Thurso East: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Find Your Situation
One fact matters most when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is whether your engine has been started since. Out in Millbank or here around Thurso East, an unrun engine must stay unrun. Ring 0333 366 0103 with your ignition and engine both off. Across Thurso East, such a case is typically drained and flushed where it stands. Pull over the minute you safely can then turn off, if it has been run. It's a larger job, though step one does not change.
Match your case to a situation from the list below, wherever in Highland you happen to be.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Thurso East forecourt
Picture it: standing by the petrol pump, gripping the nozzle, you spot the cap you opened wasn't the correct one. It might be the Gleaner, or the Gulf, or a different station in Thurso East.
What it means: this is the ideal location to find out. The AdBlue is in that tank and nowhere else. Nothing has sucked it in.
Do this: keep out of the car, however much the pump needs clearing. Ring us from the forecourt after the vehicle sits in a space — the attendants will lend a hand to push it — then save the bottle. If it can't be moved, it can be drained at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a working forecourt.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Thurso East drive?
On your dash, a warning had shown for days. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the driveway, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look again at the cap. Driveways close to Castletown Road get it as much as anywhere.
Meaning? Provided the vehicle hasn't moved since, it's close to the forecourt case. At the bottom of that tank sits exactly where AdBlue waits, because it will not mix with diesel — and a night passing changes no difference.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so nobody moves the car in the morning. Then call. We drain it on your driveway, whether that is in Thurso East or out in Mountpleasant. Late-night empties beside a house are fine: the pumps are low-noise.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel around Thurso East?
Lumpy running, smoke, lost power or a lit dashboard started a short way after the top-up. Possibly it was on Stroma Road, perhaps on the way out towards Inverness, over 50 miles away.
Meaning? Your pump has taken the AdBlue in. Through the filter, along the lines, and — the further the mileage — deeper into the high-pressure pump and every injector. More miles, more starts: deeper it travels.
What to do: pull over where it is safe to do so and switch off. Services farther on are too far: from the M90, over 50 miles out of Thurso East, use the next junction. Restarting it to check achieves nothing — AdBlue never clears on its own. Let us know the mileage covered as you ring.
Hire, lease 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 absent or somewhere else. On this one, the cap is just next to your diesel cap — a surprise to you. Throughout Highland, no one is safe from it.
In short: an extra stage on top of the situations above, and those depend on if it has run. Plenty of hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on your car.
Settling it before we arrives is quicker, so phone the hire company or your fleet manager, then us. Stuck by Thurso Castle or at Thurso until the firm answers, your car stays switched off throughout.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank in Thurso East?
At times, "I think so" is all anyone can truthfully say. A slight ammonia whiff hangs near your filler, the bottle feels too light, and which cap came off is a blur. Possibly it happened in a hurry at the school gates at the local primary school, or on a friend's drive in Mountvernon.
The upshot: the motor is not hurt by a little AdBlue spilled around the filler. If it is inside your diesel tank, though, it does. Any AdBlue in the tank will be sucked in by turning on the car, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Next: assume it got in, and keep your engine off. Call us and explain what you saw; we'd rather check a tank that turns out free of AdBlue than drain one that has already been run.
Each AdBlue drain in Thurso East shares these steps
The job opens the same way, whatever your case. Three things are asked when our engineers reach the car — at a forecourt, a drive, a road by Old St Peter's Kirk or the car park at Grove Lounge: the liquid, the amount, and whether the motor has run. Those replies settle the work, and you hear our quote by phone, before anyone heads out.
A thorough flush comes after this drain. With petrol it's standard; with AdBlue it's essential, since crystals form and some metals are attacked, and none of it washes away unaided. Next is your filter — flushed, or swapped where necessary — followed by clean diesel, and a test of your vehicle. If the engine has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
The last step is starting the car. We check it runs correctly on new diesel before we leave. Our engineers do the whole job where your car is, and long-term damage is very unusual when it has been caught soon. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Thurso East itself
Thurso East is a suburban area located on the northern coast of Scotland, with Thurso East sitting at an elevation of 18 metres above sea level. Thurso East is part of the larger town of Thurso, which is situated near the Pentland Firth, and Thurso East is characterized by its semi-detached housing stock. Thurso East is relatively distant from major cities, with London being approximately 508 miles to the south, and Inverness around 82 miles to the south.
Thurso East and Highland: AdBlue drains across the area
Over KW postcodes, the teams covering Thurso East — a residential suburb — reach surrounding towns too, Springpark and Thurso among them. Fastest of all: a KW14 8 postcode to show where you stand.
No moving is required, be it stopped centrally in Thurso East or on a lay-by heading to Sir George's Park, and so keep it put. Wherever it stands, that is where it is emptied. Ring and ask rather than guess when you are by Old St. Peter's Kirk, near a boundary, or somewhere awkward to explain.
The one-line version
If it hasn't run, phone and keep it off. Started by now? Stop, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder whichever case, in Thurso East and Highland, on 0333 366 0103.