AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Pendleton? Don't Start It
Motor off, ignition off: that is where you begin if AdBlue has gone into the diesel tank. Urea mixed in water is what AdBlue is. It does not burn, it doesn't mix with diesel, and the harm it does starts when the system draws it in. If the motor hasn't run yet, AdBlue in a diesel tank is normally drained and carefully flushed where the car sits in Pendleton. Before anything, ring us on 0333 366 0103.
Your next steps straight away, Pendleton: AdBlue in your diesel tank
Do:
- Pull the keys out, and so no one switches your ignition on.
- Hazards on, if moving traffic is at all near.
- Which fluid, and roughly what quantity? Hang on to the bottle or the till receipt, and we can know.
- Call us from where you are. A postcode starting M6 5, or the name of the nearest street, gets our van to you without a search.
Not to do:
- No starting the engine — not for a second, not to shift the vehicle.
- Don't switch your ignition on. On plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump.
- Do not top up with diesel to dilute it. AdBlue doesn't dilute in diesel; it separates out.
- Never drive it anywhere, not even a short stretch along Hankinson Way.
- Don't try to drain the vehicle yourself by the roadside.
The attendants on duty at any Pendleton filling station — the Tesco among them — will normally lend a hand rolling it aside if you ask. At your own driveway, don't touch it at all.
AdBlue in a diesel tank: what it does
AdBlue is made for your exhaust, not your engine. It goes into its own tank and is sprayed into your exhaust gas to fresh it. Nothing in it is meant to pass through a fuel pump, and nothing in a fuel pump is built to handle it.
Poured in with the diesel, it stays apart instead of mixing — quite unlike fuel. It's heavier than diesel, and so it sinks and gathers at the bottom of your tank, which is where the pickup draws fuel from. A car filled on a driveway in Salford yesterday evening and not started since counts as the simple case. Nothing has sucked the AdBlue up yet — though when your motor runs, that's what is pulled first, straight from the bottom of that tank.
From there it does two kinds of damage. What remains when the water evaporates is urea, which forms crystals: they settle in tiny passages and block filters. On top of that, it eats at some metals in a fuel system, and keeps going till it is cleared out. A vehicle left sitting in Pendleton with AdBlue already in its lines is worse by the morning; one with AdBlue just in its tank is not. And there is the water: it brings no protection to the components that rely on it the most — the injection pump and every injector.
Why AdBlue in a diesel is frequently more serious than petrol
Petrol put into a diesel on BP's forecourt leaves your fuel watery — that is the main problem. It mixes with the diesel, and whilst it is inside that tank it does no damage; the damage comes from running the engine on it.
AdBlue in a diesel is a problem of the wrong substance altogether. It can't simply be run through, since it does not burn. Nor can it be watered down, since it splits back out — and the next fill won't rinse away deposits or corrosion. So the flush counts for more here, and turning the key "to see", in the heart of Pendleton or out in Seedley, costs more than nearly any other error.
With AdBlue, the good news is no different from petrol. If the engine has not run, the AdBlue is still inside that tank, and the tank is the simplest part of a fuel system to clear, wherever across Greater Manchester your car is standing.
How AdBlue ends up in a diesel tank around Pendleton
No one means to do it. The AdBlue filler on many motors sits right next to your diesel filler, occasionally under the same flap, and the two caps can look alike in poor light. Mostly it takes place with a bottle bought on the way home and poured in on the driveway, not at the forecourt.
The ways it happens are few and familiar. Hurrying, outside Holy Family VA RC Primary School, after a warning lamp flashed on during the school run, someone tops up the car. Close to Churchill Way, someone pours a container in at home in the evening. Or your car is topped up in the car park at The Winston, in poor light, by a person who has never opened that flap before.
It takes place most in the vehicles drivers know least: a hire car, a new vehicle, a company car, or the second vehicle of a household with one diesel and one petrol. Leave it off: that is the first response to the same slip, wherever around Pendleton or the rest of Greater Manchester you happen to be.
Already started the engine with AdBlue in the diesel tank in Pendleton?
The AdBlue has left that tank, then. Through the filter, through the pipework, and — given any running — on to the high-pressure pump and each injector: that is how far it travels.
Lumpy running, smoke, lost power, dashboard warnings or stalling: each may appear, perhaps part way across Pendleton or coming back from Broadwalk Park. When safe, pull over then switch it off — with no restarting to see. With each start, more of it is pulled through.
Exit the M602, under a mile from Pendleton, at the first junction and park somewhere safe, not carrying on.
A quick hop across Pendleton to the car park by Salford Market is one thing; heading towards Salford, under a mile away, is something else, since every mile carries the AdBlue deeper in. So mileage counts. Approximately how far had it come? Tell us.
Once the engine has been run, the flush includes more, and all of it is done where the vehicle has stopped. When it is spotted quickly, permanent damage is very uncommon.
What does an AdBlue drain on a diesel involve in Pendleton?
We come to the car, wherever it has stopped in Pendleton: a side street near Brotherton House, a drive, a lay-by or a forecourt. The job rests on three answers, and our technicians ask for before all else — what got in, the amount, and whether the motor has turned over.
Next, draining your tank on the spot removes the polluted diesel and the AdBlue in one go. The fuel system is cleaned thoroughly, which counts 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 replaced, when it needs to be — and then the vehicle is tested. If your engine hasn't run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once our technicians are there. Quiet enough for use outside a house at night, and safe on a working forecourt, the pumps are explosion-proof.
New diesel goes in to bleed the system, and that's the final step. Whether it's a parking bay outside Salford Crescent or a drive around Pendleton, that is where we start it and you head off. The check before our engineers leave is that it runs properly on clean diesel. Our engineers do it all wherever the car has stopped, and it never has to be taken to a workshop. Insurers ask for a VAT invoice and an engineer report, and you get both at the end.
About Pendleton and where it is
Pendleton is a suburban area in Greater Manchester, situated near the city of Salford and close to other nearby places such as New Windsor and Wallness. Pendleton lies inland, with an elevation of around 46 metres, and is characterized by a high proportion of flat housing. Pendleton is home to a population of approximately 10,071 residents, who live in close proximity to the amenities of Salford. Pendleton is located about 164 miles northwest of London, making it a commuter hub for the surrounding area.
AdBlue drains across Pendleton and Greater Manchester
New Windsor, Wallness and Brindle Heath are among the towns near Pendleton that the same vans serve, along with most of Greater Manchester further out, over the M postcode area. Ring and check instead of guessing if you are close to a county line, or somewhere awkward to explain.
Pendleton is a residential suburb, and a mobile drain suits it: whether the car is on a home drive, a residential street, a car park or a forecourt, our engineers drain it where it stands, so it never needs to be moved to us.
AdBlue in a diesel tank around Pendleton: the cost of fixing it
Since each jobs vary, a flat price wouldn't be honest. Three things change the cost: whether the engine has been running and for how long, how much AdBlue was put in, and where the vehicle is. That last one comes down to whether our van can reach it safely, and an open driveway is easier than a tight space behind Salford Shopping Centre.
That's why each call from Pendleton starts with the same three queries, asked before giving a figure, not after: what was put in, how much, and whether it's run. When those are answered, a range becomes one firm number.
Our price is given during the call, before anyone sets off; payment comes on the day, by card or over the phone, with nothing upfront. Misfuelling cover is part of many insurance policies, so it pays to look at yours before the van gets there.
In Pendleton and still alongside the car?
Then the most useful thing you can do is nothing to the vehicle. Motor off, keys out, ignition off. Phone 0333 366 0103 and tell us it's AdBlue, about how much, and if it has run. Petrol in Diesel takes it from there, around Pendleton or anywhere around Greater Manchester.