What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in The Bank
One fact counts most when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is if your engine has run since. If it has not, keep it that way, whether the vehicle is in The Bank itself or out in Ackers Crossing. Keep nothing on, call 0333 366 0103, then count on a proper flush plus a drain, done just where your car stands around The Bank. When your engine has run, pull in safely first, then switch the vehicle off. It's a larger job, yet step one does not change.
Anywhere in Cheshire it happened, one of the cases below fits yours.
At the pump around The Bank: AdBlue in a diesel
Only at this point, nozzle yet in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you opened was the wrong one, right at the petrol pump. It might be the Tesco, or the Sainsbury's, or another station around The Bank.
The upshot: of all places to notice, the forecourt is the best. Still in that tank, with nothing pulled onwards: that's where the AdBlue is.
Freeing the pump is no excuse to start it — and so do not get back in. Ask the staff to help you push the car into a parking bay, keep your receipt or the bottle, then phone us from the forecourt. If it can't be shifted, it can be drained at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a working forecourt.
At home around The Bank with AdBlue in your diesel tank
For days the dashboard had been warning you. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look again at the cap. Houses just off The Bank get caught out as often as anywhere else.
The point: zero miles since makes this nearly equal to finding it at the petrol pump. At the bottom of your tank sits where AdBlue waits, because it will not mix with diesel — and a night going by changes no difference.
Put your keys in the house overnight — otherwise a person might take it away at breakfast — and phone us. Our technicians drain the car on your driveway, whether that's in The Bank or out in Mow Cop. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
The Bank: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later the motor began to run unevenly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Meadowside Lane, say, or the route towards Stoke-on-Trent — a run of under 10 miles.
What it means: the system has drawn the AdBlue in. It's been through the fuel filter and the lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure pump and your injectors. It goes further with every mile covered and each restart.
What to do: pull over where it is safe to do so and switch off. The Bank lies under 5 miles from the M6; there, pull off at the first junction rather than pressing on to the services. No test starts: clearing itself is not something AdBlue will do. Phone, saying how far your car was driven.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
It is a vehicle you have had for a week. The AdBlue filler is right beside the diesel one, which you did not know, because your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. It can happen to anyone, anywhere across Cheshire.
The upshot: exactly as above, split by if it ran, only with one added step. Many hire and company contracts require the owner's approval before work.
Sorting it before the van arrives is quicker, and so ring the hire company or your fleet manager, and then us. Keep it off as the answer comes, whether you're waiting at Kidsgrove or close to Mount Pleasant Village Hall.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank in The Bank?
Occasionally the fair answer is "I think so". The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia round the filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. The gates of Woodcocks' Well CofE Primary School in a hurry, say, or someone's driveway over in The Rookery.
Meaning? Drips around the inlet don't touch the motor at all. Inside your diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue damages it. Firing up the vehicle will not tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in your tank it would pull it in.
Assume it was put in, and never start your key. Tell us what you noticed on the phone. A clear tank looked at is a happier result than an already-run one drained.
What every AdBlue drain around The Bank has in common
Every situation has the same opening to the job. Wherever your car is — The Rising Sun's car park, a road beside St. Luke's, a driveway, a forecourt — our van gets there and we ask for the liquid, the amount, plus whether the motor has been run. Over the phone, before anything else, you hear our quote, and those replies decide the work too.
Then the tank is emptied and the fuel 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 doesn't rinse out on its own. Fresh diesel is put in after your filter has been flushed or changed, and your car is then checked. Most unstarted cars are a half-hour visit from the moment our technicians get there.
The last step is starting the engine. Our test that it runs properly on clean diesel comes before our engineers head off. The whole job is done where the car is, and if it is spotted soon, permanent damage is very rare. Nothing is paid upfront, payment is made on the day, and you get what the insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Plenty of insurance policies cover misfuelling, so check yours as we head over.
About The Bank
The Bank is a small village in Cheshire, situated on the riverside with a mix of rural and suburban characteristics. The Bank sits at an elevation of 178 metres, overlooking the surrounding countryside, and is located near the Potteries region. The Bank has a population of around 653 people, predominantly living in detached houses, and is close to nearby places such as Mow Cop and Scholar Green.
AdBlue drains in The Bank, and across Cheshire too
Throughout ST postcodes, the teams covering The Bank — a village — work nearby towns as well, Dales Green and Scholar Green included. A postcode starting ST7 3 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No towing is required, be it parked centrally in The Bank or on a layby heading to Quarry Wood, and so keep it where it is. Draining happens right there. Guessing doesn't help beside Mount Pleasant Village Sign, close to a county line or anywhere awkward to describe; phone and check.
The one-line version
Not run yet: keep the vehicle off and call. Started by now? Stop, turn off, phone. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest whatever it is, across The Bank and Cheshire, on 0333 366 0103.