AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Shieldhill: What Now?
Everything hinges on a single detail: whether the motor has started since the AdBlue went in — more than anything else. Not started so far? Then keep the car like that, wherever the vehicle sits — Shieldhill or Middlerig. Leave the motor and your ignition off then call 0333 366 0103; it is generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is around Shieldhill. Stop the minute it is safe and turn off, if it has been run. Step one remains the same, even if the work is bigger.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever around Falkirk it happened.
Shieldhill forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
You are at the pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Perhaps you are at the Esso, perhaps at the Thames, maybe somewhere else around Shieldhill.
The upshot: of every spot to notice, the forecourt is the best. Only the tank has AdBlue; no part past it has taken it in.
Your move: stay out of the car, even if the queue needs freeing. A few things: a shove into a bay with the attendants assisting, the receipt kept, and a ring to us from the forecourt. If it can't be shifted, it can be drained at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt.
Shieldhill, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
The warning light had been on 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 a second time at the cap. Homes just off Main Street get caught out as much as everywhere else.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of the tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
Your move: the keys in the house, and so no one drives your vehicle anywhere first thing. Then, phone. In Easter Shieldhill or right here in Shieldhill, the drain is done on your drive. Late-night empties beside a house are fine: the pumps are quiet.
Shieldhill: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later your motor began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Pirleyhill Drive, say, or the route towards Stirling — a trip of under 15 miles.
In short: the AdBlue has been pulled through your fuel system. It has been through your filter and your lines and, the further you went, into your high-pressure pump and your injectors. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Stop safely — that is the first job — then turn it off. Exit by the next junction — not the services further along — if you're on the M9, under 3 miles from Shieldhill. No trial restarts: clearing itself isn't something AdBlue does. Phone, saying how far the car was driven.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You have only driven the car a week. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is missing or elsewhere. On this one, its inlet is right by the diesel cap — news to you. Any driver, wherever in Falkirk, might do it.
Meaning? Whatever applies above applies too — run or unrun — plus one further step. The owner frequently needs to approve any work, under plenty of hire and fleet agreements.
Your move: hire firm or fleet manager first, us next, since sorting it early cuts time. Stuck near Blackbraes & Shieldhill Parish Church or at Falkirk High until someone answers, the vehicle remains switched off throughout.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Shieldhill?
At times the honest answer is "I think so". Which cap was taken off, you can't say; meanwhile the bottle weighs lighter than it ought to, and a whiff of ammonia lingers by the filler. The gates of the local primary school in a hurry, say, or someone's drive out in Hallglen.
In short: a spill round your filler does your engine unharmed. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. Starting the car will not tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in that tank it would pull it in.
Next: act as though it went in, then leave the motor off. Describe what you saw on the phone. A clean tank looked at counts as a happier result than a run one drained.
Each AdBlue drain around Shieldhill shares these stages
Whatever the case, a single start applies. Our engineers come to your car, whether it is on a forecourt, a driveway, the car park outside the pub in the village or a side street close to War Memorial, and ask three things: what went in, about how much, and if your motor has run. Those answers determine this work, and you get the price on the phone, before anyone heads out.
Emptying your tank comes next, followed by a careful flush — more important with urea than with petrol, because crystals and corrosion won't go on their own, however long you wait. Fresh diesel goes in once the filter has been cleaned or changed, and your car is then tested. Where the motor hasn't run, allow roughly half an hour on site, for most cases.
The final step is starting the car. With fresh diesel in, it runs while our engineers make sure it's running smoothly, and then we leave. The whole job is done where your car is, and if it is spotted early, lasting damage is very unusual. Payment is that day, never in advance. For your insurer, you get a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About Shieldhill, briefly
Shieldhill is a village situated on the banks of a river in the Falkirk area of Scotland, with a mix of rural and suburban characteristics. Shieldhill sits at an elevation of 173 metres, looking out over the surrounding countryside. Shieldhill is located near several other small communities, including Easter Shieldhill and California, and is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock.
AdBlue drains across Falkirk, Shieldhill included
California and Blackbraes get the identical vans as Shieldhill, a village, along with other places throughout FK postcodes. A postcode starting FK1 2 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No towing is required, be it parked in the centre of Shieldhill or in a layby en route to Mavisbank Wood, so keep it where it is. Wherever it stands, that's where it is cleared. If you are somewhere hard to explain, close to Ettrick Dochart Community Hall or close to a boundary, ring and ask rather than guessing.
In one line: your scenario
Unstarted? Keep it that way and phone. Started by now? Stop, turn off, phone. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest whatever it is, across Shieldhill and Falkirk, on 0333 366 0103.