AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Stubbins: What Now?
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: whether the motor has run since it went in. Anywhere your car stands — Nook, Stubbins — never run a motor that has not run yet. Leave the motor and the ignition off and phone 0333 366 0103; it is usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is in Stubbins. Where the motor has run, stop safely straight away, then turn the vehicle off. It is a bigger job, yet stage one does not change.
Further down: the situations our technicians meet, wherever in Lancashire. Pick yours.
At the petrol pump in Stubbins: AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you only spot it as you're standing at the petrol pump, bottle or the nozzle in your hand. Perhaps you are at the R Dewhurst Coal Merchant, perhaps at the Shell, possibly somewhere else around Stubbins.
In short: there is no better place exists to discover it. Nothing has pulled it in, so the AdBlue stays just inside that tank.
Freeing the petrol pump is no excuse to start it — so don't get back in. Ring us from the forecourt after your car sits in a space — the attendants will help roll it — then save the receipt. Stuck beside the petrol pump? Explosion-proof equipment makes a live forecourt sensible, so we can drain the car in place.
At home in Stubbins with AdBlue in your diesel tank
Days had gone by with the warning light on. A bottle bought at the garage, tipped in on the driveway — and it's just at the bin that the cap got your eye. It takes place on drives just off Whim Bridge as frequently as anywhere.
The upshot: no miles since makes it almost as good to finding it at the pump. As it is unable to mix, AdBlue drops low inside that tank and waits. One night parked changes nothing.
Next: stop an early move by putting your keys indoors, then ring us. Out in Catterall or here in Stubbins, the draining is done at your driveway. Even at night, the pumps are quiet enough for a driveway.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around Stubbins?
Filled up, drove away, and soon the engine was turning roughly, smoking, losing power, or flashing up the dash. Perhaps it was on M6, maybe on the way out towards Preston, under 10 miles away.
In short: the AdBlue has been sucked through the system. It's been through your filter and the lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and the fuel injectors. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Do this: stop somewhere safe, then turn your engine off. On the M6, under a mile from Stubbins, that means the next exit, not the services further on. Do not restart it to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Phone, saying how far the car went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You have only had the car a week. Your own motor either does without AdBlue or puts it somewhere different, so no one warned you the AdBlue cap was just beside your diesel. Any driver, anywhere around Lancashire, could make the same.
Put simply: an extra stage on top of the cases above, and those turn on if it's run. Many rental and fleet agreements need the owner's sign-off before repairs.
Next: phone the rental company or the fleet manager first, and then us — settling it before we arrive is faster. Keep it off while the reply arrives, whether you are waiting outside Salwick or close to Claughton Memorial Village Hall.
Unsure about AdBlue in your diesel tank in Stubbins?
"I think so" is sometimes as honest answer there is. What cap was taken off, you cannot recall; meanwhile the bottle feels less than expected, and ammonia hangs by the filler. The gates of St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Claughton-on-Brock in a hurry, perhaps, or a friend's drive out in Bonds.
What it means: a little spilled round the filler does no damage to the motor. Inside the diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue damages it. You cannot tell which by turning the key, and doing so will suck in any AdBlue that is in that tank.
What to do: treat it as if it got in. Don't fire it up. Ring us and explain what you saw; we would rather check a tank that turns out free of AdBlue than drain one that has already been run.
Stubbins: what each AdBlue drain has in common
No matter the case, a single start is used. Three questions are asked when our technicians arrive — on a forecourt, a drive, a road beside Catterall Village Hall or the car park outside Brockholes Arms: the liquid, the quantity, and whether it has been started. Replies set the job; the quote comes by phone whilst no one has set off yet.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to certain metals used in fuel systems, so it does not wash out unaided; that is why the flush, after this drain, matters far more here than with petrol. Then is the fuel filter — cleaned, or replaced when needed — then clean diesel, and a test of the vehicle. If the motor has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Last, our technicians start it. We confirm it runs correctly on new diesel before we leave. The entire job is done where your car is, and if it's noticed soon, long-term damage is very unusual. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About Stubbins, for a moment
Stubbins is a small hamlet situated on the riverside in Lancashire, with a low elevation of around 22 metres. Stubbins lies near the cities of Preston and Lancaster, and is close to nearby places such as Catterall and Bowgreave. Stubbins has a population of approximately 503 people, and is characterised by predominantly detached housing.
AdBlue drains about Stubbins and across Lancashire
Throughout PR postcodes, the teams covering Stubbins — a rural hamlet — reach surrounding places too, Bruna Hill and Bowgreave among them. Telling us a PR3 0 postcode pins you quickest of all.
Centre of Stubbins or a lay-by near Town Croft Wood: either way it is, the vehicle doesn't need to move at all for us. Draining happens right there. Awkward to explain? By The Flower Bowl Curling Rink or a border? Asking beats guessing, and so ring.
In one line: your scenario
Motor not started: ring, and leave it switched off. Started already? Stop, turn off, ring. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest whatever case, across Stubbins and Lancashire, on 0333 366 0103.