AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Rock Ferry: What Now?
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if the engine has run since it went in. Over in Tranmere or here in Rock Ferry, an unstarted engine should stay that way. Switch nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, then count on a thorough flush plus a drain, carried out just where your car sits around Rock Ferry. Already started? Stop when you safely can, then turn everything off. The job is bigger, but the first stage is the same.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever in Merseyside it happened.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Rock Ferry forecourt
You are at the petrol pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Be it Shell, Esso or somewhere else around Rock Ferry, the situation is the same.
Meaning? Spotting it on the forecourt is the best it can be. No pump has drawn it through, so the AdBlue sits only in your tank.
Next: resist the urge to start it just to free up the petrol pump. Ring us from the forecourt once your vehicle is in a bay — the staff will lend a hand to push it — then save the bottle. Can't move the vehicle beside the pump? Explosion-proof equipment makes a live forecourt sensible, and so it can be drained in place.
At home around Rock Ferry with AdBlue in your diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. Only at the recycling bin, the empty container in hand, did you look back at the cap you had used at the drive. Driveways close to Bedford Road get it as much as any other street.
Meaning? As long as the vehicle hasn't moved since, it's close to the pump case. On the floor of that tank sits where AdBlue stays, since it will not blend with diesel — and a night passing makes nothing of the difference.
Next: keys in the house, and so no one takes your car off at breakfast. Then, ring. Your drive is where it is drained, be it in Rock Ferry or Dacre Hill. Even at night, our pumps are quiet enough for a residential street.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving in Rock Ferry?
Filled up, pulled away, and soon the motor was turning roughly, smoking, losing power, or lighting up the dash. It might have been driving to Liverpool, under 3 miles away, or simply down Chatham Road.
Meaning? Your pump has taken the AdBlue up. It's been through your filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and the fuel injectors. It goes further with every mile driven and every restart.
Stop safely — that is the first step — then turn everything off. Service stations farther along are too far: from the M53, under 3 miles out of Rock Ferry, use the next junction. Restarting it to check gets nothing — AdBlue never clears itself. Tell us know the distance driven as you call.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You've just had the car a week. The AdBlue filler sits right beside the diesel one, which you did not know, since your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Any driver, wherever around Merseyside, could do the same.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it has run, with one more stage. Any work on the car frequently needs the owner's approval under hire or fleet agreements.
Settling it before we turn up is quicker, and so phone the hire company or your fleet manager, and then us. Stuck near St Anne's Catholic Church or at the nearest station till someone answers, your car remains turned off the whole time.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Rock Ferry?
At times the honest answer is "I think so". A faint ammonia whiff lingers near your filler, the bottle seems too light, and the cap you took off is hard to recall. Maybe at a friend's driveway in Woodhey, or in a rush outside Rock Ferry Primary School at the school run.
What it means: a little spilled round your filler does no damage to the engine. In the diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue damages it. You can't tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so will suck in any AdBlue that is in the tank.
Take it that it was put in, and never turn your key. Phone with the details: we'd sooner confirm a tank free of AdBlue than drain one once the motor has been run.
What each AdBlue drain in Rock Ferry has in common
Whatever the case, one opening is used. Filling station, driveway, The Bedford's car park or a street beside St Paul's Church — our van comes to the vehicle, and three questions come next: which liquid, what quantity, and if it has run. Over the phone, before dispatch, you are told our price, and those answers shape the job too.
AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some metals used in fuel systems, so it does not wash out unaided; that is why a full flush, after this drain, counts far more here than with petrol. Then comes the filter — flushed, or replaced where necessary — followed by clean diesel, and a test of the car. Most unstarted vehicles are a half-hour visit after the moment our engineers turn up.
Firing it up comes at the end. With fresh diesel in, it runs while our engineers make sure it's running smoothly, and then we go. The entire job is done where your car is, and if it is noticed quickly, lasting damage is very unusual. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Many policies include misfuelling, so check yours as we head over.
About Rock Ferry
Rock Ferry is a coastal suburban area in Merseyside, situated near the city of Liverpool. Rock Ferry sits at an elevation of 19 metres, with its terraced housing stock reflecting the typical architectural style of the North West region. Rock Ferry is close to several local parks, including Rock Park and Egerton Park, and is located near Dacre Hill. Rock Ferry is a relatively small area, with a population of approximately 8861 residents.
AdBlue drains across Merseyside, Rock Ferry included
Rock Ferry is a residential suburb, and the same vans that cover it work the towns near it too, Rock Park and Egerton Park among them, across the CH postcode area. Fastest of all: a CH42 2 postcode to show your location.
Parked en route to Victoria Park, or right in the centre of Rock Ferry, the car stays where it is — there's no need to move it at all. Draining is done on the spot. Guessing won't help beside Highfield Church, close to a county line or anywhere awkward to describe; ring and check.
Your situation, in one line
Unstarted? Leave it off and phone. Run already: stop, switch down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, in Rock Ferry or wherever in Merseyside.