AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Port Elphinstone, and What to Do Next
Everything hinges on one detail: whether the motor has been run after the AdBlue was added — far more than anything else. Not started yet? Then leave it like that, whether your vehicle sits — Port Elphinstone or Kintore. Leave your motor and your ignition off and ring 0333 366 0103; it's usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Port Elphinstone. When the motor has been run, pull in somewhere safe first, then switch it off. The job is bigger, but the first stage is the same.
Anywhere around Aberdeenshire it took place, one of the cases below matches yours.
Port Elphinstone forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you only notice it as you're standing at the pump, bottle or nozzle in your hand. It might be the BP, or the Tesco, or a different forecourt in Port Elphinstone.
What it means: this is the ideal place to find out. Just your tank holds AdBlue; no part past it has taken any in.
Next: avoid the urge to fire it up just to move away from the pump. Phone us from the forecourt after the vehicle sits in a space — the attendants will help push it — then keep the bottle. Can't move the car by the petrol pump? Our explosion-proof equipment makes a live forecourt safe, and so we can drain the vehicle where it is.
At home around Port Elphinstone with AdBlue in your diesel tank
Days had gone by with the warning light on. A bottle bought at the shop, emptied in on the driveway — and it was just at the bin that the cap got a second look. It occurs on drives just off Elphinstone Road as commonly as anywhere.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. As it is unable to blend, AdBlue drops low inside your tank and waits. A night parked changes none of that.
Put your keys indoors overnight — otherwise a person might take it away at breakfast — and phone us. Inverurie or Port Elphinstone: wherever your drive sits, that's where it gets cleared. Even at night, the pumps are quiet enough for a driveway.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in Port Elphinstone?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later the motor began to run unevenly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. A96, say, or the route towards Aberdeen — a trip of under 15 miles.
The upshot: the system has drawn AdBlue in already. It has been through the fuel filter and the fuel lines and, the further you went, into your high-pressure pump and your injectors. Every restart, like each mile, pushes it deeper.
What to do: pull over where it's safe and switch off. On the M90, over 50 miles from Port Elphinstone, that means the next junction, not the services further on. No test starts: clearing isn't something AdBlue does. Tell us hear the mileage driven when you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company motors
It is a vehicle you have had for a week. Your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere, and so nothing warned you the AdBlue inlet sits right beside your diesel. Across Aberdeenshire, nobody is safe from it.
The upshot: just as above, split by whether it ran, only with one added stage. Many rental and fleet agreements need the owner's approval before work.
Next: ring the rental company or your fleet manager first, and then us — settling it before we arrive is quicker. If you are stuck in the car park outside Inverurie, or by Broomend of Crichie Stone Circle / Henge, whilst you wait for an answer, leave the car off.
Port Elphinstone: unsure if it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Occasionally the honest answer is "I think so". A faint ammonia-like whiff lingers near your filler, the bottle feels too light, and the cap you took off is a blur. A hurried stop by the gates of the local primary school, or a call to a friend in Hillbrae: either fit.
What it means: a little spilled about the filler does no harm to the engine. Once it is inside your diesel tank, though, that changes. You can't tell which by turning the key, and doing so would draw in any AdBlue that is in that tank.
Your move: behave as though it did, and don't start the motor. Ring with what you saw: we'd sooner find a tank free of AdBlue than drain one once your motor has been run.
Port Elphinstone: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Each case gets the same start to the job. Anywhere the vehicle is — Kintore Arms's car park, a street by Standing Stone, a driveway, a filling station — our van gets there and we ask for the liquid, the amount, and if the engine has been run. Over the phone, ahead of dispatch, you are told our quote, and those replies shape the job too.
Then your tank is emptied and the system flushed thoroughly, which matters more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not rinse out on its own. Last are the fuel filter, flushed or renewed as needed; clean diesel; and a check of your car. If your engine hasn't run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
The last step is starting the car. Before we head off, it is checked to make sure it runs properly on clean diesel. Our engineers do the whole job where your car is, and long-term damage is very rare if it has been spotted soon. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, nothing upfront. Dig out your insurance before we're en route: cover for misfuelling comes built into many policies.
About Port Elphinstone itself
Port Elphinstone is a suburban area situated on the riverside in Aberdeenshire, with a mix of semi-detached housing and other residential properties. Port Elphinstone lies approximately 13 miles west of Aberdeen, near the towns of Inverurie and Clovenstone. Port Elphinstone has a population of around 1178 people and is located at an elevation of 70 metres. Port Elphinstone is part of the wider Aberdeen urban area, but retains its own distinct character.
Port Elphinstone and Aberdeenshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Clovenstone and Aquhythie get the identical teams as Port Elphinstone, a residential suburb, plus further towns over AB postcodes. The location comes quickest from a postcode beginning AB51 5.
No moving is required, be it stopped in the centre of Port Elphinstone or on a layby en route to Davidson Field, so keep it put. Our engineers drain the car where it is. Ring and check rather than guess when you're by Davidson Field Pavilion, on a border, or anywhere awkward to explain.
The one-line version
Not run yet: keep the vehicle off then call. Run already: pull over, power down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder, within Port Elphinstone or anywhere in Aberdeenshire.