AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Spen: What Now?
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: if the motor has been run since it got in. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether your car is around Spen itself or out in Merchant Fields. Leave your engine and the ignition off and call 0333 366 0103; it is normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is around Spen. Stop the minute you safely can and switch off, if it has been run. A larger job, yes, yet the identical opening step.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever in West Yorkshire it happened.
On a Spen forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
You're 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. Maybe you are at the Tesco, maybe at the another forecourt nearby, possibly somewhere else in Spen.
The point: of every spot to find out, this is the best. The AdBlue is in that tank and nowhere else. Nothing has drawn it in.
What to do: don't get back in and crank it to clear the pump. Three things: a push into a bay with the attendants helping, the bottle saved, and a call to us from the forecourt. Emptying it there at the pump is possible when it can't be shifted, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home around Spen with AdBlue in your diesel tank
For days the dash had been nagging you. 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 occurs on driveways just off St Peg Close as frequently as anywhere.
In short: if your vehicle hasn't been driven since, it's almost equal to spotting it at the forecourt. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of that tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
Next: stop an early drive by keeping your keys indoors, then ring us. Cleckheaton or Spen: whichever your driveway sits, that's where it is drained. Even at night, the pumps are quiet enough for a driveway.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving in Spen?
A mile or two after filling up, your motor began misbehaving: roughness, smoke, less power, warnings on the dash. Spen Bank, say, or the route to Bradford — a run of under 5 miles.
The upshot: the system has pulled AdBlue in by now. It's been through the filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and the fuel injectors. It goes further with every mile driven and each restart.
What to do: pull over where it's safe then switch off. Service stations farther on are too far: on the M606, under 3 miles out of Spen, take the first junction. No trial restarts: clearing isn't something AdBlue will do. Ring us and say how far you went.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You have just had this vehicle a week. Your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere different, and so no one warned you the AdBlue inlet sits just beside the diesel. Wherever you happen to be around West Yorkshire, any driver can slip up.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it's run, with one more stage. The owner often has to sign off the work, under plenty of hire and company contracts.
Next: phone the rental company or the fleet manager first, and then us — settling it before we arrive is faster. If you are stuck in the car park outside Low Moor, or by St John the Evangelist, whilst you wait for an answer, leave the car off.
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Not sure, in Spen
Now and then, "I think so" is the most anyone can truthfully say. What cap was taken off, you can't say; meanwhile the bottle feels lighter than expected, and a whiff of ammonia hangs by the filler. The gates of Howard Park Community School in a rush, perhaps, or someone's drive over in Moorend.
Put simply: a spill round your filler does the motor unharmed. Once it is inside your diesel tank, though, that changes. You cannot tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so would suck in any AdBlue that is in your tank.
Assume it was put in, and don't start your engine. Checking a tank that proves clean beats emptying one after it has been run — so ring and describe to us what you noticed.
Each AdBlue drain in Spen shares these stages
Every situation gets the same opening to the work. Filling station, driveway, The Commercial's car park or a road beside Cleckheaton Town Hall — the van comes to the vehicle, and three questions come next: what liquid, what amount, and if it has run. On the phone, ahead of dispatch, you hear the quote, and those answers shape the work too.
Draining the tank comes next, followed by a full flush — more vital after urea than after petrol, since crystals and corrosion won't clear by themselves, however long you wait. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and your car is tested. If the motor has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
Starting the car comes at the end. With new diesel in, it runs while our engineers make sure it is running smoothly, and then we leave. Our engineers do the entire job where the vehicle is, and permanent damage is very uncommon if it has been spotted quickly. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, no money upfront. It is worth remembering: many insurers offer misfuelling cover, so a check of your documents while you wait is worthwhile.
About Spen
Spen is a small locality in West Yorkshire, situated on the riverside at an elevation of around 80 metres. Spen lies close to the cities of Bradford and Leeds, and is near the towns of Cleckheaton and other local communities such as Marsh and Rawfolds. Spen has a population of approximately 612 people, with terraced housing being the predominant type of accommodation.
AdBlue drains about Spen and across West Yorkshire
Over BD postcodes, the vans covering Spen — a small village — work nearby places too, Marsh and Rawfolds among them. Your location comes quickest from a postcode beginning BD19 3.
No towing is needed, whether stopped in the centre of Spen or in a lay-by heading to Spen Bottoms, and so keep it put. Draining is done right there. Tricky to pin down? By Cleckheaton Farmers' Market or a county line? Checking is better than guessing, and so phone.
Your situation, summed up
Not run yet: keep the car off then ring. Started by now? Stop, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder whatever case, in Spen and West Yorkshire, on 0333 366 0103.