AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Syston? Don't Start It
Motor off, ignition off: that is where you start if AdBlue has gone into your diesel tank. AdBlue is urea mixed in water. The trouble starts once it's pulled through your lines — it won't ignite, and it will not blend with diesel. In Syston, AdBlue in a diesel tank caught before your motor runs normally comes down to a drain and a thorough flush, right where the vehicle is. Phone 0333 366 0103 before you do anything else.
Syston, AdBlue in the diesel tank: what to do right away
Do:
- So no one can turn the ignition on, take the keys away.
- Put the hazard lights on if you're at all near moving traffic.
- Hold on to your receipt or the empty bottle, so you can tell us what went in and about how much.
- Ring us from where you are. A postcode starting LE7 1, or the name of the nearest street, gets the van to you without a search.
Not to do:
- Moving your vehicle even a short way is no reason to start your motor.
- Many diesels run their fuel pump the instant your ignition goes on, and so keep the vehicle off.
- AdBlue does not mix in diesel — it separates out — so adding extra diesel will not thin it.
- Even a short way along Barkby Road is too far to drive the vehicle.
- Do not try to drain the vehicle yourself at the kerbside.
Get the attendants to help you move your vehicle off the island if you're at a forecourt in Syston, whether it's the BP or elsewhere. On that drive, the vehicle stays exactly where it is.
AdBlue in a diesel tank, and what it does there
AdBlue is made for your exhaust, not the engine. Kept in a dedicated tank, it is injected into the exhaust stream to clean the gases. No part in a fuel pump is designed for this liquid — and none of it was intended to travel that way.
It doesn't combine. Once it's tipped into a tank of diesel, AdBlue acts not at all like diesel. The pickup takes fuel from the deepest part of that tank, and that is precisely where AdBlue ends up: as it is denser than diesel, it sinks. A motor topped up on a driveway in Barkby Thorpe overnight and left unstarted counts as the simple one. No pump has sucked the AdBlue up so far — but once the engine runs, that's what goes first, straight from the bottom of your tank.
Two kinds of damage come from there. As its water goes, the urea left behind crystallises, and the crystals block filters and settle in fine passages. And it is corrosive to some of the metals a fuel system is made from, and so it keeps working on the parts it gets to for as long as it remains there. A motor left standing around Syston with AdBlue already in its lines is worse by the morning; one with AdBlue only in its tank is not. And there's the water: it brings no lubrication to the components that need it the most — the high-pressure pump and each injector.
Why AdBlue in a diesel is often more major than petrol
Petrol put into a diesel on Shell's forecourt leaves your fuel watery — that is the whole issue. No harm comes while it stays put, blended into the diesel — only once the engine runs on it.
AdBlue in a diesel is another problem: not thin fuel, but no fuel at all. Since it doesn't burn, running it through is not an option. Deposits and corrosion remain through the following tankful, and AdBlue separates back from the diesel, so thinning it can't help. That is why the flush counts so much, and turning the key "to see" costs more here than nearly any other mistake — in Thurmaston or the heart of Syston alike.
The same good news applies as with petrol. If the motor has not run, the AdBlue is still in the tank, and your tank is the easiest part of a fuel system to clear, wherever around Leicestershire your car is standing.
How AdBlue ends up in a diesel tank in Syston
It is not on purpose. Plenty of cars have the AdBlue inlet beside the diesel inlet, occasionally under one flap, and mixing them up is simple after dark. A container bought while driving home and poured in at home, instead of at the filling station, is the usual route.
Usually, it occurs in one of a couple of familiar ways. Midway through the drop-off, the dashboard warns, and outside St Peter and St Paul Church of England Academy the top-up is rushed. After work, a container goes in on a drive near High Street. Otherwise, after dark by Fox and Hounds, the vehicle gets topped up by a driver using that flap the first time.
Rented cars, new cars, fleet cars, or the spare vehicle in a home with both fuels: the least known cars see it most. Wherever you're around Syston or the rest of Leicestershire, it's the same slip and the same first answer: leave the car off.
Already started the engine with AdBlue in the diesel tank around Syston?
Then the AdBlue has left that tank. It has been pulled through your filter and the lines, and if your engine ran for any time, it has reached the high-pressure fuel pump and your injectors.
Watch for lumpy running, smoke, falling power, warnings on your dash, or a cut-out — returning from Central Park, say, or midway across Syston. Stop as soon as it is safe, switch off, and do not restart the vehicle to check. Every start pulls more of it through.
If you were on the M1, under 10 miles from Syston, come off at the next exit and stop somewhere sensible instead of pressing on.
Each mile carries the AdBlue deeper into the system. That's why a hop across Syston to park beside Syston Methodist Church and a drive of under 10 miles towards Leicester are very distinct jobs. Roughly how far had it come? Tell us.
Wherever the vehicle came to a halt is where all of it gets done, even with more to flush once your engine has been run. Long-term damage is very unusual if it's noticed early.
Clearing AdBlue in a diesel around Syston: what it takes
Our engineers come to the vehicle, wherever it has stopped around Syston: a side street near Syston Heritage Area, a drive, a lay-by or a forecourt. Three replies decide the work, so first our technicians ask what got in, about the amount, plus if the motor has run.
Next, emptying your tank on the spot takes out the contaminated diesel and the AdBlue in one go. A careful flush matters much more after AdBlue than after petrol, since what remains won't clear out on its own. Clean diesel goes in once the filter is cleaned — or replaced, when it needs to be — and then your car is tested. If your motor has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once our engineers arrive. Quiet enough to use outside a house at night, and fine on a working forecourt, the pumps are explosion-proof.
New diesel goes in to prime your system, and that's the last step. Whether it is a parking space at the nearest station or a drive in Syston, that is where our technicians fire it up and you head off. The check before our engineers head off is that it runs correctly on fresh diesel. Because the job is done in full where the car is, a workshop never comes into it. Insurers ask for a VAT invoice and an engineer report, and both come afterwards.
About Syston
Syston is a town in Leicestershire, situated on the River Soar, with a mix of semi-detached housing and other residential properties. Syston sits at an elevation of 57 metres, approximately 5 miles east of Leicester, and is close to nearby places such as Queniborough and Barkby. Syston has a population of around 14043 people and is located near the intersection of several major roads. Syston is also within commuting distance of Leicester and about 92 miles north of London.
AdBlue drains across Syston and Leicestershire
The teams that answer AdBlue call-outs in Syston also cover the locations around it, Queniborough, Barkby and East Goscote among them, and most of Leicestershire beyond, across the LE postcode area. Guessing won't help close to a border or somewhere tricky to describe; phone and check.
No moving is needed. In Syston, a riverside town, a van that comes to you fits: your vehicle is drained on the spot, whether on a drive, a residential street, a car park or a forecourt.
What AdBlue in a diesel tank costs to put right around Syston
Not one flat figure would be fair, since each job differs. The cost shifts first with how long, if at all, your engine has been running, and next with the amount of AdBlue that got in. After that it depends on where the vehicle is and whether a technician can get to it safely, which is simpler on an open drive than in a tight gap behind Parish Church of St. Peter and St. Paul.
Which fluid was put in, how much, plus if the engine ran: each Syston enquiry opens with precisely that, ahead of a figure, never after. The replies turn a range into a straight price.
Priced by phone before the van sets out, the job is settled that day — card or phone, no deposit. Misfuelling cover comes with plenty of insurance policies, so it pays to look at yours before the van arrives.
In Syston and still alongside your car?
Then the most useful thing you can do is nothing to the vehicle. Keys out, motor off, ignition off. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, across Syston or anywhere within Leicestershire, once you phone 0333 366 0103 saying it was AdBlue, about how big an amount, and whether the engine ran.