Don't Start It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Squires Gate
AdBlue in your diesel tank? Then keep the engine off — and your ignition too. Water with urea dissolved in it: that's AdBlue. It doesn't burn, it does not mix with diesel, and the harm it does starts when the fuel system pulls it in. A drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Squires Gate, is usually all AdBlue in a diesel tank takes — if it's caught before the engine has run. Before you do anything else, call 0333 366 0103.
Those opening minutes: AdBlue in the diesel tank in Squires Gate
Things to do:
- So no one can switch your ignition on, take your keys away.
- Hazards on, if moving traffic is at all close.
- Which product, and roughly what quantity? Hang on to the bottle or the till receipt, and our technicians will know.
- Tell us a postcode starting FY4 2, or whatever street lies nearest, and the van reaches you directly — so call from wherever you are.
Do not:
- Do not start the engine, even for a moment to move the car.
- The ignition stays off: on many diesels, turning it on is enough to run your pump.
- Don't top up with diesel to thin it. AdBlue does not dilute in diesel; it separates out.
- Never drive the car anywhere, not even a short distance along Colville Avenue.
- Do not try to drain the vehicle yourself by the kerbside.
Get the people behind the counter to help you roll your car away from the pumps if you're on a forecourt around Squires Gate, whether it's the Morrisons or elsewhere. Parked on your own drive? Then it stays just as it is.
What AdBlue does in a diesel tank
The engine isn't what AdBlue is made for; the exhaust is. Its own tank keeps it, and from there it is sprayed into your exhaust, where it treats the gas. Nothing in it is meant to pass through a fuel pump, and nothing in a fuel pump is built to handle it.
It doesn't blend. After it is poured into the tank, AdBlue acts not at all like diesel. It is heavier than diesel, and so it sinks and gathers at the bottom of that tank, which is where the pickup pulls fuel from. A motor topped up on a drive in Hawes Side overnight and left unstarted counts as the simple one. Nothing has sucked the AdBlue up yet — but when the engine runs, that is what goes first, directly from the bottom of the tank.
Two kinds of harm follow from there. What remains once the water evaporates is urea, which forms crystals: they lodge in narrow passages and clog filters. On top of that, it eats at certain metals in the fuel system, and carries on until it's flushed out. A vehicle left standing in Squires Gate with AdBlue already in its lines is worse by the morning; one with AdBlue just in its tank isn't. Diesel lubricates the high-pressure pump and each injector as it flows; water offers none of that, which is a second kind of damage.
Why is AdBlue in a diesel frequently the bigger problem?
Fill a diesel with petrol in error at the Esso, and this issue is thinned fuel. It mixes with the diesel, and while it is in that tank it causes no damage; the damage comes from running the engine on it.
With AdBlue in a diesel, the fluid itself is plainly the wrong one. It cannot just be run through, because it does not burn. Nor can it be thinned, because it separates back out — and the following fill won't rinse away crystals or corrosion. So the flush counts for more here, and trying your engine "to see", in the heart of Squires Gate or out in Walkers Hill, does more harm than almost any other mistake.
With AdBlue, the good news is no different from petrol. If the engine has not run, the AdBlue is still in your tank, and the tank is the quickest part of a fuel system to clear, wherever across Lancashire the car is sitting.
AdBlue in a diesel tank in Squires Gate: how it ends up there
No one means to do it. The AdBlue filler on many vehicles waits right next to the diesel filler, at times under the same flap, and the two caps can look alike in poor light. It usually occurs outside the house, from a container bought on the journey home, rather than at the forecourt.
It tends to happen in a few familiar ways. A warning light comes on during the school run, and the top-up happens in a hurry outside Roseacre Primary Academy. Near Scarsdale Avenue, a driver pours a container in on that drive after work. Or the vehicle is topped up in the car park at JD Drinkwaters Ale House, in poor light, by a person who has never opened that flap before.
It crops up most in a hire car, a brand-new car, a company car, or the spare vehicle in a home with both fuel types — the vehicles people know the least. Wherever you're in Squires Gate or the remainder of Lancashire, it's the same slip and the same first answer: leave the vehicle off.
AdBlue in your diesel tank around Squires Gate, and the motor started?
The AdBlue has left the tank, then. The fuel filter and pipework have had it sucked along, and any running carries it on to the injection pump and every injector.
Maybe coming back from Highfield Road Park, or part way across Squires Gate, your motor may go lumpy, smoke, drop pace, light up your dash or cut out. Stop when safe. Turn off. Keep the vehicle off rather than testing it again. Each start pulls more of it through.
If you were on the M55, under 3 miles from Squires Gate, come off at the next exit and stop somewhere safe rather than pressing on.
Mileage matters: every mile carries the AdBlue further into your system, and so heading towards Preston, under 15 miles away, makes a far bigger job than hopping across Squires Gate to the car park by The Hub @ South Shore. Tell us roughly how far it had come.
We do all of the flushing where the car has come to a stop, and once the motor has run there is more of it. Very seldom does it leave lasting damage when it is caught soon.
What clearing AdBlue from a diesel involves around Squires Gate
Our engineers come to the car, wherever it has stopped in Squires Gate: a side street near Highfield Methodist, a drive, a lay-by or a forecourt. What went in, roughly how much, plus whether your motor has turned over: we ask first, since those decide the work.
Then that tank is cleared where your car stands, so the polluted fuel and the AdBlue come out together. A full flush matters much more with AdBlue than with petrol, since residue won't clear out on its own. Next, your filter: cleaned, or changed when it has to be. After that clean diesel, then a test of your car. Most of these jobs are a half-hour visit once our technicians arrive, provided your engine hasn't run. The equipment is explosion-proof, so a live forecourt is no issue, and it's hushed enough for a residential street late at night.
Fresh diesel goes in to prime the fuel system, and that is the final step. Then our engineers start the car and you set off, whether from a parking space by Blackpool Pleasure Beach or a drive in Squires Gate. Before leaving, our engineers make sure it's running correctly with new diesel in. Our technicians do it all wherever your car has ended up, and it never needs to be taken to a workshop. Insurers ask for a VAT invoice and an engineer report, and you get both afterwards.
About Squires Gate and where it is
Squires Gate is a coastal locality in Lancashire, situated near the towns of South Shore and Marton Fold. Squires Gate has a population of around 5528 people and is characterised by semi-detached housing. Squires Gate is located close to the city of Preston, which is approximately 14 miles away. Squires Gate sits at a low elevation of around 10 metres above sea level, near the coast of the North West region.
AdBlue drains across Squires Gate and Lancashire
Our vans that answer AdBlue call-outs in Squires Gate also cover the spots about it, Marton Fold, South Shore and Common Edge among them, and most of Lancashire beyond, across the FY postcode area. Close to a boundary, or anywhere awkward to pin down? Checking beats assuming, and so phone.
Wherever the vehicle stands — a drive at home, a side street, a parking area, a filling station — we empty it there, with no need to bring it to us; that suits Squires Gate, a coastal area, well.
Squires Gate: what AdBlue in a diesel tank costs to fix
Each job differs, and so not one fixed price is honest. The cost moves first with how long, if at all, the engine has been running, and next with the amount of AdBlue that went in. After that it rests on where the vehicle is and whether our van can get to it safely, which is simpler on an open driveway than in a tight space behind St Mary's.
What went in, what quantity, and if the engine ran: each Squires Gate call begins by asking precisely those, before a figure, not after. Those answers turn a range into a straight quote.
Before a van sets off, you are told the price by phone. And payment is on the day, by card or by phone, with nothing upfront. While the van is travelling, check your policy: many cover misfuelling.
Squires Gate: still next to your car?
Not touching your car is, right now, the best thing you can do. Motor off, keys out, ignition off. Call 0333 366 0103 and tell us it's AdBlue, roughly how much, and whether it has run. Petrol in Diesel takes it from there, around Squires Gate or anywhere in Lancashire.