AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Spindle Point: What Now?
Everything hinges on one fact: whether the motor has been run after the AdBlue went in — far more than anything else. Not started yet? Then leave the car like that, wherever the vehicle sits — Spindle Point or Souracre. Leave the motor and your ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103; it's normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is around Spindle Point. Already started? Stop once safe, then switch it off. The job is bigger, yet the first stage is the same.
Anywhere across Greater Manchester it took place, one of the cases below matches yours.
On a Spindle Point forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you just spot it as you're stood at the pump, bottle or nozzle in your hand. Maybe you are at the Texaco, maybe at the Tesco, perhaps somewhere else in Spindle Point.
In short: no better place exists to spot it. Still inside your tank, and no fuel pulled through: that's where the AdBlue is.
What to do: do not get back in and fire it up to clear the petrol pump. Ask the staff to help you push the vehicle into a parking bay, keep the till receipt or the bottle, then call us from the forecourt. Draining it there at the petrol pump is possible when it cannot be moved, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home in Spindle Point with AdBlue in your diesel tank
On the dash, a reminder had been lit all week. A bottle from the shop, tipped in at the drive — and it was only at the recycling that the cap caught a second look. Driveways close to Walkerwood Drive get it as much as any other street.
The upshot: no driving since leaves this almost equal to finding 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.
Keep the keys in the house tonight — otherwise a person may take it off at breakfast — and phone us. Our engineers drain it on your driveway, whether that's around Spindle Point or out in Brushes. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
On the road in Spindle Point with AdBlue in a diesel
A mile or two beyond topping up, the engine began playing up: roughness, smoke, lost power, lights on the dash. Maybe it was on Shawfields, maybe on the way out towards Manchester, under 10 miles away.
The upshot: the system has drawn AdBlue in already. Through the fuel filter, along the lines, and — the further the distance — deeper into the injection pump and each injector. It goes further with each extra mile driven and every restart.
Next: pick a sensible place, stop, then switch the engine off. On the M67, under 3 miles from Spindle Point, that means the next exit, not the services further on. It will not have cleared, so there's no sense starting it again to check. Roughly how far did it go? Say so as you phone.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company vehicles
It's a vehicle you have had for a week. On your own car, AdBlue is absent or somewhere else. On this one, its cap is just by the diesel inlet — news to you. Throughout Greater Manchester, nobody is safe from it.
Put simply: an extra stage on top of the cases above, and those depend on if it has run. Many hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on your car.
Next: ring the rental company or the fleet manager first, then us — sorting it before our arrival is faster. Waiting for an answer in the car park outside Stalybridge, or beside Copley Leisure Centre? Leave your engine off throughout.
Spindle Point: unsure if it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
At times, "I think so" is all you can truthfully say. Too light, the bottle; a hint of ammonia round your filler; no clear recollection of which cap. Look familiar? A hurried stop by the gates of St Paul's CofE Primary School, Stalybridge, or a call to a friend in Millbrook: both fit.
Meaning? Spills outside the filler never touch your engine at all. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. You can't tell which by turning the key, and doing so will draw in any AdBlue that is in that tank.
What to do: treat it as if it got in. Don't fire it up. Phone with the details: we would rather confirm a clean tank than empty one once your motor has run.
Each AdBlue drain in Spindle Point shares these steps
Whichever scenario you are in, this job starts the same way. Forecourt, driveway, The Reindeer Inn's car park or a street by Saint Paul's Parish Church — the van reaches your vehicle, and three answers follow: what fluid, which quantity, and if it has run. Those replies decide this work, and you get the quote by phone, before anybody heads out.
A thorough flush follows this drain. With petrol it is routine; with AdBlue it is essential, since deposits form and certain metals are attacked, and neither washes away unaided. Finally are the fuel filter, cleaned or replaced as needed; clean diesel; and a test of your vehicle. Not started? Then about half an hour once we are there is most jobs.
We fire it up at the end. Our check that it runs smoothly on fresh diesel comes before we head off. Our engineers do the entire job where the car is, and long-term damage is very rare if it has been spotted soon. Paying comes that day, never in advance. For the insurer, you get a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer. Plenty of insurance policies cover misfuelling, and so look at yours while the van travels.
About Spindle Point
Spindle Point is a suburban area located on the riverside in Greater Manchester, with a mix of semi-detached housing and local amenities. Spindle Point sits at an elevation of 151 metres, approximately 8.5 miles from Manchester city centre. Spindle Point is close to nearby places such as Brushes, Far Souracre, and Copley, and is part of the wider Manchester urban area. Spindle Point has a population of around 5274 residents.
AdBlue drains across Greater Manchester, Spindle Point included
Far Souracre and Copley get the same vans as Spindle Point, a residential suburb, plus further towns throughout SK postcodes. A postcode starting SK15 3 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to Stalybridge Country Park or in a car park in the middle of Spindle Point, it does not need to move. The drain is done on the spot. If you're somewhere hard to describe, close to Stayley Cricket Club or close to a boundary, ring and ask instead of guessing.
The one-line version
Motor never started: phone, leaving it alone. Run already? Pull over, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest whichever it is, across Spindle Point and Greater Manchester, on 0333 366 0103.