What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Southport
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: whether the motor has been run since it got in. Over in Hillside or right around Southport, an unrun engine should stay that way. Ring 0333 366 0103 with the ignition and motor both off. Across Southport, that is generally emptied and cleaned on the spot. Already run? Pull over when you safely can, then switch everything off. The job is bigger, but the first step is the same.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever across Merseyside it happened.
On a Southport forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
You're 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. It might be the Morrisons, or the BP, or another station in Southport.
In short: no better place exists to spot it. Just that tank has AdBlue; not one part beyond it has taken it in.
Next: avoid the temptation to fire it up only to free up the pump. Ask the attendants to help you push your car into a parking space, keep the till receipt or the bottle, and call us from the forecourt. Draining it right at the petrol pump is fine if it can't be moved, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home in Southport with AdBlue in your diesel tank
Days had passed with the dash light on. Picked up a bottle, tipped it in at home, recycled the empty — and at that point looked at the cap again, too late. Homes just off Eastbank Street are hit as much as anywhere else.
In short: if your car hasn't been driven since, it's nearly as good as finding out at the pump. AdBlue does not 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 no one moves the car in the morning. Then ring. Birkdale or Southport: wherever your driveway sits, that's where it gets drained. The pumping kit works quietly enough not to disturb the neighbours at night.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel around Southport?
Lumpy running, smoke, falling power or a glowing dashboard arrived a short way after the fill. Possibly it was on Waverley Street, perhaps on the way out towards Preston, under 15 miles away.
What it means: your fuel system has sucked the AdBlue in. The high-pressure pump and every injector get it as well on a bigger run, once the fuel filter and lines have had it. More driving, more starts: further it goes.
Next: pick a sensible spot, pull in, and switch your motor off. Service stations further on are too far: from the M58, under 15 miles out of Southport, take the next junction. Restarting it to check achieves nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear itself. Tell us know the mileage covered as you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company cars
You have only had this car for days. The AdBlue filler sits right alongside the diesel filler, which you did not know, since your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. It can happen to anyone, anywhere around Merseyside.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it has run, with one more step. Work on the vehicle often needs the owner's go-ahead under hire or company terms.
Settling it before the van arrives is faster, so phone the rental company or your fleet manager, and then us. If you're stranded in the car park outside the nearest station, or by The Atkinson, while you wait for an answer, leave the car off.
Southport: unsure whether it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Now and then, "I think so" is the most you can truthfully say. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia around the filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. The gates of Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School, Southport in a hurry, perhaps, or a friend's driveway out in Churchtown.
What it means: a little spilled about your filler does no harm to your engine. Once it is inside the diesel tank, though, it does. If there is AdBlue in your tank, firing up the car would pull it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Do this: act as though it got in, and don't start your motor. Checking a tank that proves clean is better than draining one once it has been run — so ring and describe to us what you saw.
The common ground in every Southport AdBlue drain
Each case has the same start to the job. Three things are asked when our technicians arrive — at a forecourt, a drive, a road beside Beales or the car park at Maloney's Bar: the liquid, the quantity, and whether the motor has been started. The price comes on the call, ahead of anyone setting off, and those answers shape the job.
A thorough flush follows this drain. With petrol it is standard; with AdBlue it is crucial, because deposits build up and some metals are attacked, and none of it washes out unaided. The fuel filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the car is tested. Never started? Then roughly half an hour on site covers most jobs.
Finally, our technicians start it. With clean diesel in, it runs while our technicians check it is running correctly, and then we go. Our technicians do the entire job where the car is, and long-term damage is very unusual when it has been noticed soon. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, nothing in advance. It is worth knowing: many insurers offer misfuelling cover, and so a check of your documents as we travel pays.
About Southport
Southport is a coastal town in Merseyside, situated on the northwest coast of England, with a low elevation of around 10 metres above sea level. Southport lies approximately 191 miles northwest of London and 14.9 miles west of Preston, with nearby places including Birkdale, Blowick, and High Park. Southport has a population of around 24,307 people and is characterised by a high proportion of flat housing. Southport is a popular residential area with a range of local amenities.
AdBlue drains around Southport, and across Merseyside too
Southport is a coastal town, and the same teams that cover it work the places around it too, Blowick and High Park among them, across the PR postcode area. A postcode starting PR8 1 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No moving is needed, be it stopped centrally in Southport or in a layby en route to Model Railway Village, and so leave it put. The drain happens on the spot. Phone and ask instead of guessing when you are close to Southport Town Hall, near a boundary, or somewhere awkward to pin down.
Your situation, in one line
Not run yet: keep it off and ring. Whatever line fits, Petrol in Diesel handles from there on 0333 366 0103, across Merseyside and in Southport — after you pull over, switch off and phone, if it has run.