AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Northmuir? Keep It Switched Off
Motor off, ignition off: that's where you start if AdBlue has gone into your diesel tank. AdBlue is urea dissolved in water. Being water-based, it won't burn and won't blend with diesel; trouble only starts once the pump begins drawing it. If your engine has not run yet, AdBlue in a diesel tank is usually drained and thoroughly purged where your car sits in Northmuir. No step comes before ringing 0333 366 0103.
Those opening minutes: AdBlue in your diesel tank in Northmuir
Things to do:
- Remove the keys, which prevents someone turning the power on.
- If you're at all near moving traffic, put the hazard lights on.
- Which product, and roughly how much volume? Hang on to the bottle or the receipt, and our technicians will know.
- Call us from where you are. A postcode starting DD8 4, or the name of the closest street, gets the van to you without a search.
Not to do:
- Moving your car just a few yards is no reason to fire up the engine.
- Your ignition remains off: on many diesels, turning it on is enough to start your fuel pump.
- Adding more diesel does not work: AdBlue settles out instead of blending.
- Leave the car where it is rather than driving it anywhere, even a short way up Mid Road.
- Emptying that tank yourself beside the road is not one to try.
At a forecourt in Northmuir, whether it's the Autosales or another one, ask the attendants to help you roll the vehicle away from the petrol pump. At home, your car stays exactly as it was left.
What AdBlue does in a diesel tank
Not your motor but your exhaust is where AdBlue is meant to go. Its own tank keeps it, and from there it's sprayed into your exhaust, and there it cleans the fumes. Nothing inside an injection pump is made for this fluid — and none of it was intended to go through one.
Inside a diesel tank it behaves really differently from fuel. It does not mix in. It sinks, since it is denser than diesel, and settles low where the pickup draws its fuel from. A car topped up on a drive in Southmuir overnight and not started since is the simple one. No pump has pulled the AdBlue up so far — but when your engine turns, that is what is pulled first, directly from the bottom of the tank.
Two kinds of damage come from there. It attacks some metals used in fuel systems, attacking whatever it reaches till it is cleared completely. And when the water evaporates, the urea turns into crystals that clog filters and lodge in narrow passages. A car left sitting around Northmuir with AdBlue already in its lines is worse by the morning; one with AdBlue only in its tank is not. The water in it does damage of its own: your high-pressure pump and your injectors rely on diesel to lubricate them, and water gives them nothing.
Why is AdBlue in a diesel commonly the bigger issue?
A fault of thinned fuel is what you get after fuelling a diesel with petrol at the Shell. It mixes with your diesel, and whilst it is in your tank it does no damage; the damage comes from running your engine on it.
With AdBlue in a diesel, the fluid as such is simply the wrong one. It does not burn, so it can't just be run through. Crystals and corrosion remain through the following fill, and AdBlue splits back from the diesel, and so thinning it won't work. That is why the flush counts more, and trying your engine "to see" does more harm here than nearly any other mistake — in Maryton or the centre of Northmuir equally.
With AdBlue, the good news is no different from petrol. If your engine has not run, the AdBlue is still in that tank, and the tank is the easiest part of a fuel system to clear, wherever in Angus your car is standing.
How does AdBlue end up in a diesel tank around Northmuir?
Plenty of cars put the AdBlue filler beside the diesel one, occasionally behind one flap, and in dim light the two can look identical. No one means it. A bottle picked up while heading home and poured in at home, instead of at the filling station, is the typical story.
It tends to happen in a few familiar ways. A warning light comes on during the school run, and the top-up occurs in a hurry outside the local primary school. After work, a bottle is tipped in on a driveway near Cortachy Road. Otherwise, in dim light outside Roods Bar, the vehicle is topped up by someone using that flap for the first time.
Rented vehicles, new motors, company motors, or the spare vehicle in a home with one of each: the least familiar vehicles get it the most. An identical slip, an identical first step — keep it off — wherever you are in Northmuir or the remainder of Angus.
AdBlue in the diesel tank around Northmuir, and your engine started?
If so, the AdBlue is no longer in your tank. Via the fuel filter, along the pipework, and — with any running — on to the high-pressure pump and each injector: that's how far it travels.
You may notice the engine running roughly, smoking, losing power, showing warning lights or cutting out, perhaps on the way back from Caddam Wood or halfway across Northmuir. Pull over when it is safe. Turn off. Keep the vehicle off rather than testing it again. Each start pulls more of that through.
If you were on the M90, under 50 miles from Northmuir, come off at the next exit and stop somewhere safe instead of pressing on.
A quick hop across Northmuir to the car park by Northmuir Hall is one matter; driving towards Dundee, under 25 miles away, is another, because every mile pushes the AdBlue further in. So distance matters. Let us know roughly how far it had come.
There's more to clean out once your engine has been run, and we do all of it where the car has ended up. Very seldom does it leave long-term damage if it is caught early.
Clearing AdBlue in a diesel around Northmuir: what it takes
Wherever it has stopped around Northmuir — a forecourt, a lay-by, a drive, a road beside Peter Pan Mosaic — the van comes to your car. The job depends on three answers, which we get first — which fluid got in, the quantity, and whether the motor has turned over.
Next, emptying the tank on the spot takes out the polluted diesel along with the AdBlue in one go. The system is flushed thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol, because what it leaves behind does not rinse out on its own. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the car is tested. The majority of these jobs are a half-hour job once our engineers turn up, provided the motor hasn't run. Low-noise enough for use outside a house at night, and fine on a busy forecourt, our pumps are explosion-proof.
Last, your system is bled with fresh diesel. You set off as soon as our technicians have started the car, and it makes no difference whether the vehicle is on a driveway in Northmuir or in a space outside the nearest station. Before we go, our technicians confirm it is running smoothly with new diesel in. The entire job is done where the vehicle is, so it never has to go to a workshop. The insurer is likely to want an engineer's report and your VAT invoice — both yours once this job is done.
About Northmuir, briefly
Northmuir is a suburban area in Angus, situated inland at an elevation of 162 metres, with detached housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Northmuir lies approximately 15.7 miles from Dundee and is close to nearby places such as Tillyloss, Kirriemuir, and Wellbank. Northmuir has a population of around 1756 residents and is located in a scenic area of eastern Scotland. Northmuir is also relatively distant from major cities like London, being around 376.2 miles away.
AdBlue drains across Angus, Northmuir included
Our teams that answer AdBlue call-outs around Northmuir also cover the places about it, Tillyloss, Kirriemuir and Wellbank among them, and most of Angus beyond, across the DD postcode area. Guessing won't help by a county line or anywhere tricky to pin down; phone and ask.
No moving is needed. In Northmuir, a residential suburb, a mobile service fits: your vehicle is drained on the spot, be it on a drive, a side street, a car park or a forecourt.
What does AdBlue in a diesel tank cost to sort out around Northmuir?
Not one single figure could be honest, because each job differs. Whether your engine has been running, and for how long, comes first in what changes the price. How much AdBlue went in comes next, and then the position of the car, because an open drive is simpler for our van to get to safely than a tight gap behind Kirriemuir Camera Obscura.
Ahead of any figure, not afterwards, every call from Northmuir begins with three questions: the liquid, the quantity, plus whether the engine ran. Given those replies, a range narrows to one fixed number.
Our quote is quoted during the call, before anyone sets off; payment happens on the day, by card or by phone, and nothing upfront. Misfuelling cover comes with many insurance policies, so it pays to look at yours before the van arrives.
In Northmuir and still alongside the car?
In that case, do nothing — that is the most helpful step there is. Ignition off, motor off, keys out. Say it's AdBlue, roughly how big an amount, and if it ran, on 0333 366 0103. After that Petrol in Diesel takes over, across Northmuir or wherever within Angus.