AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Scaitcliffe: What Now?
Everything hinges on a single fact: whether the engine has been run since the AdBlue went in — more than anything else. Over in Fern Gore or right in Scaitcliffe, an unstarted engine must remain that way. Usually that is emptying and properly cleaning it right there around Scaitcliffe — and so leave your key and engine off then ring 0333 366 0103. Where your motor has been run, stop somewhere safe straight away, then switch the car off. A larger job, then, yet the identical first move.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever across Lancashire it happened.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Scaitcliffe forecourt
Just now, bottle still in your hand, it dawns on you that the cap you took off was the wrong one, right at the pump. It might be the Esso, or the Texaco, or a different forecourt in Scaitcliffe.
The point: of every spot to notice, the forecourt is the best. Nothing has drawn it in, so the AdBlue sits just inside the tank.
Clearing the petrol pump is no reason to start it — so do not get back in. Three things: a push into a space with the attendants assisting, the receipt kept, and a call to us from the forecourt. The equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a live forecourt, and so a car that cannot be pushed away is emptied right at the petrol pump.
AdBlue in the diesel tank at home around Scaitcliffe
For days the dash had been warning you. Bought a container, poured it in at home, recycled the empty — and only then looked at the cap again, too late. It occurs on drives just off Hope Street as commonly as anywhere.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. On the bottom of the tank sits exactly where AdBlue stays, since it won't mix with diesel — and a night passing changes no difference.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so no one moves the car in the morning. Then ring. Woodnook or Scaitcliffe: wherever your driveway sits, that's where it gets emptied. Late-night clears beside a house are no problem: the pumps are quiet.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around Scaitcliffe?
Rough running, smoke, falling power or a glowing dashboard started a mile or two after the top-up. Perhaps it was on Ormerod Street, maybe on the way out towards Preston, under 15 miles away.
What it means: your fuel system has sucked the AdBlue in. Mileage decides how far it gets: filter and lines first, then the injection pump and each injector. More driving, more restarts: further it goes.
What to do: pull over where it's safe then switch off. On the M65, under 3 miles from Scaitcliffe, that means the next junction, not the services further on. Don't restart it to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Call, saying how far your car went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
It's a car you have had for a week. The AdBlue filler sits right alongside the diesel filler, which you didn't know, since your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Wherever you happen to be in Lancashire, every motorist can slip up.
Put simply: one extra stage on top of the situations above, and those depend on if it has run. Plenty of rental and company agreements need the owner's sign-off for repairs.
Your move: rental firm or your fleet manager first, us next, because sorting it beforehand cuts time. Waiting for an answer at the car park outside Accrington, or near St. Peter? Leave your engine off throughout.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Scaitcliffe?
Occasionally the fair answer is "I think so". Too light, the bottle; a trace of ammonia round your filler; a hazy recollection of the cap. Look familiar? The gates of Accrington Spring Hill Community Primary School in a rush, perhaps, or someone's driveway out in Lower Fold.
Put simply: a spill round the filler leaves your motor no harm. In the diesel tank, however, AdBlue damages it. If there is AdBlue in the tank, turning on the vehicle would draw it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Take it that it got in, and don't start your engine. Checking a tank that turns out free of AdBlue is better than draining one once it has been run — so ring then tell us what you noticed.
Each AdBlue drain in Scaitcliffe shares these stages
No matter the case, one start applies. Anywhere your vehicle stands — The George's car park, a road by Accrington Library, a driveway, a forecourt — the van gets there and we ask about the fluid, the amount, plus whether the motor has been run. Those answers decide the work, and you get the quote by phone, before anybody heads out.
AdBlue crystallises and eats at certain metals in fuel systems, and so it does not rinse out on its own; that's why a full flush, after the drain, counts much more with AdBlue than with petrol. Your filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the car is tested. Where your engine hasn't run, expect about half an hour once we arrive, for most cases.
Starting it comes last. Before our technicians leave, it is checked to be sure it runs correctly on clean diesel. Our engineers do the whole job where the car is, and long-term damage is very rare if it has been noticed early. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money in advance. Check your insurance before we arrive: cover for misfuelling comes built into plenty of policies.
About Scaitcliffe, briefly
Scaitcliffe is a suburban area in Lancashire, situated on the riverside with a mix of terraced housing and other residential properties. Scaitcliffe sits at an elevation of 159 metres, approximately 13 miles from Preston and 181 miles from London. Scaitcliffe is close to nearby places such as Woodnook, Accrington, and Spring Hill, and has a population of around 9000 residents. Scaitcliffe forms a distinct community within the wider region, with its own local character.
AdBlue drains about Scaitcliffe and across Lancashire
Scaitcliffe is a residential suburb, and the same teams that cover it work the towns near it too, Accrington and Spring Hill among them, across the BB postcode area. The location is clearest from a postcode that starts BB5 0.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to Oak Hill Park or in a car park in the middle of Scaitcliffe, it doesn't need to shift. We drain the car where it stands. Guessing doesn't help near St James, Accrington, close to a county line or somewhere awkward to pin down; phone and ask.
The one-line version
If it has not started, ring and leave it off. Started by now? Stop, switch off, phone. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest whatever it is, in Scaitcliffe and Lancashire, on 0333 366 0103.