What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Strathkinness
All of it turns on a single fact: whether your engine has been run since the AdBlue went in — more than anything else. If it has not, keep it that way, whether the car is in Strathkinness itself or out in Mount Melville. Normally that means emptying and thoroughly cleaning it on the spot around Strathkinness — and so leave the ignition and engine off then phone 0333 366 0103. Where the engine has run, pull in safely straight away, then switch it off. The job is bigger, but the first stage is the same.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever in Fife it happened.
At the petrol pump around Strathkinness: AdBlue in a diesel
You are at the petrol pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. It might be the Morrisons, or perhaps the Shell, or a different station around Strathkinness.
What it means: this is the best place to find out. Nothing has drawn it through, and so the AdBlue stays only in that tank.
Freeing the pump is no reason to start it — so do not get back in. Ring us from the forecourt after the vehicle sits in a space — the staff will lend a hand to roll it — then keep the bottle. Emptying it right at the petrol pump is fine when it can't be moved, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in the diesel tank at home in Strathkinness
For days the dash had been warning you. Only at the recycling bin, the empty container in your hand, did you look back at the cap you'd used at the drive. Houses just off Main Street are caught out as often as anywhere else.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. On the bottom of the tank sits exactly where AdBlue waits, because it will not blend with diesel — and a night going by changes nothing of the difference.
Next: stop an early move by putting your keys indoors, then ring us. Your driveway is where it gets drained, be it around Strathkinness or Kincaple. Even at night, our pumps stay quiet enough for a residential street.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel in Strathkinness?
Lumpy running, smoke, falling power or a lit dashboard started a mile or two after the fill. Anywhere on Bonfield Road or heading towards Dundee — under 10 miles away.
Meaning? Your fuel pump has taken the AdBlue in. The injection pump and each injector get it too on a longer run, once your filter and pipework have it. It goes further with each mile covered and every restart.
What to do: pull over where it is safe to do so then switch off. Services further along are too far: on the M90, under 25 miles out of Strathkinness, take the first junction. It won't have cleared, and so there is no point restarting to check. Call, and say what distance your vehicle was driven.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
A week back, the car was new to you. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is absent or elsewhere. On this one, the inlet is right by your diesel inlet — a surprise to you. It can happen to anyone, anywhere around Fife.
Put simply: an extra step on top of the situations above, which turn on if it's run. Any work on the car often needs the owner's go-ahead under rental or company agreements.
Settling it before the van turn up is faster, so phone the rental company or your fleet manager, and then us. Waiting for an answer at the car park outside Leuchars, or beside War Memorial? Leave your car off meanwhile.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Strathkinness?
At times the fair answer is "I think so". Lighter, the bottle; a hint of ammonia round the filler; a hazy memory of the cap. Look familiar? Perhaps it happened in a hurry at the school gates at the local primary school, or on a friend's drive in Guardbridge.
The point: the motor is not hurt by some AdBlue spilled around the outside. Once it's inside the diesel tank, though, that changes. Any AdBlue in that tank would be drawn 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 never start the key. Call us and describe what you saw; we would rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
The common ground in every Strathkinness AdBlue drain
Every situation gets the same start to the work. Three questions are asked when our engineers reach your car — on a forecourt, a drive, a street by Strathkinness Village Hall or the car park outside The Tavern: the liquid, the amount, and whether it has been started. The price is given on the call, ahead of anyone setting off, and those replies set the work.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to certain metals in fuel systems, and so it won't rinse out unaided; that is why a full flush, after this drain, matters far more here than with petrol. Finally come your filter, flushed or renewed as needed; fresh diesel; and a check of the car. The majority of unrun cars are a half-hour job after the moment our technicians arrive.
Firing it up comes at the end. Before our technicians leave, it's tested to be sure it runs correctly on clean diesel. Long-term damage is very uncommon if it is noticed soon, and the entire job is done where the vehicle is. Nothing is paid upfront, settlement is made on the day, and you get what your insurer wants: an engineer report plus a VAT invoice. Dig out your insurance before we arrive: cover for misfuelling is built into many policies.
About Strathkinness and where it is
Strathkinness is a small village in Fife, situated on the coastal edge of Scotland, with views out to the Tay Estuary. Strathkinness sits at an elevation of 86 metres, and is located near the villages of Kincaple and Edenside. Strathkinness has a mix of housing types, but is predominantly characterised by detached homes. Strathkinness is close to the city of Dundee, which is 9 miles away.
AdBlue drains around Strathkinness and across Fife
Over KY postcodes, the teams covering Strathkinness — a coastal village — reach nearby places as well, Edenside and Clatto among them. Telling us your KY16 9 postcode pins you quickest of all.
Central Strathkinness or a layby towards Bishop's Wood: wherever it is, your vehicle doesn't need to move an inch for the drain. We drain the vehicle where it sits. If you are somewhere hard to describe, near Gallery 201 or close to a border, ring and ask rather than assuming.
Your situation, in one line
Still unrun? Keep the vehicle that way then ring. Run by now: pull over, switch down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest, in Strathkinness or anywhere in Fife.