What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Scout
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: whether the motor has been run since it went in. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether the vehicle is in Scout itself or out in Whitewell Bottom. Leave your engine and your ignition off and call 0333 366 0103; it is generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is around Scout. Pull over the minute you safely can then turn off, if it has already run. The job is bigger, but the first step is the same.
Wherever around Lancashire it happened, one of the cases below fits yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Scout forecourt
Only at this point, bottle yet in hand, you realise that the cap you took off was the wrong one, there at the petrol pump. Be it Shell, Texaco or somewhere else around Scout, the situation is the same.
Put simply: no better spot to be to spot it. Still in the tank, with nothing pulled through: that's where the AdBlue is.
Next: resist the temptation to fire it up just to move away from the pump. Ask the staff to help you push the car into a parking bay, keep your receipt or the bottle, then call us from the forecourt. Emptying it there at the petrol pump is fine when it cannot be shifted, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
Scout, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. Only at the recycling bin, the empty bottle in your hand, did you glance back at the cap you had used on the drive. It occurs on driveways just off Shaw Clough Mews as frequently as anywhere.
Meaning? Provided the car hasn't been driven since, it is close to the pump case. Being unable to mix, AdBlue drops low inside your tank and waits. One night parked alters none of that.
Keep the keys in the house overnight — or a person may drive it off at breakfast — and call us. Shaw Clough or Scout: whichever your drive is, that is where it is cleared. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
Scout: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
A short way after topping up, your engine started misbehaving: rough running, smoke, less power, lights on your dash. Anywhere along Burnley Road East or else heading towards Salford — under 25 miles away.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been sucked through the system. The injection pump and each injector get it as well on a longer trip, once the filter and lines have had it. It travels deeper with every mile covered and every restart.
Stop safely — that is the next job — then turn it off. Exit by the next junction — not the services beyond — if you are on the M66, under 5 miles from Scout. Restarting it to test achieves nothing — AdBlue never clears on its own. Tell us know the distance driven when you ring.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company vehicles
A week back, the car was unknown to you. Your own car either has no AdBlue or puts it elsewhere, and so no one warned you the AdBlue inlet sits right next to your diesel. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in Lancashire.
The point: just as above, split by whether it ran, but with one added stage. Plenty of hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on the vehicle.
Do this: hire firm or your fleet manager first, us next, because settling it early saves time. If you are stuck in the car park at Burnley Manchester Road, or by St Anne, while you wait for an answer, leave your car off.
Scout: unsure if it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
At times, "I think so" is all anyone can honestly say. Which cap was taken off, you can't recall; meanwhile the bottle weighs lighter than expected, and ammonia lingers by the filler. A rushed top-up by the gates of St Anne's Church of England Primary School, or a visit to a friend in Newchurch: both fits.
Meaning? Drips outside the filler don't reach your motor at all. Once it's inside the diesel tank, though, that changes. If there is AdBlue in that tank, firing up your car will suck it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Your move: behave as though it did, and never start the engine. Phone and give the details: we would rather find a tank free of AdBlue than drain one after your engine has been run.
Each AdBlue drain in Scout shares these stages
Every situation has the same opening to the job. Filling station, driveway, Roebuck's car park or a road by Whitewell Bottom Community Centre — our van comes to your car, and three questions follow: which liquid, what amount, and if it ran. Over the phone, before anything else, you are told the price, and those replies decide the work too.
Then that tank is drained and the fuel system cleaned 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 does not rinse out on its own. Fresh diesel is put in once the fuel filter is cleaned or changed, and your car is then tested. Not started? In that case roughly half an hour once we are there is most jobs.
Lastly, our engineers start the car. We confirm it runs properly on clean diesel before we leave. The whole job is done where the car is, and if it is noticed quickly, long-term damage is very uncommon. Nothing is paid upfront, settlement happens on the day, and you receive what your insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Scout
Scout is a suburban area in Lancashire, situated near the riverside and surrounded by nearby places such as Shaw Clough and Edgeside. Scout sits at an elevation of 211 metres, with terraced housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Scout is located approximately 15.6 miles from Salford and 176 miles from London, making it a relatively distant suburb from the capital city. Scout remains a small residential community with a population of around 2128 people.
AdBlue drains across Lancashire, Scout included
As a residential suburb, Scout shares its vans with the surrounding places — Edgeside, Piercy — all the way across BB postcodes. Telling us your BB4 9 postcode finds you fastest of all.
No towing is required, whether stopped in the centre of Scout or in a layby en route to Edgeside Park, so keep it put. Our technicians drain the vehicle where it stands. If you're somewhere hard to describe, close to St Nicholas with St John & St Michael or close to a boundary, ring and ask instead of guessing.
The one-line version
Not run yet: keep the vehicle off and call. Run by now: stop, power down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, in Scout or wherever in Lancashire.