AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Scotby: What Now?
Everything hinges on a single detail: whether your engine has started since the AdBlue went in — far more than anything else. Not started yet? Then keep the car like that, wherever the vehicle sits — Scotby or Harraby. Keep nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, then expect a thorough flush plus a drain, done just where your car sits in Scotby. Where your engine has been run, pull in safely first, then turn the car off. A bigger job, then, but the same first step.
Anywhere across Cumbria it happened, one of the cases below fits yours.
At the pump around Scotby: AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you only spot it as you are standing at the pump, bottle or the nozzle in your hand. Somewhere in Scotby, then — Tesco, BP, or somewhere else close by.
What it means: this is the best spot to find out. Still in your tank, and nothing pulled through: that is where the AdBlue sits.
Next: avoid the urge to start it only to move away from the pump. Get the staff to lend a hand pushing it to a space, save the receipt, then phone us right there. If it cannot be shifted, it can be cleared at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt.
Scotby, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. Only by the recycling, the empty bottle in hand, did you look back at the cap you had used at the driveway. Driveways near Parkett Hill see it as much as any other street.
Put simply: if the car has not moved since, it is nearly as good as spotting it at the pump. At the floor of your tank is exactly where AdBlue stays, because it won't mix with diesel — and a night going by changes no difference.
Put your keys in the house overnight — or a person might drive it off at breakfast — then phone us. In Aglionby or here around Scotby, the draining happens at your drive. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
Scotby: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Lumpy running, smoke, lost power or a lit dashboard arrived a mile or two beyond the top-up. Lambley Bank, perhaps, or the route towards Carlisle — a run of under 3 miles.
The point: your system has pulled AdBlue through by now. Mileage decides how far it gets: filter and lines to begin with, then the injection pump and every injector. More driving, more restarts: deeper it goes.
Next: pick a safe place, pull in, and switch your engine off. Scotby sits under a mile from the M6; there, come off at the first junction instead of pushing on for the services. No trial restarts: clearing itself is not something AdBlue will do. Let us hear the mileage driven when you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You've had the vehicle barely a week. The AdBlue filler is right beside the diesel one, which you didn't know, because your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. It can happen to anyone, anywhere around Cumbria.
Meaning? Whichever applies above counts here — run or unrun — plus one further step. Many hire and company contracts need the owner's sign-off for repairs.
Settling it before the van arrives is quicker, and so phone the rental company or your fleet manager, and then us. Stuck near All Saints Church or at Wetheral till someone answers, your car remains switched off the whole time.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Scotby?
Occasionally the fair answer is "I think so". A faint ammonia whiff lingers near your filler, the bottle seems too light, and which cap came off is a blur. Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Scotby CofE Primary School, or on a friend's drive in Wetheral Plain.
The point: the motor isn't hurt by some AdBlue spilled around the filler. In the diesel tank, however, AdBlue harms it. Starting your car cannot tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in that tank it will draw it in.
Do this: act as if it got in, and don't start the engine. Phone and give what you saw: we would rather find a tank free of AdBlue than drain one after your engine has run.
Every AdBlue drain in Scotby shares these stages
Whatever the case, a single start applies. Three things are asked once we reach the car — at a forecourt, a drive, a street beside Scotby Village Hall or the car park outside The Royal Oak: the liquid, the quantity, and whether the motor has been started. Over the phone, ahead of anything else, you hear the quote, and those replies shape the job too.
Draining the tank comes first, followed by a careful flush — more important with urea than with petrol, since crystals and corrosion will not go on their own, no matter how long it sits. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Never started? In that case about half an hour on site covers most jobs.
The last step is firing it up. Before we go, it's tested to confirm it runs correctly on new diesel. The entire job is done where the car is, and if it's noticed soon, permanent damage is very rare. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money in advance. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Scotby
Scotby is a village situated on the River Eden in Cumbria, with a low elevation of around 39 metres. Scotby lies close to the city of Carlisle, approximately 2.4 miles away, and is near other small settlements such as Aglionby and Botcherby. Scotby has a population of around 1009 people and is characterised by predominantly detached housing. Scotby is located in the North West region of England, about 259.7 miles from London.
AdBlue drains across Cumbria, Scotby included
Over CA postcodes, the vans covering Scotby — a village — reach surrounding places as well, Garlands and Botcherby among them. Your location is clearest from a postcode beginning CA4 8.
Central Scotby or a layby near Hartley Trust Playing Field: either way it sits, your vehicle doesn't need to move an inch for this drain. Our technicians drain the vehicle where it is. Tricky to explain? Close to Carlisle Golf Club or a county line? Checking beats guessing, and so phone.
The one-line version
Engine not started: ring, leaving it alone. Already run: stop, switch off then ring. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there in Scotby and anywhere around Cumbria on 0333 366 0103.