AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Scotch Street, and What to Do Next
Everything turns on one fact: if your engine has been run since the AdBlue was added — far more than anything else. Wherever the car stands — Kilmore, Scotch Street — don't start an engine that has not been started yet. Switch nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, then expect a proper flush after a drain, carried out right where the car sits in Scotch Street. When the engine has run, pull in somewhere safe first, then turn the car off. Step one stays unchanged, even though the job is bigger.
Below: the cases our engineers meet, wherever around County Armagh. Choose yours.
On a Scotch Street forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Imagine it: stood by the pump, holding the bottle, you realise the filler you opened wasn't the right one. Perhaps you are at the the nearest petrol station, possibly at the another forecourt nearby, perhaps somewhere else in Scotch Street.
Meaning? Finding out here is the best it can be. No pump has drawn it through, so the AdBlue stays just in that tank.
Your move: stay out of the car, however much the queue needs freeing. Three jobs: a shove into a bay with the attendants assisting, the bottle saved, and a ring to us from the forecourt. If it can't be shifted, it can be cleared at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a working forecourt.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home around Scotch Street
For days the dash had been warning you. Only by the recycling, the empty bottle in hand, did you glance back at the cap you'd used at the drive. Houses just off Heugh Road are caught out as often as anywhere else.
The point: zero miles since makes this almost as good to finding it at the pump. As it is unable to blend, AdBlue drops low inside the tank and stays. One night standing changes nothing.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so no one moves your car in the morning. Then call. We drain it on your drive, whether that is around Scotch Street or out in Portadown. Night-time drains beside a house are fine: the pumps are quiet.
Scotch Street: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
A short way after filling up, your motor started playing up: roughness, smoke, less power, lights on the dash. Anywhere on Dunskey Street or on the road to Armagh — under 10 miles away.
What it means: the fuel system has pulled the AdBlue in. Through the fuel filter, through the pipework, and — the more the mileage — deeper into the injection pump and every injector. It goes deeper with every extra mile driven and each restart.
What to do: pull over where it is safe to do so and switch off. Services farther on are too far: from the M77, over 50 miles out of Scotch Street, use the first junction. Don't restart it to see if it has cleared; it will not have. About what distance did it gone? Say so when you call.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
Seven days ago, the car was unknown to you. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is absent or somewhere else. On this one, its cap is just next to the diesel cap — news to you. It can happen to anyone, anywhere around County Armagh.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it has run, with one more stage. Plenty of rental and company contracts need the owner's sign-off for repairs.
Next: phone the hire company or your fleet manager first, then us — sorting it before our arrival is faster. Hanging on for a reply at the car park at the nearest station, or beside the centre? Keep the car off meanwhile.
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Not sure, around Scotch Street
Honestly, the best answer might be that you think so. A slight ammonia-like smell lingers around the filler, the bottle seems too light, and which cap came off is hard to recall. The gates of the local primary school in a hurry, say, or a friend's driveway out in The Birches.
Meaning? Drips outside the inlet don't reach the motor at all. In the diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue damages it. You can't tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so would draw in any AdBlue that is in that tank.
What to do: treat it as if it was put in. Don't start the car. Inspecting a tank that turns out free of AdBlue is better than emptying one once it has been run — so phone and tell us what you saw.
The common ground in every Scotch Street AdBlue drain
Whatever the case, a single start is used. Three things come when our engineers reach the car — at a filling station, a drive, a street beside a street just off the centre or the car park at the pub in the village: the fluid, the amount, and whether it has been started. On the phone, ahead of anything else, you hear our quote, and those answers shape the work too.
Then your tank is drained and your 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, so it doesn't rinse out on its own. Last come your filter, flushed or replaced as needed; fresh diesel; and a check of your car. If the motor has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Starting it comes at the end. Our engineers check it runs correctly on new diesel before leaving. If it's caught early, the car very seldom has long-term damage, and the whole job happens where it is. Paying is that day, never in advance. For the insurer, there is a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Scotch Street
Scotch Street is a small locality in County Armagh, situated inland at an elevation of 24 metres, approximately 8.6 miles from the city of Armagh. Scotch Street is characterized by its semi-detached housing and is located near other settlements such as Portadown, Annahugh, and Tartaraghan. Scotch Street has a population of around 668 residents and is part of the wider Armagh area.
AdBlue drains across County Armagh, Scotch Street included
Annahugh and Tartaraghan get the same teams as Scotch Street, a small village, plus other towns throughout BT postcodes. Giving us your BT62 1 postcode finds you fastest of all.
Parked en route to the green space at the edge of the village, or right in the centre of Scotch Street, your car remains where it is — there's no need to move it anywhere. Where it sits, that's where it is cleared. Ring and ask rather than guess if you are by the far end of the built-up part, on a border, or somewhere tricky to pin down.
Your scenario, summed up
Engine not started: ring, and leave it alone. Already run: stop, switch off and ring. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there in Scotch Street and anywhere around County Armagh on 0333 366 0103.