AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Shafton, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: whether your motor has been run since it got in. Anywhere the car is — South Hiendley, Shafton — never start an engine that has not run yet. Leave the motor and your ignition off and ring 0333 366 0103; it's usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is in Shafton. Pull over the moment it is safe then switch off, if it has been run. The job is bigger, yet the first step is the same.
Compare what happened to one of the list below, wherever in South Yorkshire you happen to be.
On a Shafton forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you just notice it while you are stood at the petrol pump, bottle or nozzle in your hand. Perhaps you're at the JET, perhaps at the Stay Warm Solid Fuels LTD, perhaps somewhere else around Shafton.
The upshot: of all places to find out, the forecourt is the best. No pump has drawn it through, so the AdBlue stays only inside that tank.
What to do: don't get back in and start the car to clear the petrol pump. Ask the staff to help you push the car into a parking spot, keep your receipt or the bottle, then phone us from the forecourt. If it can't be shifted, it can be drained at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a working forecourt.
Shafton, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
On your dash, a reminder had shown for days. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look once more at the cap. It takes place on drives just off Dog Hill as often as anywhere.
Meaning? As long as the vehicle has not been driven since, it is second to the forecourt case. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of that tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
Keep the keys indoors overnight — otherwise someone might take it away at breakfast — then call us. Out in Shafton Two Gates or right here around Shafton, the drain happens at your driveway. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Shafton: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
A mile or two after topping up, the engine started misbehaving: rough running, smoke, lost power, lights on the dash. Anywhere along Felkirk View or heading towards Wakefield — under 10 miles away.
Meaning? The pump has taken the AdBlue in. It's been through the fuel filter and the fuel lines and, the further you went, into your high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors. More miles, more restarts: further it goes.
What to do: pull over where it's safe then switch off. Service stations further along are too far: from the M1, under 10 miles out of Shafton, use the next junction. Don't restart the car to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Let us hear the mileage covered when you ring.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You've had the car hardly a week. Unbeknown to you, the two inlets sit next to each other here — not like your own vehicle, which has none or stores it in another spot. It can happen to anyone, anywhere around South Yorkshire.
The upshot: exactly as above, split by if it ran, but with one added stage. The owner often has to approve any work, under plenty of rental and fleet agreements.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's quicker settled before our engineers arrive than after. If you are stranded in the car park at Fitzwilliam, or by St Peter, Felkirk, while you wait for an answer, leave the vehicle off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Shafton?
"I think so" is sometimes the most honest as it gets. Too light, that bottle; a trace of ammonia near your filler; no clear memory of the cap. Sound familiar? The gates of Lift Shafton in a rush, say, or a friend's driveway out in Brierley.
The point: your engine isn't hurt by a little AdBlue splashed around the outside. Inside your diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue damages it. Any AdBlue in your tank will be drawn in by starting the vehicle, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
Take it that it got in, and don't turn the key. Call us and describe what you saw; we'd rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
The common ground in each Shafton AdBlue drain
Whichever scenario you are in, this job starts the same way. Our engineers come to the car, whether it's at a forecourt, a drive, the car park at The Dards or a side street close to Compass Rose, and ask three things: what went in, roughly how much, and whether the motor has been run. Replies shape the work; the price follows on the call whilst nobody has set off yet.
AdBlue crystallises and eats at certain metals used in fuel systems, so it does not wash out on its own; that is why a full flush, after this drain, matters far more with AdBlue than with petrol. Your filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the car is tested. Where the motor hasn't been started, allow roughly half an hour on site, in most jobs.
Starting the car comes at the end. Our check that it runs smoothly on new diesel comes before our technicians head off. The entire job is done where the car is, and when it is caught early, lasting damage is very rare. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, nothing upfront. Dig out your insurance while we arrive: cover for misfuelling comes included in many policies.
About Shafton
Shafton is a village in South Yorkshire, situated on the riverside at an elevation of around 75 metres. Shafton lies approximately 7 miles from Wakefield and 154 miles from London, with nearby places including Shafton Two Gates, Felkirk, and Upper Cudworth. Shafton has a population of around 1864 people, predominantly living in semi-detached housing.
Shafton and South Yorkshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Shafton is a village, and the same vans that cover it work the towns near it too, Felkirk and Upper Cudworth among them, across the S postcode area. A postcode starting S72 8 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to Plumpton Park or in a car park in the middle of Shafton, it does not need to move. Our engineers drain it where it is. Tricky to explain? Close to Archie Stinchcombe Plaque or a county line? Checking beats assuming, and so phone.
In one line: your situation
Still unrun? Keep the car that way and phone. Whichever line fits, Petrol in Diesel handles from there on 0333 366 0103, throughout South Yorkshire and in Shafton — once you pull over, turn off then phone, if it has run.