AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in South Side: What Now?
Everything hinges on a single fact: whether your engine has been run since the AdBlue was added — far more than anything else. Anywhere the car stands — Canongate, South Side — never run a motor that has not been started yet. Leave the engine and the ignition off and call 0333 366 0103; it is generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is around South Side. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. Step one remains unchanged, even if the work grows.
Further down: the cases we meet, anywhere in City of Edinburgh. Pick the one that fits.
On a South Side forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you only notice it as you are stood at the petrol pump, bottle or the nozzle in hand. It might be the JET, or perhaps the BP, or another forecourt in South Side.
What it means: this is the ideal location to find out. The AdBlue is in your tank and nowhere else. Nothing has pulled it in.
What to do: do not get back in and fire it up to clear the pump. Get the staff to lend a hand rolling it into a space, save the receipt, then ring us from there. The equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt, and so a vehicle that cannot be pushed clear gets drained right at the petrol pump.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a South Side drive?
Several days had gone by with the warning light on. Only by the recycling, the empty bottle in hand, did you glance back at the cap you had opened at the driveway. Houses just off Crichton Street are hit as often as everywhere else.
The point: zero miles since leaves this almost as good to finding it at the petrol pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so nobody moves the vehicle in the morning. Then call. Your drive is where it is emptied, whether in South Side or Dumbiedykes. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in South Side?
Topped up, pulled away, and soon your engine was turning roughly, smoking, down on power, or flashing up your dash. Possibly it was on Potterrow, maybe on the way out towards Edinburgh, under a mile away.
What it means: your fuel system has sucked the AdBlue in. The high-pressure pump and each injector get it too on a bigger run, once the fuel filter and lines have it. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Next: find a safe spot, stop, then turn the engine off. South Side lies under 10 miles from the M8; there, come off at the first junction instead of pushing on for the services. No trial starts: clearing itself isn't something AdBlue does. Call, saying how far the vehicle was driven.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
A week back, it was new to you. On your own car, AdBlue is missing or somewhere else. On this one, the cap is right next to your diesel inlet — a surprise to you. Anywhere you happen to be across City of Edinburgh, any driver could slip up.
Meaning? Whichever applies above applies too — run or unrun — and one further step. Many hire and fleet contracts require the owner's approval before repairs.
Sorting it before the van turn up is quicker, and so ring the rental company or your fleet manager, and then us. Stranded near Inspace or at Edinburgh Waverley until someone answers, your car stays switched off the whole time.
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Not sure, in South Side
"I think so" is often the most honest as it gets. A faint ammonia whiff hangs near the filler, the bottle seems too light, and which cap came off is hard to recall. The gates of the local primary school in a hurry, perhaps, or a friend's drive out in St Leonards.
What it means: a little spilled round your filler does no harm to the engine. In the diesel tank, however, AdBlue damages it. Any AdBlue in that tank will be sucked in by firing up the vehicle, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
Do this: behave as though it got in, and don't start the motor. Inspecting a tank that proves free of AdBlue is better than emptying one after it has been run — so phone then describe to us what you saw.
South Side: what each AdBlue drain has in common
No matter the situation, a single start applies. Three questions come once our technicians reach the car — on a forecourt, a drive, a street beside Edinburgh Central Mosque or the car park outside Pear Tree: the fluid, the amount, and if the motor has been started. Over the phone, before anything else, you hear the price, and those answers decide the job too.
A thorough flush comes after this drain. With petrol it is standard; with AdBlue it is essential, since deposits form and certain metals are attacked, and neither rinses away unaided. Clean diesel goes in once your filter is cleaned or changed, and the car is then checked. Never started? In that case roughly half an hour on site covers most jobs.
Finally, our engineers fire it up. With fresh diesel in, it runs while our technicians confirm it is running properly, and then we leave. When it is noticed early, the vehicle very rarely has lasting damage, and the whole job happens where it is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. It is worth remembering: many insurers offer misfuelling cover, and so a check of your policy as you wait pays.
About South Side
South Side is a suburban area in the City of Edinburgh, situated near the coast and close to the city centre. South Side sits at an elevation of 87 metres, overlooking the surrounding landscape. South Side is predominantly composed of flat-type housing, which accommodates a significant portion of the local population. South Side is located near other Edinburgh neighbourhoods, including Dumbiedykes and Old Town.
AdBlue drains around South Side, and across City of Edinburgh too
Roxburghs Court and Old Town get the same vans as South Side, a residential suburb, plus further towns throughout EH postcodes. Quickest of all: a EH8 9 postcode for your location.
No moving is needed, whether parked centrally in South Side or on a lay-by en route to Nicolson Square Garden, so leave it put. Where it sits, that is where it is cleared. Phone and ask rather than guess when you are by City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, near a border, or somewhere awkward to pin down.
The one-line version
Unstarted? Leave it off then ring. Run already: pull over, power down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest, in South Side or anywhere across City of Edinburgh.