AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Stoneyford: What Now?
One fact matters most when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is whether your motor has been started afterwards. Not run so far? Then leave it like that, wherever your car is — Stoneyford or Upper Ballinderry. Ring 0333 366 0103 with the ignition and engine still off. In Stoneyford, such a case is typically drained and flushed where it stands. Stop the moment it is safe then turn off, if it has been run. The job is bigger, yet the first stage is the same.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever in County Antrim it happened.
Stoneyford forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
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. Be it the nearest petrol station, another forecourt nearby or anywhere else in Stoneyford, the case is identical.
In short: there is no better place to be to discover it. Only your tank holds AdBlue; no part past it has taken it in.
Do this: stay out of the driver's seat, even if the pump wants clearing. Phone us from the forecourt after the car is in a bay — the attendants will lend a hand to push it — and save the bottle. If it cannot be moved, it can be cleared at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt.
Stoneyford, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
On the dash, a warning had been lit all week. Picked up a bottle, poured it in outside the house, recycled the empty — and at that point looked at the cap again, too late. Drives near South Crescent get it as much as anywhere.
Put simply: if your car hasn't been driven since, it's nearly as good as spotting it at the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue stay separate: the AdBlue drops to the base of that tank and remains put, however long the night.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so nobody moves the vehicle in the morning. Then ring. Dundrod or Stoneyford: whichever your drive sits, that is where it is drained. The equipment runs quiet enough that it won't wake the street at night.
Stoneyford: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Lumpy running, smoke, falling power or a glowing dashboard started a mile or two after the top-up. Somewhere along Chalet Road or heading to Lisburn — under 10 miles away.
The point: your system has drawn AdBlue in by now. The high-pressure pump and every injector get it as well on a longer run, after the fuel filter and pipework have it. It travels further with every mile covered and each restart.
Next: pick a sensible place, stop, then turn the engine off. On the M77, over 50 miles from Stoneyford, that means the next junction, not the services further on. Restarting it to test achieves nothing — AdBlue never clears on its own. Ring us and say how far you drove.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You have only had the car a week. Unknown to you, the AdBlue and diesel fillers are next to each other here — unlike your own vehicle, which has no AdBlue or stores it elsewhere. It can happen to anyone, anywhere across County Antrim.
The upshot: exactly as above, split by if it ran, but with an added stage. Plenty of hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on your car.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's faster settled before our engineers get there than after. Hanging on for a reply in the car park outside the nearest station, or beside the centre? Leave the engine off throughout.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank around Stoneyford?
"I think so" is often as honest as it gets. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia about your filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. The gates of the local primary school in a hurry, say, or someone's driveway over in Lurganure.
Put simply: spillage round your filler does your engine no harm. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. Any AdBlue in your tank would be sucked in by starting the vehicle, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
Take it that it was put in, and don't turn your key. Ring with what you saw: we would rather find a tank free of AdBlue than drain one after the motor has been run.
Each AdBlue drain around Stoneyford shares these stages
Whatever the situation, one start applies. Three things are asked once our technicians reach your car — at a filling station, a driveway, a road beside a street just off the centre or the car park at the pub in the village: the fluid, the quantity, and if it has run. Over the phone, ahead of anything else, you are told our quote, and those answers shape the work too.
Then that tank is emptied and your system cleaned thoroughly, which matters more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not rinse out on its own. The filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and your car is tested. Where your engine has not been started, allow about half an hour once we arrive, for most jobs.
Lastly, our engineers fire it up. Our engineers confirm it runs properly on new diesel before we go. When it is spotted early, the vehicle very rarely has lasting damage, and the entire job happens where it is. Nothing is paid upfront, payment happens on the day, and you receive what your insurer asks for: an engineer report plus a VAT invoice. Check your insurance while we're en route: misfuelling cover is included in plenty of policies.
About Stoneyford itself
Stoneyford is a small locality in County Antrim, situated inland at an elevation of 132 metres, approximately 5 miles from Lisburn. Stoneyford is characterised by its semi-detached housing and is close to nearby places such as Dundrod, Milltown, and Glenavy. Stoneyford has a population of around 720 people and is located about 326 miles from London.
AdBlue drains around Stoneyford and across County Antrim
Being a small village, Stoneyford has the same vans as the nearby towns — Glenavy, Milltown — right across BT postcodes. Giving us a BT28 3 postcode pins you quickest of all.
Centre of Stoneyford or a lay-by near the green space at the edge of the village: wherever it sits, the car never needs to shift an inch for us. Our engineers drain it where it is. Assuming doesn't help beside the far end of the built-up part, close to a county line or somewhere awkward to describe; ring and ask.
Your scenario, summed up
Engine never started: phone, and leave it switched off. Already run: stop, switch off and call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there around Stoneyford and anywhere in County Antrim on 0333 366 0103.