AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Ruthrieston: What Now?
Has your engine run since the AdBlue went in? That one point settles nearly everything about what comes next. Over in Garthdee or right around Ruthrieston, an unrun motor should stay that way. Ring 0333 366 0103 with your ignition and motor both off. Across Ruthrieston, that is typically drained and flushed where it stands. Where the motor has been run, stop safely first, then turn the car off. A bigger job, then, yet the identical first move.
Compare your case to a situation from the list below, anywhere in Aberdeen City you happen to be.
On a Ruthrieston forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Only now, bottle still in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you opened was the wrong one, right at the pump. Anywhere around Ruthrieston, then — Asda, Sainsbury's, or somewhere else close by.
Meaning? Finding out on the forecourt is the best it can be. Still in the tank, with no fuel drawn through: that's where the AdBlue is.
Your move: stay out of the car, however much the pump needs freeing. Ask the staff to help you roll your car into a parking space, keep the till receipt or the bottle, then call us from the forecourt. Our equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a live forecourt, and so a vehicle that cannot be pushed clear is cleared right at the pump.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Ruthrieston drive?
For days the dashboard had been nagging you. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look again at the cap. Homes just off Crathie Gardens East are hit as much as everywhere else.
Meaning? As long as your vehicle has not moved since, it is second to the forecourt case. Diesel and AdBlue stay apart: the AdBlue settles to the floor of that tank and stays there, no matter how long the night.
Put the keys indoors overnight — otherwise a person may drive it away first thing — then phone us. Ferryhill or Ruthrieston: whichever your drive is, that's where it gets cleared. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel around Ruthrieston?
Filled up, pulled away, and before long the motor was running unevenly, smoking, losing power, or lighting up your dash. It might have been heading for Aberdeen, under 3 miles away, or just along Riverside Drive.
Meaning? Your fuel pump has sucked the AdBlue in. Distance decides how far it goes: filter and lines first, then the high-pressure pump and every injector. It travels deeper with every extra mile covered and each restart.
Next: pick a sensible place, stop, then turn your motor off. Service stations further on can wait: on the M90, over 50 miles out of Ruthrieston, take the next junction. It won't have cleared, and so there is no sense starting it again to check. Tell us know the mileage covered when you ring.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
A week back, the car was new to you. The AdBlue filler is right next to the diesel filler, which you didn't know, since your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Wherever you happen to be around Aberdeen City, any driver could be caught.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it's run, with one more stage. Plenty of hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on your car.
Next: phone the hire company or your fleet manager first, then us — sorting it before we arrive is quicker. Stranded by South Holburn Parish Church (Ruthrieston South Church) or outside Aberdeen till the firm answers, your vehicle stays turned off throughout.
Unsure about AdBlue in your diesel tank around Ruthrieston?
"I think so" is often as honest answer there is. A slight ammonia whiff lingers near your filler, the bottle seems too light, and the cap you took off is hard to recall. Perhaps it happened in a hurry at the school gates at the local primary school, or on a friend's drive in Kincorth.
The point: your engine isn't hurt by some AdBlue splashed around the outside. Inside the diesel tank, however, AdBlue damages it. Any AdBlue in your tank will be pulled in by firing up the vehicle, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Do this: behave as though it got in, and never start the engine. Describe what you saw on the phone. A clear tank checked counts as a better result than an already-run one drained.
Every AdBlue drain in Ruthrieston shares these steps
Whichever situation you are in, the job starts the same way. Three questions are asked when our engineers reach the car — on a filling station, a driveway, a street by War Memorial or the car park outside The Abergeldie Bar: the fluid, the amount, and whether it has been started. Your price comes on the call, before a van leaves, and the answers shape the work.
Emptying your tank comes next, then a careful flush — more vital with urea than after petrol, since crystals and corrosion will not go by themselves, however long it sits. Clean diesel is put in once the fuel filter has been cleaned or replaced, and your car is then tested. If your motor has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Last, our engineers fire it up. Our test that it runs properly on fresh diesel comes before our technicians head off. We do the whole job where the vehicle is, and long-term damage is very uncommon when it has been noticed early. Paying comes that day, never in advance. For your insurer, there is a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Ruthrieston itself
Ruthrieston is a coastal suburban area in Aberdeen City, situated approximately 1.6 miles from Aberdeen city centre. Ruthrieston sits at a low elevation of around 14 metres, with its predominant housing stock consisting of flats. Ruthrieston is located near other suburban areas such as Ferryhill, Kaimhill, and Mannofield, and is home to a population of around 5575 people.
Ruthrieston and Aberdeen City: AdBlue drains across the area
Ruthrieston is a residential suburb, and the same vans that cover it work the places near it too, Kaimhill and Mannofield among them, across the AB postcode area. Quickest of all: a AB10 7 postcode to show where you stand.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to Inverdee Playing Fields or in a car park in the middle of Ruthrieston, it does not need to move. The drain is done right there. If you're somewhere hard to explain, close to Ruthrieston Community Centre or close to a border, ring and ask rather than guessing.
The one-line version
Not run yet: keep the car off then ring. Run by now: stop, power down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, in Ruthrieston or wherever in Aberdeen City.