What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Scartho
All of that hinges on a single detail: whether your engine has been run since the AdBlue went in — far more than anything else. Out in Waltham or right around Scartho, an unstarted motor should remain unrun. Switch nothing on, call 0333 366 0103, and count on a thorough flush after a drain, carried out right where your car sits in Scartho. Pull over the minute you safely can then switch off, if it has already run. The job is bigger, yet the first step is the same.
Wherever in Lincolnshire it took place, one of the situations below matches yours.
Scartho forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
You are at the pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. It could be the JET, or the Esso, or another station around Scartho.
The point: of all places to find out, this is the best. Nothing has pulled it through, so the AdBlue stays only in the tank.
Clearing the petrol pump is no excuse to start it — so don't get back in. Have the attendants to help pushing it to a bay, save the bottle, then phone us right there. Emptying it right at the pump is possible if it cannot be moved, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home in Scartho with AdBlue in your diesel tank
On your dash, a reminder had been lit for days. Only by the recycling, the empty container in hand, did you glance back at the cap you'd used on the driveway. Just off Southwold Crescent is no different from anywhere.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue stay separate: the AdBlue drops to the floor of the tank and remains put, no matter how long it waits.
Put the keys in the house tonight — otherwise someone may take it off first thing — then call us. Nunsthorpe or Scartho: whichever your drive is, that's where it is cleared. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around Scartho?
Topped up, drove away, and before long the engine was turning unevenly, blowing smoke, losing power, or flashing up the dash. Possibly it was on Lancing Way, perhaps on the way out towards Kingston upon Hull, under 25 miles away.
What it means: the system has sucked the AdBlue in. The high-pressure pump and every injector get it too on a longer trip, once your filter and pipework have had it. It travels further with each mile covered and every restart.
Stop somewhere safe — that's the first job — then turn it off. Scartho lies under 15 miles from the M180; on it, pull off at the next junction rather than pushing on to the services. It won't have cleared, and so there's no point restarting to check. Phone us and say how far you went.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
It is a vehicle you have had for a week. The AdBlue filler is right beside the diesel filler, which you did not know, since your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Throughout Lincolnshire, nobody is safe from it.
Put simply: one extra stage on top of the situations above, and those turn on whether it has run. Many hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on the car.
Do this: rental firm or fleet manager first, us next, since sorting it beforehand cuts time. If you are stuck in the car park at Grimsby Town, or by Grimsby Rugby Union Football Club, whilst you wait for an answer, leave the vehicle off.
Scartho: unsure if it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
At times the honest answer is "I think so". Which cap came off, you can't say; meanwhile the bottle feels lighter than it ought to, and ammonia lingers by your filler. Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Fairfield Academy, or on a friend's drive in New Waltham.
Meaning? Drips outside the inlet don't touch your motor at all. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. You can't tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so will draw in any AdBlue that is in that tank.
Next: assume it got in, and keep the engine off. Describe what you noticed on the phone. A clear tank looked at counts as a happier result than a run one drained.
The common ground in every Scartho AdBlue drain
Whichever scenario you are in, the job starts the same way. Filling station, driveway, Rose and Crown's car park or a road by Scartho Village Community Centre — our van reaches your car, and three answers come next: which fluid, what amount, and whether it ran. Those replies decide the work, and you get the quote on the phone, before anyone sets off.
Then your tank is drained and the system flushed thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not rinse out on its own. Clean diesel is put in once the filter has been cleaned or replaced, and the car is then checked. Never started? In that case roughly half an hour on site covers most jobs.
We fire it up last. We make sure it runs properly on clean diesel before we leave. Our engineers do the entire job where the car is, and long-term damage is very unusual when it has been caught quickly. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, nothing upfront. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Scartho, for a moment
Scartho is a suburban area in northern Lincolnshire, situated near the coast and approximately 18 metres above sea level. Scartho lies within commuting distance of Kingston upon Hull, which is about 17 miles away, and is close to nearby places such as Nunsthorpe, Bradley, and Grange. Scartho has a population of around 5197 people and predominantly consists of semi-detached housing.
Scartho and Lincolnshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Being a residential suburb, Scartho has the same vans as the surrounding towns — Grange, Bradley — all the way across DN postcodes. A postcode starting DN33 3 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Centre of Scartho or a lay-by towards Bradley Gairs: either way it sits, your vehicle never needs to shift an inch for the drain. The van empties it where it stands. If you are somewhere hard to describe, close to St Giles church Hall or close to a border, ring and ask instead of assuming.
The one-line version
Engine not started: ring, leaving it alone. Run already: pull over, switch down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, in Scartho or anywhere in Lincolnshire.