Don't Start It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Pomeroy
Motor off, ignition off: that is how you begin if AdBlue has got into your diesel tank. Urea dissolved in water is all AdBlue is. It doesn't burn, it doesn't mix with diesel, and the harm it does begins when the system draws it in. In Pomeroy, AdBlue in a diesel tank found before the engine runs normally comes down to a drain and a thorough flush, just where your car is. First, phone us on 0333 366 0103.
AdBlue in the diesel tank around Pomeroy: the first few minutes
Things to do:
- So no one can switch the ignition on, pull your keys away.
- Hazards on, if moving traffic is anywhere close.
- Which product, and roughly what amount? Save the bottle or the till receipt, and our technicians can see.
- Give us a postcode starting BT70 2, or whichever street lies closest, and our van finds you straight — so call wherever you are.
Not to do:
- Do not start the motor, even for a moment to move the car.
- Do not switch your ignition on. On plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump.
- No more fuel added. The AdBlue won't blend, and so it's wasted.
- Don't drive the vehicle anywhere, not even a short distance along Wallace Cottages.
- Beside the road, don't try emptying it on your own.
Ask the people behind the counter to help you roll your vehicle off the pumps if you are on a forecourt around Pomeroy, whether it is the the nearest petrol station or elsewhere. On the drive, your car stays just as it was left.
AdBlue in a diesel tank: what it does
AdBlue is made for your exhaust, not your motor. From a separate tank it is fed straight to the exhaust, cleaning what your engine emits. A fuel pump isn't designed to cope with it, and AdBlue was never supposed to go through one.
Inside a diesel tank it behaves really differently from fuel. It doesn't mix in. It's heavier than diesel, and so it sinks and collects at the bottom of the tank, which is where the pickup pulls fuel from. Easiest of all: one that had AdBlue in Altmore overnight and hasn't been started since. The AdBlue waits at the base of your tank, undrawn — but it would be the first thing through if the engine starts, ahead of any diesel at all.
It causes two kinds of damage from there. Crystals and corrosion. As the water dries, it strands urea that crystallises in filters and tiny channels; meanwhile, because it attacks certain metals, each part it reaches suffers for as long as it stays inside. If the AdBlue is in the lines, leaving it till morning around Pomeroy leaves things worse. In that tank alone, time costs nothing. Diesel lubricates the injection pump and each injector as it passes; water offers none of that, and that is a separate form of damage.
Petrol or AdBlue in a diesel: why AdBlue is commonly worse
Fill a diesel with petrol in error at the another forecourt nearby, and the problem is diluted fuel. It mixes with the diesel, and while it's in the tank it causes no harm; the harm comes from running your motor on it.
The trouble with AdBlue in a diesel is a completely wrong liquid. It can't just be run through, because it does not burn. Whether the car sits in Rock or the centre of Pomeroy, firing it up "to see" does more harm in this case than almost any other error, and the flush matters for more. The reasons: it will not remain mixed, so diluting it fails; and deposits and corrosion outlast the following tankful.
With AdBlue, the good news is no separate from petrol. Wherever around County Tyrone your vehicle has come to rest, an unrun engine means the AdBlue yet in the tank: the simplest part of any fuel system to clear.
How does AdBlue end up in a diesel tank around Pomeroy?
In dim light, two caps side by side — the AdBlue cap and the diesel one, occasionally under a single flap — may look the same. No one intends it; many layouts allow it. It usually takes place at home, from a container grabbed on the journey home, rather than at the forecourt.
Mostly, it takes place in one of a few familiar ways. A warning light comes on during the school run, and the top-up takes place in a hurry outside the local primary school. Close to B842, someone tips a container in on the drive in the evening. Another version: dim light, the car park outside the pub in the village, and a driver using that flap the first time.
The least familiar cars see it the most — rentals, brand-new ones, company ones, and the other vehicle in a family with one of each fuels. Keep it off: that is the first response to the same mistake, anywhere in Pomeroy or the remainder of County Tyrone you are.
Already started the motor with AdBlue in your diesel tank around Pomeroy?
If so, the AdBlue is no longer inside your tank. Given any running time, it travels to the high-pressure pump and every injector, having passed through your filter and pipework.
Rough running, smoke from the exhaust, lost power, dashboard lights or stalling: any may appear, maybe midway across Pomeroy or returning from the green space at the edge of the village. Once you safely can, pull over and switch it off — without restarting to see. More of it is pulled through with each start.
Pomeroy sits over 50 miles from the M77; if you were on it, leave at the next junction and pull up safely instead of driving on.
A quick hop across Pomeroy to the car park by the centre is one thing; heading for Armagh, under 25 miles away, is another, because every mile pushes the AdBlue further in. So mileage counts. Approximately how far had it come? Tell us.
Once the engine has been run, the flush takes in more, and all of it is done where the car has come to a stop. Permanent damage is very rare if it's noticed early.
What does an AdBlue drain on a diesel involve around Pomeroy?
A street beside a street just off the centre, a driveway, a lay-by or a forecourt: wherever the vehicle has stopped around Pomeroy, our engineers come to it. Three replies shape the work, so first our engineers ask which fluid was put in, about what quantity, and whether the motor has run.
On the spot, your tank is then emptied, and all of the contaminated diesel and the urea leave at once. A careful flush matters far more after AdBlue than after petrol, since what remains will not wash away on its own. Your filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and your car is tested. The majority of these jobs are a half-hour visit once our technicians arrive, provided the engine hasn't run. Our equipment is explosion-proof, so a live forecourt is no fault, and it is quiet enough for a residential street after dark.
Lastly, your system is bled with new diesel. Whether it's a parking bay at the nearest station or a driveway around Pomeroy, that is where we fire it up and you head off. The check before our technicians head off is that it runs correctly on fresh diesel. The whole job is done where the car is, so it never needs to be taken to a garage. You get a VAT invoice and an engineer report later on, which is what insurers ask for.
About Pomeroy, for a moment
Pomeroy is a small locality in County Tyrone, situated inland at an elevation of 139 metres, and is located approximately 19.9 miles from Armagh. Pomeroy has a population of around 542 people and is characterized by predominantly terraced housing. Pomeroy is close to nearby places such as Killay, Shanmaghery, and Cappagh, and is part of the wider rural landscape of Northern Ireland.
AdBlue drains in Pomeroy and across County Tyrone
The vans that answer AdBlue call-outs around Pomeroy also cover the places around it, Killay, Shanmaghery and Cappagh among them, and most of County Tyrone beyond, across the BT postcode area. Near a border, or anywhere awkward to explain? Asking beats guessing, so ring.
Pomeroy is a small village, and an on-site drain suits it: whether the vehicle is on a home drive, a residential street, a car park or a forecourt, our technicians drain it where it stands, and so it never needs to be moved to us.
What does AdBlue in a diesel tank cost to sort out in Pomeroy?
Every job differs, and so no single price is fair. Three things shift the price: whether the motor has been running and for how long, how much AdBlue got in, and where the car is. That last one rests on whether our van can reach it safely, and an open drive is easier than a tight space behind the far end of the built-up part.
That is why each call from Pomeroy starts with the same three queries, asked before giving a figure, not after: what went in, how much, and if it's run. When they are known, a range becomes a single fixed number.
Before a van heads out, you are told our price by phone. And payment is on the day, card or by phone, with nothing in advance. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
Still alongside the vehicle in Pomeroy?
Right now, the best thing to do with the car is to leave it. Ignition off, engine off, keys out. Ring 0333 366 0103: AdBlue, the amount, and if it ran is all our engineers ask. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder throughout County Tyrone, Pomeroy included.