Nigg: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Find Your Situation
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if your engine has been run since it got in. Over in Cove Bay or here in Nigg, an unrun engine should stay unrun. Ring 0333 366 0103 with the ignition and motor still off. Across Nigg, that is generally drained and cleaned on the spot. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. The job is bigger, yet the first step is the same.
Below: the situations we see, wherever across Aberdeen City. Choose the one that fits.
At the pump around Nigg: AdBlue in a diesel
You are 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. Whether Shell, H2 Aberdeen or somewhere else around Nigg, the situation is identical.
The point: of all places to find out, the forecourt is the best. The AdBlue is inside the tank and nowhere else. Nothing has drawn it in.
Clearing the pump is no excuse to start it — so do not get back in. Ask the attendants to help you push your car into a parking spot, keep the receipt or the bottle, and ring us from the forecourt. Stuck beside the pump? Explosion-proof kit makes a live forecourt safe, so we can drain the car in place.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Nigg drive?
Days had gone by with the dash light on. Only by the recycling, the empty container in hand, did you look back at the cap you'd used on the drive. It takes place on driveways just off Redmoss Avenue as regularly as anywhere.
The upshot: no driving since makes it almost as good to finding it at the petrol pump. Diesel and AdBlue stay apart: the AdBlue drops to the base of your tank and remains there, however long it waits.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so nobody moves the vehicle in the morning. Then call. Your driveway is where it gets drained, whether around Nigg or Altens. Our pumping kit runs quietly enough that it won't wake the neighbours at night.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel around Nigg?
Lumpy running, smoke, falling power or a glowing dashboard started a short way beyond the top-up. Maybe it was on Redmoss Place, possibly on the way out towards Aberdeen, under 3 miles away.
What it means: your fuel system has drawn the AdBlue in. Distance decides how far it goes: filter and pipework to begin with, then the injection pump and each injector. Each restart, like every mile, pushes it deeper.
Pull in safely — that's the first step — then turn it off. Service stations further on are too far: from the M90, over 50 miles out of Nigg, take the next junction. It will not have cleared, so there is no sense restarting to find out. Let us hear the mileage driven as you call.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
A week ago, the car was unknown to you. Your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or puts it somewhere different, and so nothing told you the AdBlue cap sits right beside your diesel. Across Aberdeen City, no one is safe from it.
Meaning? Whatever applies above applies too — run or unrun — and one extra stage. Work on the vehicle often needs the owner's approval under rental or company agreements.
Your move: rental firm or fleet manager first, us second, because sorting it early saves time. Hanging on for a reply at the car park outside Aberdeen, or near Nigg Kirk? Leave the car off meanwhile.
Nigg: unsure whether it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
At times, "I think so" is the most you can truthfully say. Too light, that bottle; a trace of ammonia near your filler; no clear recollection of which cap. Look familiar? The gates of the local primary school in a rush, say, or a friend's driveway out in Ruthrieston.
The upshot: your engine isn't hurt by a little AdBlue splashed on the filler. Inside your diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue harms it. If there is AdBlue in that tank, turning on your car would draw it in, and it would not tell you which either.
What to do: treat it as if it got in. Do not start the car. Phone with the details: we'd rather find a tank free of AdBlue than drain one after your motor has been run.
The common ground in each Nigg AdBlue drain
Whatever the case, a single opening is used. Our technicians come to the car, whether it's at a forecourt, a driveway, the car park at Wellington Hotel or a side street near Nigg War Memorial, and ask three things: what went in, roughly how much, and whether the motor has been run. The price comes over the phone, ahead of anyone setting off, and the replies set the work.
A thorough flush comes after this drain. With petrol it's routine; with AdBlue it is essential, since crystals build up and some metals are attacked, and none of that rinses out unaided. Finally are the filter, flushed or replaced if necessary; clean diesel; and a check of your vehicle. Most unrun vehicles are a half-hour job from the moment our engineers turn up.
Our technicians start the car at the end. Our engineers make sure it runs correctly on new diesel before we go. We do the entire job where the vehicle is, and permanent damage is very rare if it has been caught early. Nothing is paid upfront, settlement happens on the day, and you get what the insurer asks for: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Worth remembering: lots of insurers include misfuelling cover, so a check of your documents as we travel is worthwhile.
About Nigg and where it is
Nigg is a suburban area located on the coast of Aberdeen City, sitting at an elevation of 83 metres and approximately 2.3 miles from Aberdeen city centre. Nigg is characterized by its terraced housing and is situated near other suburban areas such as Altens, Tullos, and Kincorth. Nigg has a population of around 1519 residents and is part of the larger Aberdeen urban area.
AdBlue drains around Nigg, and across Aberdeen City too
Nigg is a residential suburb, and the same vans that cover it work the places near it too, Tullos and Kincorth among them, across the AB postcode area. Quickest of all: a AB12 3 postcode to show your location.
Centre of Nigg or a layby towards Kincorth Hill Local Nature Reserve: either way it sits, your car doesn't need to shift an inch for the drain. The van empties it in place. Tricky to explain? Close to Balmoral Stadium or a border? Asking beats guessing, and so phone.
Your scenario, in one line
If it has not run, phone then leave it off. Already run: stop, switch off then call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there around Nigg and anywhere around Aberdeen City on 0333 366 0103.