What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in South Kessock
Everything turns on a single fact: if your engine has been run after the AdBlue was added — more than anything else. Out in Clachnaharry or here in South Kessock, an unstarted motor should stay that way. Leave your engine and your ignition off and call 0333 366 0103; it's generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around South Kessock. Pull over the moment you safely can and switch off, if it has already run. A larger job, yes, yet the same first move.
Match what happened to one of the ones below, wherever around Highland you happen to be.
South Kessock forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Just at this point, bottle still in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you opened was the wrong one, there at the petrol pump. It might be the Esso, or perhaps the BP, or another forecourt in South Kessock.
What it means: this is the ideal spot to find out. No pump has pulled it in, so the AdBlue sits just in that tank.
What to do: do not get back in and start the car to clear the pump. Have the staff to help pushing it into a space, save the receipt, then ring us from there. The equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a live forecourt, and so a vehicle that cannot be pushed away is emptied where it is at the petrol pump.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home in South Kessock
For days the dash had been nagging you. A bottle bought at the shop, emptied in on the driveway — and it was only by the recycling that the cap got a second look. Homes just off Craigton Avenue get hit as much as everywhere else.
The upshot: zero driving since leaves it nearly as good to finding it at the pump. Being unable to blend, AdBlue drops low in the tank and waits. One night parked alters nothing.
Next: prevent any early-morning drive by keeping your keys indoors, then ring us. Out in Merkinch or here in South Kessock, the drain is done at your driveway. Even at night, the pumps stay quiet enough for a driveway.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around South Kessock?
A mile or two beyond topping up, the engine started playing up: roughness, smoke, lost power, lights on your dash. It might have been driving to Inverness, under 3 miles away, or just along Kessock Road.
The upshot: your system has pulled AdBlue through already. The injection pump and every injector see it as well on a longer run, after the filter and lines have had it. Every restart, like each mile, pushes it on.
Do this: pull up anywhere safe, then switch your engine off. On the M90, over 50 miles from South Kessock, that means the next junction, not the services further on. No test restarts: clearing itself isn't something AdBlue will do. Ring us and say how far you went.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You have just driven the car for days. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is absent or elsewhere. On this one, the inlet is just by your diesel inlet — news to you. Across Highland, no one is immune.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it's run, with one more step. Plenty of hire and company agreements need the owner's approval before repairs.
Settling it before the van arrives is quicker, and so phone the rental company or your fleet manager, then us. Waiting for an answer at the car park outside Inverness, or beside Corbett Centre? Leave the car off throughout.
AdBlue in your diesel tank? Not sure, around South Kessock
"I think so" is sometimes as honest as it gets. Which cap came off, you can't recall; but the bottle weighs lighter than it ought to, and ammonia lingers by the filler. The gates of the local primary school in a rush, perhaps, or a friend's drive over in Craigton.
Meaning? Drips around the inlet don't touch the engine at all. Inside the diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue damages it. If there is AdBlue in your tank, firing up the car would draw it in, and it would not tell you which either.
What to do: treat it as if it was put in. Do not crank it. Tell us what you saw on your phone. A clear tank looked at counts as a happier result than a run one drained.
South Kessock: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Whichever situation you are in, the job starts the same way. Anywhere your vehicle is — Nip Inn's car park, a street beside Merkinch Community Centre, a drive, a forecourt — the van gets there and we ask about the liquid, the amount, plus whether the engine has been run. Your price comes on the call, before a van leaves, and the replies set the job.
Emptying that tank comes first, followed by a careful flush — more important after urea than with petrol, because crystals and corrosion won't go on their own, no matter how long it sits. Your filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and your car is tested. Where your engine hasn't run, allow about half an hour on site, in most cases.
Starting it comes last. We confirm it runs properly on new diesel before leaving. When it is noticed quickly, the car very rarely has permanent damage, and the entire job takes place where it is. Payment is that day, never upfront. For the insurer, there is a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About South Kessock, briefly
South Kessock is a coastal suburban area situated near Inverness, with the majority of its housing consisting of flats. South Kessock lies at a low elevation of around 3 metres, close to the shores of the Moray Firth. South Kessock is adjacent to the nearby places of Merkinch, North Kessock, and Citadel, and is part of the wider Inverness urban area. South Kessock has a population of approximately 1621 residents.
AdBlue drains in South Kessock, and across Highland too
North Kessock and Citadel get the identical vans as South Kessock, a residential suburb, plus further places over IV postcodes. The location comes quickest from a postcode beginning IV3 8.
No towing is needed, be it parked centrally in South Kessock or in a lay-by heading to Merkinch Local Nature Reserve, and so leave it put. Our engineers drain the car where it stands. If you're somewhere hard to explain, near Grant Street Park or close to a boundary, ring and ask instead of assuming.
The one-line version
Unstarted? Leave the car off then phone. Run already: pull over, power down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, in South Kessock or anywhere across Highland.