AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Stranocum: What Now?
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if your engine has been run since it was put in. Wherever the vehicle stands — Ballymoney, Stranocum — don't start an engine that hasn't been started yet. Switch nothing on, phone 0333 366 0103, and expect a thorough flush after a drain, done right where the vehicle stands in Stranocum. Stop the moment it is safe then switch off, if it has already run. The job is bigger, yet the first step is the same.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever around County Antrim it happened.
On a Stranocum forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
You are 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. Somewhere in Stranocum, then — the nearest petrol station, another forecourt nearby, or somewhere else nearby.
Put simply: there is no better place exists to spot it. No pump has drawn it in, so the AdBlue stays just in your tank.
What to do: don't get back in and crank it to clear the petrol pump. Phone us from the forecourt once your car sits in a space — the attendants will help push it — then keep the receipt. Our equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a live forecourt, so a car that cannot be pushed away is emptied right at the pump.
At home in Stranocum with AdBlue in your diesel tank
Days had gone by with the dash light on. Only by the recycling, the empty bottle in your hand, did you look back at the cap you'd opened on the driveway. Right off Wallace Cottages is not less likely from any other place.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. At the bottom of your tank sits where AdBlue stays, because it will not blend with diesel — and a night passing makes no difference.
Put your keys indoors tonight — or someone might drive it away first thing — then phone us. In Dervock or here around Stranocum, the draining happens at your drive. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
On the road in Stranocum with AdBlue in a diesel
Filled up, pulled away, and soon your engine was running roughly, smoking, down on power, or flashing up your dash. Dunaverty Court, say, or the way to Derry — a run of under 50 miles.
What it means: the fuel system has drawn the AdBlue in. Past the fuel filter, along the pipework, and — the more the mileage — deeper into the injection pump and every injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Your move: pull up somewhere sensible, then turn the engine off. Leave by the next junction — not the services further along — if you are on the M77, over 50 miles from Stranocum. Do not restart it to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Let us hear the mileage covered when you ring.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
It is a vehicle you have had for a week. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is missing or somewhere else. On this one, its cap is right next to the diesel inlet — a surprise to you. Across County Antrim, no one is immune.
Put simply: one extra step on top of the situations above, and those turn on if it's run. Any work on the car frequently needs the owner's go-ahead under rental or company agreements.
Next: ring the hire company or the fleet manager first, and then us — settling it before our arrival is faster. Stranded near the centre or outside the nearest station till someone answers, your vehicle remains switched off the whole time.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Stranocum?
Now and then, "I think so" is all anyone can truthfully say. Too light, that bottle; a hint of ammonia near the filler; no clear recollection of which cap. Look familiar? A hurried top-up by the gates of the local primary school, or a visit to a friend in Corkey: both fits.
What it means: a little spilled about the filler does no damage to the motor. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. You cannot tell which by turning the key, and doing so would suck in any AdBlue that is in that tank.
Assume it was put in, and don't start the engine. Tell us what you saw on the phone. A clean tank looked at is a happier outcome than an already-run one drained.
What each AdBlue drain in Stranocum has in common
The job begins identically, whichever the case. Three things are asked when we reach your car — on a filling station, a driveway, a street beside a street just off the centre or the car park at the pub in the village: the liquid, the quantity, and whether the motor has been started. Replies shape the work; the quote comes on the call whilst nobody has set off yet.
Then that tank is drained and the system purged thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it doesn't rinse out on its own. Clean diesel is put in once the fuel filter has been flushed or replaced, and your car is then tested. The majority of unrun vehicles are a half-hour visit from the moment our technicians turn up.
Firing it up comes last. Before our technicians leave, it's checked to confirm it runs smoothly on fresh diesel. We do the whole job where the vehicle is, and long-term damage is very uncommon when it has been noticed quickly. Payment comes that day, never in advance. For the insurer, you get a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Stranocum
Stranocum is a small locality in County Antrim, situated inland at an elevation of 59 metres. Stranocum lies near the villages of Dervock, Moss-Side, and Armoy, and is approximately 36 miles from the city of Derry. Stranocum has a population of around 614 people, with semi-detached housing being the predominant type. Stranocum is located in a rural area, with the nearest major city being Derry to the west.
Stranocum and County Antrim: AdBlue drains across the area
Moss-Side and Armoy get the identical vans as Stranocum, a small village, plus other towns throughout BT postcodes. A postcode starting BT53 8 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No towing is needed, whether stopped in the centre of Stranocum or in a lay-by heading to the green space at the edge of the village, so leave it where it is. Where it stands, that is where it is drained. If you're somewhere hard to describe, close to the far end of the built-up part or close to a border, ring and ask instead of assuming.
Your situation, in one line
Still unrun? Keep the car that way then ring. Run already? Pull over, switch off, phone. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest whatever it is, in Stranocum and County Antrim, on 0333 366 0103.