AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Standingstone, and What to Do Next
Everything hinges on one fact: whether the motor has been run since the AdBlue went in — far more than anything else. Not run so far? Then keep the car like that, wherever the car sits — Standingstone or Western Bank. Ring 0333 366 0103 with your key and motor both off. In Standingstone, such a case is generally drained and cleaned where it stands. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. A bigger job, then, but the same opening step.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever in Cumbria it happened.
On a Standingstone 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. Perhaps you are at the BP, possibly at the another forecourt nearby, perhaps somewhere else in Standingstone.
In short: there is no better spot exists to discover it. Only that tank has AdBlue; not one component beyond it has drawn it in.
Next: resist the temptation to start it only to free up the petrol pump. A few jobs: a push into a space with the attendants assisting, the bottle kept, and a ring to us from where you stand. Draining it there at the petrol pump is fine when it cannot be shifted, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Standingstone drive?
Several days had gone by with the dash light on. Picked up a container, tipped it in at home, binned the empty — and at that point looked at the cap a second time, after the fact. Driveways near Cross Lane get it as much as any other street.
In short: if the car hasn't been driven since, it is almost equal to spotting it at the pump. At the bottom of your tank sits where AdBlue stays, since it will not mix with diesel — and a night going by makes no difference.
Next: keys in the house, so no one takes your vehicle anywhere at breakfast. After that, ring. Station Hill or Standingstone: wherever your driveway sits, that is where it is emptied. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Standingstone: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Lumpy running, smoke, falling power or a glowing dashboard started a short way after the top-up. Grange Close, say, or the way to Carlisle — a run of under 15 miles.
The upshot: your system has drawn AdBlue in by now. The injection pump and each injector get it as well on a longer run, after the filter and pipework have it. It goes deeper with every extra mile driven and each restart.
Pull in somewhere safe — that's the first job — then switch everything off. Standingstone sits under 15 miles from the M6; on it, pull off at the first junction rather than pushing on for the services. Restarting it to test gets nothing — AdBlue never clears itself. Let us hear the mileage driven when you call.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You've had this car barely a week. The AdBlue filler sits right beside the diesel one, which you didn't know, since your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Anyone, anywhere around Cumbria, might make it.
The point: exactly as above, divided by whether it ran, only with an added stage. Plenty of hire and company agreements require the owner's sign-off before repairs.
Settling it before we arrives is faster, so ring the hire company or your fleet manager, and then us. Stranded by Saint Cuthberts or at Wigton until someone answers, the vehicle remains turned off throughout.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Standingstone?
At times the honest answer is "I think so". A slight ammonia-like smell hangs around your filler, the bottle seems too light, and the cap you took off is a blur. Possibly it happened in a hurry at the school gates at St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School, or on a friend's drive in Aikhead.
What it means: a little spilled around your filler does no harm to the engine. In your diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue damages it. If there is AdBlue in the tank, turning on your car would suck it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Your move: act as though it got in, and don't start the engine. Ring and give the details: we would sooner find a clean tank than empty one after the engine has been run.
Every AdBlue drain around Standingstone shares these stages
The job begins identically, whichever your situation. Three questions come when our technicians arrive — on a forecourt, a driveway, a street beside The John Peel Theatre or the car park at Throstle Nest: the fluid, the quantity, and if the motor has been started. Those answers determine the work, and you hear the quote by phone, before anyone heads out.
Draining that tank comes next, followed by a full flush — more vital after urea than after petrol, because crystals and corrosion won't go on their own, no matter how long you wait. Last are your filter, cleaned or renewed as needed; fresh diesel; and a test of the vehicle. If your motor hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
Finally, our engineers start it. With clean diesel in, it runs while we confirm it is running correctly, and then we leave. Permanent damage is very uncommon when it is spotted soon, and the entire job is done where your car is. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, nothing in advance. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Standingstone and where it is
Standingstone is a suburban area situated on the riverside in Cumbria, with a relatively low elevation of 34 metres. Standingstone lies approximately 10 miles from Carlisle and 261 miles from London, making it a part of the wider Carlisle urban area. Standingstone has a mix of housing types, but detached homes are the most predominant. Standingstone is close to nearby places such as Station Hill, Wigton, and Oulton.
AdBlue drains in Standingstone, and across Cumbria too
As a residential suburb, Standingstone shares its vans with the nearby places — Oulton, Wigton — all the way through CA postcodes. A postcode starting CA7 9 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to Swinegate Plantation or in a car park in the middle of Standingstone, it does not need to shift. The van drains it where it stands. Tricky to pin down? Close to Moore Memorial Fountain or a county line? Asking beats assuming, so phone.
The one-line version
Where it hasn't run, phone then keep it that way. Run by now: pull over, switch down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest, in Standingstone or wherever in Cumbria.