What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Newton
Has your engine run since the AdBlue got in? This one point decides nearly everything about what comes next. Not run so far? Then leave the car that way, wherever your vehicle sits — Newton or Salwick. Leave the motor and your ignition off and call 0333 366 0103; it is normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Newton. Stop the minute you safely can then switch off, if it has been run. Stage one stays unchanged, even if the job is bigger.
Further down: the situations we meet, wherever across Lancashire. Pick yours.
At the petrol pump in Newton: AdBlue in a diesel
You're at the pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Somewhere in Newton, then — Texaco, another forecourt nearby, or somewhere else close by.
Meaning? Finding out here is as good as it gets. The AdBlue is in the tank and nowhere else. Nothing has sucked it in.
Your move: keep out of the car, even if the queue needs clearing. Ask the attendants to help you roll your car into a parking spot, keep your receipt or the bottle, and phone us from the forecourt. Stuck by the pump? Our explosion-proof kit makes a busy forecourt safe, so it can be drained in place.
Newton, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
On your dash, a warning had shown for days. Picked up a bottle, poured it in outside the house, recycled the empty — and only then checked the cap a second time, too late. Houses just off Bryning Lane are caught out as often as anywhere else.
The upshot: no miles since leaves it nearly as good to spotting it at the petrol pump. Being reluctant to blend, AdBlue drops low in your tank and stays. A night standing alters none of that.
Put your keys indoors overnight — or someone may take it away first thing — and phone us. In Newton-with-Scales or right here around Newton, the draining is done on your drive. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Newton: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Filled up, drove away, and soon your engine was turning unevenly, smoking, down on power, or flashing up your dash. Anywhere along School Lane or else on the road towards Preston — under 10 miles away.
The point: your system has drawn AdBlue through already. Past the fuel filter, through the pipework, and — the further the mileage — on into the high-pressure pump and every injector. It travels further with each mile driven and every restart.
Your move: stop anywhere safe, then turn the engine off. Exit by the first junction — not the services beyond — if you're on the M55, under 3 miles from Newton. Restarting it to check gets nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear itself. Call us and say how far you drove.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company vehicles
You have had the car hardly a week. The AdBlue filler is right next to the diesel filler, which you did not know, because your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Across Lancashire, no one is safe from it.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it has run, with one more stage. Many hire and fleet contracts require the owner's sign-off for work.
Your move: rental firm or your fleet manager to begin with, us next, because sorting it beforehand cuts time. Leave it off as the reply arrives, even if you're waiting at Salwick or near St John the Evangelist.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Newton?
Now and then, "I think so" is all anyone can truthfully say. Lighter, the bottle; a trace of ammonia round your filler; no clear recollection of the cap. Sound familiar? The gates of Newton Bluecoat Church of England Primary School in a rush, say, or a friend's driveway over in Treales.
Put simply: a spill near your filler does your engine unharmed. Once it's inside the diesel tank, though, it does. You cannot tell which by turning the key, and doing so would suck in any AdBlue that is in that tank.
Next: assume it went in, then keep the motor off. Ring with what you saw: we would rather confirm a tank free of AdBlue than empty one once your engine has run.
What each AdBlue drain in Newton has in common
No matter the case, a single opening is used. Anywhere your vehicle stands — Bell & Bottle's car park, a street by Freckleton Village Hall, a driveway, a forecourt — our van gets there and we ask for the liquid, the amount, and whether the engine has turned over. Answers set the job; the quote follows on the call whilst nobody has set off yet.
Then your tank is drained and the fuel system flushed thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't rinse out on its own. Clean diesel is put in after your filter has been cleaned or replaced, and your car is then tested. The majority of unrun vehicles are a half-hour visit from the moment we turn up.
Last, our technicians start the car. With fresh diesel in, it runs while our technicians confirm it is running correctly, and then we head off. Long-term damage is very unusual when it is noticed soon, and the entire job is done where the car is. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, nothing in advance. Plenty of policies include misfuelling, so check yours while the van travels.
About Newton itself
Newton is a suburban area in Lancashire, situated inland at an elevation of 18 metres, approximately 5.8 miles from Preston. Newton forms part of the wider Preston urban area, with nearby places including Newton-with-Scales, Dowbridge, and Clifton. Newton has a population of around 845 people, predominantly living in detached housing.
Newton and Lancashire: AdBlue drains across the area
Throughout PR postcodes, the teams serving Newton — a residential suburb — reach surrounding places as well, Dowbridge and Clifton among them. A postcode starting PR4 3 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No moving is needed, be it stopped in the centre of Newton or on a layby en route to Freckleton War Memorial, so leave it put. The drain is done on the spot. Guessing won't help near Freckleton Library, close to a county line or somewhere awkward to describe; ring and ask.
The one-line version
Unstarted? Leave the car that way and ring. Already run: stop, switch off then call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there in Newton and anywhere across Lancashire on 0333 366 0103.