What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Sharrow
Everything hinges on one fact: if your engine has been run since the AdBlue went in — more than anything else. Anywhere your car stands — Little Sheffield, Sharrow — never start an engine that has not been started yet. Phone 0333 366 0103 with the key and motor both off. Across Sharrow, that is typically drained and flushed on the spot. Stop the moment it is safe then switch off, if it has already run. It's a bigger job, though stage one does not change.
Further down: the situations our engineers see, wherever around South Yorkshire. Pick the one that fits.
On a Sharrow forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
You are at the petrol pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Be it The Log Shop, Esso or anywhere else around Sharrow, the situation is the same.
The upshot: of all places to find out, the forecourt is the best. The AdBlue is inside the tank and nowhere else. Nothing has drawn it in.
Do this: stay out of the driver's seat, even if the queue needs clearing. Have the staff to lend a hand pushing it to a space, hold on to the receipt, then phone us right there. Our equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a live forecourt, and so a vehicle that can't be pushed away is emptied right at the pump.
At home around Sharrow with AdBlue in your diesel tank
On your dash, a warning had shown for days. A bottle bought at the shop, emptied in on the drive — and it's just by the recycling that the cap caught your eye. Houses just off Montgomery Road get caught out as much as anywhere else.
The point: no driving since leaves it nearly equal to spotting it at the pump. At the floor of the tank is where AdBlue stays, because it won't mix with diesel — and a night passing changes no difference.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so no one moves the vehicle in the morning. Then call. In Nether Edge or right here around Sharrow, the drain is done on your driveway. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel in Sharrow?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later the motor began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Maybe heading to Sheffield, under 3 miles away, or simply down Milton Road.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been pulled through your fuel system. The high-pressure pump and each injector get it too on a longer trip, after the fuel filter and lines have had it. It goes deeper with every mile covered and every restart.
What to do: pull over where it is safe and switch off. Sharrow lies under 5 miles from the M1; on it, pull off at the next junction rather than pushing on to the services. Do not restart the vehicle to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Let us know the distance driven as you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You've just had this vehicle for days. Your own car either does without AdBlue or puts it somewhere different, so no one told you the AdBlue inlet sits right next to the diesel. Anywhere you are around South Yorkshire, every driver could be caught.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it's run, with one more step. Many hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on your car.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is quicker settled before we turn up than after. Waiting for a reply in the car park at Sheffield, or beside Lantern Theatre? Keep your engine off meanwhile.
Sharrow: unsure whether it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Truthfully, the best answer may be that you think so. Too light, the bottle; a trace of ammonia round the filler; no clear recollection of the cap. Sound familiar? Maybe at a friend's drive in Lowfield, or in a rush by Nether Edge Primary School on the school run.
Meaning? Spills outside the filler don't touch the engine at all. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. Any AdBlue in that tank would be drawn in by firing up your car, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Do this: behave as if it did, and never start the motor. Describe what you saw on the phone. A clean tank checked counts as a happier result than an already-run one emptied.
Sharrow: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Each situation gets the same opening to the job. Three questions are asked when our technicians arrive — at a filling station, a drive, a road beside Merlin Theatre or the car park outside Broadfield Hotel: the liquid, the amount, and if the motor has been started. Those replies decide the work, and you get the price by phone, before anybody sets off.
A thorough flush follows this drain. With petrol it is standard; with AdBlue it is essential, because deposits form and some metals corrode, and neither rinses out unaided. Clean diesel is put in once the fuel filter has been flushed or changed, and the car is finally tested. Where your motor has not been started, allow roughly half an hour on site, in most cases.
The final step is starting the car. We make sure it runs smoothly on fresh diesel before leaving. We do the entire job where the car is, and permanent damage is very uncommon if it has been noticed quickly. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Check your insurance while we arrive: misfuelling cover is built into many policies.
About Sharrow, briefly
Sharrow is a suburban area in South Yorkshire, situated on the River Sheaf in close proximity to Sheffield city centre. Sharrow sits at an elevation of 94 metres, with its riverside location influencing the local landscape. Sharrow is characterised by its predominantly terraced housing stock, reflecting the area's historical development as a residential suburb of Sheffield. Sharrow is bordered by nearby places such as Nether Edge, Sharrow Head, and Sharrow Vale, forming a larger urban community.
AdBlue drains around Sharrow and across South Yorkshire
Sharrow is a residential suburb, and the same vans that cover it work the places around it too, Sharrow Head and Sharrow Vale among them, across the S postcode area. A postcode starting S7 1 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No moving is needed, whether parked in the centre of Sharrow or on a layby en route to Kenwood Hall grounds, so keep it put. Draining happens right there. Phone and ask rather than guess if you are close to Mother of God, on a border, or anywhere tricky to pin down.
Your scenario, summed up
Not run yet: keep it off then call. Run by now? Pull over, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest whichever case, across Sharrow and South Yorkshire, on 0333 366 0103.