AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Pitmedden: What Now?
All of it turns on a single detail: if your motor has started since the AdBlue was added — more than anything else. Wherever your car is — Pettymuick, Pitmedden — never start an engine that has not run yet. Call 0333 366 0103 with your key and motor both off. Across Pitmedden, that is generally emptied and cleaned on the spot. When your motor has run, stop somewhere safe straight away, then turn the vehicle off. Step one stays the same, even if the job is bigger.
Further down: the situations we meet, anywhere across Aberdeenshire. Pick yours.
At the petrol pump in Pitmedden: AdBlue in a diesel
Imagine it: stood by the pump, holding the bottle, you spot the cap you opened wasn't the correct one. It might be the Esso, or perhaps the another forecourt nearby, or another station in Pitmedden.
In short: there is no better place to be to spot it. The AdBlue is inside the tank and nowhere else. Nothing has pulled it in.
Clearing the pump is no reason to run it — and so do not get back in. Ask the staff to help you push the vehicle into a parking space, keep the receipt or the bottle, and phone us from the forecourt. If it cannot be moved, it can be cleared at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt.
Pitmedden, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. Only by the recycling, the empty bottle in your hand, did you look back at the cap you had opened on the drive. Right off Oldmeldrum Road is not different from anywhere.
Meaning? Provided your car hasn't been driven since, it's second to the pump case. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of that tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Next: prevent an early-morning drive by putting your keys indoors, then phone us. Udny Green or Pitmedden: whichever your drive is, that is where it gets cleared. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Pitmedden: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later the motor began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Somewhere along B999 or else heading towards Aberdeen — under 15 miles away.
Meaning? Your fuel pump has sucked the AdBlue in. It has been through the filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and your injectors. Every restart, like each mile, pushes it deeper.
Do this: stop somewhere safe, then switch your motor off. Pitmedden sits over 50 miles from the M90; there, come off at the first junction instead of pushing on to the services. No test starts: clearing is not something AdBlue will do. Call us and say how far you drove.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You have had this car barely a week. Your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere different, so nothing warned you the AdBlue cap sits just beside the diesel. Across Aberdeenshire, no one is safe from it.
In short: one extra stage on top of the cases above, which depend on if it has run. The owner frequently has to approve any work, under plenty of rental and fleet contracts.
Next: ring the hire company or your fleet manager first, then us — settling it before we arrive is faster. Keep it switched off as the answer arrives, whether you're waiting at Inverurie or near Pitmedden Church.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank in Pitmedden?
Sometimes the fair answer is "I think so". What cap was taken off, you can't recall; meanwhile the bottle weighs lighter than expected, and a whiff of ammonia hangs by the filler. It might have been on a friend's drive in Ythsie, or in a rush outside the local primary school at the school run.
The upshot: your engine is not hurt by a little AdBlue spilled on the filler. A diesel tank with AdBlue inside is another story. Firing up the vehicle will not tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in your tank it would draw it in.
Do this: behave as if it did, and don't start the engine. Describe what you noticed on the phone. A clear tank looked at counts as a better outcome than a run one drained.
Each AdBlue drain around Pitmedden shares these steps
No matter the case, a single opening is used. Filling station, drive, The Craft Bar's car park or a road by Pitmedden Village Hall — our van comes to the vehicle, and three questions follow: what fluid, what quantity, and if it ran. Your price is given on the call, before a van leaves, and those answers shape the job.
A thorough flush follows this drain. With petrol it is standard; with AdBlue it is crucial, since deposits build up and certain metals are attacked, and none of that rinses out unaided. Fresh diesel is put in after your filter has been flushed or replaced, and the car is finally tested. If your motor hasn't run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
The final step is starting it. We confirm it runs properly on fresh diesel before we leave. If it's spotted soon, the car very rarely has long-term damage, and the whole job takes place where it is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Pitmedden
Pitmedden is a village in Aberdeenshire, situated on the banks of the River Don at an elevation of 62 metres. Pitmedden lies approximately 13 miles west of Aberdeen and is surrounded by rolling countryside. Pitmedden has a mix of housing types, with semi-detached homes being predominant. Pitmedden is close to nearby villages such as Udny Green and Bridgend.
Pitmedden and Aberdeenshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Bridgend and Udny Station get the identical teams as Pitmedden, a village, plus further towns over AB postcodes. The whereabouts is quickest from a postcode that starts AB41 7.
Central Pitmedden or a layby towards Pitmedden Park: either way it is, your car doesn't need to move at all for us. We drain it where it stands. If you're somewhere hard to describe, near Pitmedden Garden or close to a boundary, ring and ask rather than guessing.
The one-line version
Engine never started: ring, leaving it alone. Started by now? Pull over, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder whatever case, in Pitmedden and Aberdeenshire, on 0333 366 0103.