know.
- Call us from where you are. A postcode starting M27 0, or the name of the closest street, brings our van to you without a search.
Do not do these:
- Shifting the vehicle just a short way is no reason to fire up your engine.
- Don't switch your ignition on. On many diesels that alone runs the fuel pump.
- Pouring in more diesel does not work: AdBlue separates out rather than blending.
- Any driving at all is to be avoided, even a short way down Holyrood Drive.
- Emptying your tank yourself beside the road is not worth trying.
Get the attendants to help you roll your vehicle away from the island if you are at a forecourt around Moorside, whether it is the Shell or somewhere else. On your own drive, do not move it at all.
AdBlue in a diesel tank, and what it does there
Not the motor but the exhaust is where AdBlue is meant to go. From a separate reservoir it goes directly to the exhaust, treating what your motor lets out. Nothing in a fuel pump is designed for this fluid — and none of it was meant to travel that way.
Inside a diesel tank it behaves really differently from fuel. It does not mix in. The pickup sucks fuel from the lowest part of that tank, and that's exactly where AdBlue settles: as it is denser than diesel, it sinks. Simplest of all: one that got AdBlue in Broadoak Park overnight and hasn't been started since. The liquid sits at the foot of the tank, undrawn — though it will be the first thing through once your engine starts, ahead of any diesel at all.
Once it's sucked in, the damage takes two forms. Crystals and corrosion. As the water dries, it strands urea that hardens in filter elements and tiny passages; and, because it eats at some metals, every part it touches keeps suffering for as long as it remains inside. If the AdBlue is in the pipework, leaving it till morning around Moorside makes things worse. Inside that tank only, waiting costs nothing. Water lubricates nothing. The injection pump and each injector depend on diesel running past them, and so the water part harms them by itself.
Why is AdBlue in a diesel commonly the bigger fault?
Fill a diesel with petrol in error over at the Power, and this issue is thinned fuel. It mixes with your diesel, and whilst it's inside that tank it causes no harm; the damage comes from running your engine on it.
AdBlue in a diesel is a different matter: not thin fuel, but no fuel at all. Because it doesn't burn, running it through is not an option. Nor can it be thinned, since it splits again — and the following fill will not rinse away deposits or corrosion. So the flush counts for more with AdBlue, and trying your engine "to see", in the heart of Moorside or out in Light Bourne Green, does more harm than almost any other mistake.
The good news is the same as with petrol. Clearing a tank is the simplest job on a fuel system, and with no running, the AdBlue remains in it — anywhere across Greater Manchester your car has stopped.
Moorside: how AdBlue ends up in a diesel tank
After dark, two caps together — the AdBlue cap and the diesel cap, now and then under one flap — can look the same. No one means it; plenty of designs invite it. A container bought while heading home and poured in outside the house, rather than at the filling station, is the usual story.
Mostly, it occurs in one of a couple of familiar ways. Halfway through the morning drop-off, the dashboard flags it up, and outside Moorside Primary School the top-up is hurried. A bottle is poured in at the end of the day on a drive just off Moorside. Or the vehicle is topped up in the car park outside The White Horse, in poor light, by a person who has never opened that flap before.
Rented cars, new motors, company cars, or the spare car in a home with both fuels: the least familiar vehicles see it the most. Anywhere in Greater Manchester, Moorside as well, the slip doesn't change, and nor does the first response: leave it switched off.
Started the motor with AdBlue in the diesel tank around Moorside?
Then that tank is no longer where the AdBlue is. Your filter and pipework have had it pulled along, and some running time carries it on to the injection pump and each injector.
Watch for lumpy running, exhaust smoke, falling power, lights on the dash, or a cut-out — coming back from Moorside Park, perhaps, or part way across Moorside. When safe, stop and switch everything off — without restarting to test. With each start, more of it is pulled through.
Leave the M61, under a mile from Moorside, by the next junction and park somewhere safe, not carrying on.
A quick hop across Moorside to the car park by Holy Rood is one matter; heading towards Salford, under 5 miles away, is something else, since every mile pushes the AdBlue further in. So mileage counts. Approximately how far had it come? Tell us.
Once the engine has run, the flush covers more, and all of it is done where the vehicle has come to a stop. Very rarely does it leave permanent damage if it is spotted quickly.
Emptying AdBlue in a diesel around Moorside: what it takes
The vehicle stays where it is, whether that is a road near Moorside High School Sport Centre, a driveway, a layby or a filling station in Moorside, and the van travels to it. The job depends on three answers, and we get first — what was put in, the quantity, and whether the motor has turned over.
Next, draining that tank on the spot removes the polluted diesel and the AdBlue in one go. The system is purged thoroughly, which matters more with AdBlue than with petrol, because what it leaves behind doesn't rinse out on its own. Fresh diesel goes in after your filter is cleaned — or swapped, if it needs to be — and then the car is tested. If your engine hasn't run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once our technicians are there. Explosion-proof pumps mean a live forecourt safe to work on, and they run quiet enough to spare the neighbours at night.
New diesel goes in to prime the system, and that's the last step. Firing it up comes next, and then you drive off from where your car is parked, at the nearest station or on a driveway around Moorside. Before leaving, we confirm it is running smoothly with fresh diesel in. No workshop is required at any stage, with the entire job done then and there. Afterwards, you are given paperwork for the insurer: a VAT invoice plus a written report from the engineer.
About Moorside itself
Moorside is a suburban area in Greater Manchester, situated near the River Irwell and close to the city of Salford. Moorside has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are the most common, and its population is around 5795 people. Moorside is located near other local places such as Hazelhurst and Dales Brow, and it is about 3.1 miles from Salford. Moorside sits at an elevation of 46 metres above sea level, in a riverside setting that is characteristic of this part of the North West region.
AdBlue drains across Moorside and Greater Manchester
The teams that answer AdBlue call-outs around Moorside also cover the spots round it, Hazelhurst, Dales Brow and Deans among them, and most of Greater Manchester beyond, across the M postcode area. If you are near a boundary, or somewhere hard to explain, ring and ask rather than assuming.
No towing is needed. In Moorside, a residential suburb, a van that comes to you works: the car is emptied on the spot, be it in a drive, a residential street, a parking area or a forecourt.
Moorside: what AdBlue in a diesel tank costs to fix
There is no honest single quote, since the jobs are not the same. The cost moves first with how long, if at all, your engine has been running, and next with the amount of AdBlue that got in. After that it rests on where the car is and whether our van can reach it safely, which is simpler on an open drive than in a tight space behind Graham Matthews Cricket Ground.
What got in, how much, and if it ran: each Moorside enquiry begins by asking exactly that, ahead of a quote, not after. With those replies, a range narrows to one fixed number.
Our price is given during the call, before a van leaves; settling up happens on the day, by card or by phone, and nothing upfront. Check your insurance whilst we're on the way: many carry misfuelling cover.
Moorside: still next to your car?
Then, do nothing — that's the most helpful move available. Keys out; engine and ignition off. Tell us it's AdBlue, about how big an amount, and if the engine ran, on 0333 366 0103. From there Petrol in Diesel handles it, in Moorside or anywhere within Greater Manchester.