AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Southdene, and What to Do Next
One thing matters above all when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is if the engine has run afterwards. Wherever the car is — Tower Hill, Southdene — don't run a motor that hasn't been started yet. Leave the engine and your ignition off and phone 0333 366 0103; it's normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Southdene. Stop the minute it is safe then switch off, if it has been run. The job is bigger, but the first stage is the same.
Below: the situations we see, wherever across Merseyside. Choose yours.
On a Southdene forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you just notice it while you're stood at the petrol pump, bottle or the nozzle in your hand. Maybe you're at the Esso, maybe at the another forecourt nearby, perhaps somewhere else in Southdene.
In short: there is no better place exists to discover it. Nothing has pulled it in, so the AdBlue sits only in your tank.
Next: resist the temptation to fire it up just to free up the pump. Three things: a push into a space with the attendants assisting, the bottle kept, and a call to us from where you stand. Draining it there at the petrol pump is possible when it cannot be shifted, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
Southdene, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the driveway, 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 Gaywood Avenue as regularly as anywhere.
The point: no miles since makes it nearly equal to spotting it at the pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of that tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so no one moves the car in the morning. Then ring. Kirkby or Southdene: wherever your drive sits, that is where it gets emptied. Even at night, the pumps stay quiet enough for a residential street.
Southdene: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Rough running, smoke, lost power or a lit dashboard started a short way after the top-up. Merewood, say, or the route towards Liverpool — a trip of under 10 miles.
Meaning? Your pump has sucked the AdBlue in. The injection pump and each injector see it as well on a longer run, once your filter and lines have had it. More driving, more restarts: further it travels.
Do this: pull up somewhere sensible, then switch your motor off. On the M57, under a mile from Southdene, that means the next junction, not the services further on. It won't have cleared, and so there is no point starting it again to find out. Call, and say how far your vehicle was driven.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
It's a motor you have had for a week. The AdBlue filler is right alongside the diesel one, which you didn't know, because your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Anyone, wherever in Merseyside, could do it.
Put simply: one extra stage on top of the situations above, which depend on whether it's run. Work on the vehicle often requires the owner's approval under hire or fleet terms.
Next: phone the rental company or your fleet manager first, then us — sorting it before we arrive is quicker. If you are stuck in the car park at Kirkby, or by St Martin, whilst you wait for an answer, leave the car off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Southdene?
Occasionally the fair answer is "I think so". Too light, the bottle; a hint of ammonia near your filler; a hazy recollection of the cap. Look familiar? It might have been on a friend's drive in Gillmoss, or rushing outside Park Brow Community Primary School on the school run.
Put simply: a spill round the filler does the engine unharmed. In the diesel tank, however, AdBlue harms it. Any AdBlue in that tank will be drawn in by turning on your car, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
What to do: treat it as if it was put in. Do not fire it up. Call us and explain what you saw; we would rather check a tank that turns out free of AdBlue than drain one that has already been run.
What every AdBlue drain around Southdene has in common
Whichever scenario you are in, the job starts the same way. Our engineers come to your car, whether it is on a forecourt, a drive, the car park at Kingfisher or a side street close to Kirkby Market, and ask three things: what got in, roughly how much, and if the motor has run. On the phone, ahead of dispatch, you are told the price, and those answers shape the work too.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to some metals used in fuel systems, so it won't rinse out on its own; that's why the flush, after this drain, matters much more here than with petrol. Finally come the filter, flushed or renewed if necessary; fresh diesel; and a check of your vehicle. Most unrun cars are a half-hour visit after the moment our engineers get there.
Our engineers fire it up at the end. With fresh diesel in, it runs while our technicians confirm it is running properly, and then we go. The whole job is done where the vehicle is, and when it's noticed quickly, lasting damage is very unusual. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, nothing in advance. Plenty of policies include misfuelling, and so check yours as we head over.
About Southdene
Southdene is a suburban area in Merseyside, located approximately 6 miles from Liverpool and situated near the towns of Kirkby and Northwood. Southdene sits at an elevation of 26 metres, in a relatively low-lying area of the North West region. Southdene has a population of around 7875 people, predominantly living in terraced housing. Southdene is also close to the nearby suburb of Westvale, forming part of the wider Liverpool urban area.
AdBlue drains across Merseyside, Southdene included
Over L postcodes, the teams covering Southdene — a residential suburb — reach surrounding towns as well, Northwood and Westvale among them. A postcode starting L32 9 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No moving is required, whether parked in the centre of Southdene or in a lay-by heading to Wignall Park, and so keep it put. Our engineers drain the car where it stands. Ring and ask rather than guess if you are close to Kirkby Library, on a border, or somewhere tricky to pin down.
The one-line version
Not run yet: keep the vehicle off then ring. Started already? Stop, turn off, ring. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder whichever case, in Southdene and Merseyside, on 0333 366 0103.