What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Robroyston
All of that turns on a single detail: whether the motor has started since the AdBlue was added — far more than anything else. Wherever the vehicle is — Old Balornock, Robroyston — don't run an engine that hasn't been started yet. Switch nothing on, phone 0333 366 0103, and count on a proper flush plus a drain, carried out right where your vehicle sits in Robroyston. When your motor has been run, pull in safely straight away, then switch the car off. It is a larger job, though stage one does not change.
Below: the situations our technicians meet, anywhere around Glasgow City. Choose yours.
Robroyston forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Only now, bottle still in hand, you realise that the cap you opened was the wrong one, right at the pump. It could be the Asda, or perhaps the JET, or another forecourt in Robroyston.
What it means: this is the best location to find out. The AdBlue is in the tank and nowhere else. Nothing has pulled it in.
What to do: don't get back in and crank it to clear the petrol pump. Have the attendants to help rolling it into a space, hold on to the bottle, then ring us from there. If it can't be moved, it can be emptied at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt.
At home in Robroyston with AdBlue in the diesel tank
On your dash, a reminder had shown for days. Picked up a bottle, poured it in outside the house, binned the empty — and only then looked at the cap a second time, after the fact. Homes just off Standburn Road are hit as often as anywhere else.
Put simply: if your car hasn't moved since, it is nearly as good as spotting it at the forecourt. On the floor of your tank sits exactly where AdBlue stays, since it will not mix with diesel — and a night passing makes no difference.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so nobody moves your car in the morning. Then call. Out in Barmulloch or right here around Robroyston, the draining is done on your driveway. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving in Robroyston?
Topped up, drove away, and soon your engine was running unevenly, blowing smoke, down on power, or lighting up your dash. Perhaps it was on Leglen Wood Road, perhaps on the way out towards Glasgow, under 3 miles away.
The point: the system has drawn AdBlue through already. Past your filter, along the pipework, and — the more the distance — deeper into the injection pump and each injector. Each restart, like every mile, carries it deeper.
Next: pick a sensible place, pull in, then switch the motor off. Robroyston lies under a mile from the M80; there, come off at the first junction instead of pushing on for the services. It won't have cleared, and so there's no sense restarting to find out. Tell us hear the mileage driven when you ring.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
A week back, it was new to you. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is absent or elsewhere. On this one, its inlet is right next to the diesel cap — a surprise to you. Anyone, wherever in Glasgow City, might do it.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it has run, with one more step. Any work on your car frequently requires the owner's approval under rental or fleet agreements.
Next: phone the hire company or your fleet manager first, and then us — settling it before our arrival is faster. Stranded by Barmulloch Community Centre and Library or outside the nearest station till the firm replies, your vehicle remains switched off throughout.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Robroyston?
At times, "I think so" is all you can truthfully say. A slight ammonia smell hangs near your filler, the bottle feels too light, and which cap came off is hard to recall. The gates of the local primary school in a rush, perhaps, or someone's driveway over in Hogganfield.
The point: the motor isn't harmed by a little AdBlue splashed on the outside. Once it is inside your diesel tank, though, it does. Starting the car won't tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in your tank it would draw it in.
What to do: treat it as if it went in. Don't start the car. Inspecting a tank that turns out clean is better than draining one once it's been run — so ring then tell us what you saw.
Every AdBlue drain around Robroyston shares these steps
Whichever scenario you are in, this job starts the same way. Wherever the car is — Wallace Well Farm's car park, a road by St Catherine Labouré RC Church, a drive, a forecourt — the van gets there and asks for the liquid, the quantity, and whether your motor has been run. Your price is given over the phone, before a van leaves, and the answers shape the job.
A thorough flush comes after the drain. With petrol it's standard; with AdBlue it is essential, since crystals build up and certain metals corrode, and neither washes out unaided. Clean diesel goes in after the filter has been flushed or changed, and the car is then tested. Where the engine hasn't been started, expect about half an hour on site, in most jobs.
Finally, our technicians fire it up. With new diesel in, it runs while our engineers make sure it is running smoothly, and then we head off. Lasting damage is very rare when it is noticed early, and the whole job is done where the car is. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money in advance. Dig out your insurance while we arrive: cover for misfuelling is included in plenty of policies.
About Robroyston
Robroyston is a suburban area located on the outskirts of Glasgow, sitting at an elevation of 86 metres in the inland setting of Glasgow City. Robroyston is characterised by its predominantly detached housing stock, with the area being close to neighbouring communities such as Barmulloch and Balornock. Robroyston is situated approximately 2.6 miles from Glasgow city centre, making it a popular residential choice. Robroyston has a population of around 5142 people, according to approximate figures.
AdBlue drains around Robroyston and across Glasgow City
Robroyston is a residential suburb, and the same vans that cover it work the places near it too, Balornock and Auchinairn among them, across the G postcode area. The whereabouts is clearest from a postcode beginning G21 3.
No towing is needed, whether stopped centrally in Robroyston or in a lay-by heading to Robroyston Park, and so leave it where it is. Our van empties it in place. Phone and check rather than guess if you are close to Wallace Monument, near a boundary, or anywhere awkward to pin down.
Your scenario, in one line
Unstarted? Keep the car that way and ring. Run by now: pull over, switch down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest, within Robroyston or anywhere in Glasgow City.