AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Orchard Brae, and What to Do Next
One fact counts most once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is if your motor has run since. Not run so far? Then leave it like that, wherever your vehicle sits — Orchard Brae or Ravelston. Keep nothing on, call 0333 366 0103, and expect a thorough flush after a drain, done right where your vehicle sits around Orchard Brae. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. Step one remains unchanged, even if the job grows.
Anywhere around City of Edinburgh it happened, one of the cases below fits yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Orchard Brae forecourt
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. It might be the Esso, or the Sainsbury's, or another forecourt around Orchard Brae.
Meaning? Finding out here is as good as it gets. The AdBlue is in your tank and nowhere else. Nothing has pulled it in.
Freeing the petrol pump is no excuse to start it — so do not get back in. Have the staff to lend a hand pushing it into a bay, save the bottle, then phone us from there. Emptying it right at the petrol pump is possible if it cannot be shifted, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home around Orchard Brae with AdBlue in the diesel tank
Days had passed with the warning light on. A bottle bought at the shop, tipped in at the drive — and it's just at the bin that the cap caught a second look. It happens on driveways just off Craigleith Hill Crescent as commonly as anywhere.
In short: if your vehicle hasn't been driven since, it is nearly equal to spotting it at the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue stay separate: the AdBlue settles to the floor of your tank and stays there, no matter how long it waits.
Next: keys in the house, and so nobody takes the car anywhere first thing. After that, ring. Comely Bank or Orchard Brae: wherever your driveway sits, that's where it is cleared. Our pumping kit works quiet enough not to disturb the street at night.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around Orchard Brae?
Rough running, smoke, falling power or a glowing dashboard started a mile or two beyond the top-up. Craigleith Road, perhaps, or the route towards Edinburgh — a trip of under 3 miles.
The upshot: the system has pulled AdBlue through by now. The high-pressure pump and every injector see it too on a bigger trip, once the filter and pipework have had it. Every restart, like every mile, carries it deeper.
What to do: pull over where it's safe to do so and switch off. On the M8, under 5 miles from Orchard Brae, that means the next exit, not the services further on. Restarting it to test gets nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear on its own. Call, and say how far your car was driven.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
It is a vehicle you have had for a week. The AdBlue filler is right beside the diesel one, which you did not know, since your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Anyone, wherever in City of Edinburgh, might make it.
In short: one extra stage on top of the situations above, which turn on if it's run. Plenty of hire and company agreements need the owner's approval for repairs.
Sorting it before we turn up is quicker, so ring the rental company or your fleet manager, then us. Leave the car switched off as the reply comes, even if you are parked at Haymarket or near CWGC War Memorial.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank around Orchard Brae?
Occasionally the fair answer is "I think so". Too light, the bottle; a hint of ammonia round the filler; no clear memory of which cap. Look familiar? It might have been on a friend's drive in Drylaw, or rushing outside the local primary school on the school run.
In short: a spill round the filler leaves the engine unharmed. A diesel tank with AdBlue inside is another story. If there is AdBlue in your tank, starting your car will draw it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Next: act as though it got in, and leave your engine off. Call us and explain what you saw; we'd rather check a tank that turns out free of AdBlue than drain one that has already been run.
What every AdBlue drain in Orchard Brae has in common
No matter the situation, one start is used. Wherever your vehicle stands — The Scottish Engineer's car park, a road by TK Maxx, a driveway, a filling station — our van arrives and we ask about the liquid, the amount, plus whether your motor has been run. The price comes on the call, before a van leaves, and the answers shape the job.
Emptying that tank comes first, then a careful flush — more important after urea than with petrol, because crystals and corrosion won't go by themselves, no matter how long you wait. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and your car is tested. Most unstarted vehicles are a half-hour visit after the moment our engineers arrive.
The last step is firing it up. Our check that it runs correctly on new diesel comes before we go. Our technicians do the entire job where the car is, and lasting damage is very unusual when it has been spotted quickly. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Dig out your insurance before we arrive: misfuelling cover is built into many policies.
About Orchard Brae, for a moment
Orchard Brae is a suburban area in the City of Edinburgh, situated near the coast and approximately 1.7 miles from Edinburgh city centre. Orchard Brae is characterized by its predominantly flat-type housing and is close to nearby places such as Comely Bank, Craigleith, and Dean. Orchard Brae sits at an elevation of around 34 metres, with views of the surrounding area.
AdBlue drains in Orchard Brae, and across City of Edinburgh too
Being a residential suburb, Orchard Brae has the same vans as the nearby towns — Dean, Craigleith — right through EH postcodes. Your location comes quickest from a postcode beginning EH4 2.
Centre of Orchard Brae or a lay-by near Orchard Park North: wherever it is, your car never needs to shift an inch for this drain. Draining is done on the spot. Guessing doesn't help near War Memorial, close to a county line or somewhere hard to pin down; ring and check.
Your scenario, summed up
Not run yet: keep the car off then call. Whatever line applies, Petrol in Diesel takes over from there on 0333 366 0103, throughout City of Edinburgh and in Orchard Brae — after you stop, turn off and phone, if it has run.