AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Thurstonfield, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if your motor has run since it got in. Out in Oughterby or right in Thurstonfield, an unrun motor must stay that way. Normally that is draining and properly flushing it right there around Thurstonfield — so keep the key and motor off then call 0333 366 0103. Already started? Stop once you safely can, then switch it off. It's a larger job, though stage one doesn't change.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever in Cumbria it happened.
On a Thurstonfield forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you only spot it as you are standing at the petrol pump, bottle or nozzle in your hand. It might be the Esso, or perhaps the Asda, or a different forecourt in Thurstonfield.
What it means: this is the ideal place to find out. The AdBlue is inside your tank and nowhere else. Nothing has drawn it in.
Clearing the petrol pump is no reason to start it — so don't get back in. Ask the attendants to help you roll the car into a parking bay, keep the receipt or the bottle, then call us from the forecourt. Emptying it right at the petrol pump is fine if it can't be shifted, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home in Thurstonfield with AdBlue in your diesel tank
On your dash, a reminder 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 a second time at the cap. It takes place on drives just off B5307 as commonly as anywhere.
Meaning? Provided your car has not been driven since, it is close to the forecourt case. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of the tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so nobody moves the car in the morning. Then ring. Your driveway is where it is drained, whether around Thurstonfield or Kirkbampton. Even at night, our pumps are quiet enough for a driveway.
On the road around Thurstonfield with AdBlue in a diesel
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later your motor began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Somewhere on Chapelfield Lane or else heading to Carlisle — under 10 miles away.
Meaning? The pump has taken the AdBlue in. Mileage sets how deep it goes: filter and lines first, then the high-pressure pump and every injector. It travels further with every mile driven and every restart.
What to do: pull over where it is safe then switch off. Leave by the first junction — not the services beyond — if you're on the M6, under 5 miles from Thurstonfield. Starting it again to test gets nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear itself. Call, saying what distance the car went.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You have just driven the vehicle for days. Your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere, and so no one told you the AdBlue inlet sits right next to your diesel. Any driver, wherever in Cumbria, could make it.
Meaning? Whichever applies above counts too — run or unrun — and one further stage. Plenty of hire and company agreements require the owner's approval for work.
Next: phone the hire company or your fleet manager first, and then us — sorting it before we arrive is quicker. Keep the car off while the answer arrives, even if you are parked at Dalston (Cumbria) or close to Kirkbampton Village Hall.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank around Thurstonfield?
"I think so" is sometimes as honest as it gets. Lighter, that bottle; a trace of ammonia round the filler; a hazy recollection of which cap. Look familiar? Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Kirkbampton CofE School, or on a friend's drive in Longburgh.
Meaning? Spills outside the filler don't reach your engine at all. A diesel tank with AdBlue in it is a different story. Any AdBlue in your tank would be pulled in by turning on the car, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
Take it that it got in, and don't turn your engine. Ring us and describe what you saw; we would rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
Thurstonfield: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Whichever scenario you are in, the job starts the same way. Anywhere the vehicle is — the pub in the village's car park, a street beside Cumberland Bird Of Prey Centre, a driveway, a filling station — the van arrives and asks about the fluid, the amount, and if the engine has been run. The price comes on the call, ahead of anyone setting off, and the replies shape the work.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to some metals in fuel systems, and so it does not rinse out on its own; that is why a full flush, after this drain, counts much more with AdBlue than with petrol. Next comes the fuel filter — flushed, or replaced when necessary — followed by clean diesel, and a test of the car. The majority of unrun vehicles are a half-hour visit after the moment our engineers get there.
We fire it up last. Our check that it runs smoothly on fresh diesel comes before our technicians go. If it's caught soon, the car very seldom has long-term damage, and the whole job takes place where it is. Paying is that day, never in advance. For your insurer, there is a VAT invoice plus a written report from the engineer. Worth remembering: many insurers include misfuelling cover, and so a check of your policy as you wait pays.
About Thurstonfield and where it is
Thurstonfield is a small village in Cumbria, situated near the coast and approximately 5 miles from Carlisle. Thurstonfield sits at an elevation of 31 metres, with detached housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Thurstonfield is close to nearby places such as Kirkbampton, Moorhouse, and Bow, and is located within the North West region of England.
AdBlue drains around Thurstonfield, and across Cumbria too
Throughout CA postcodes, the teams covering Thurstonfield — a coastal village — reach nearby towns as well, Moorhouse and Bow among them. A postcode starting CA5 6 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to Village Green or in a car park in the middle of Thurstonfield, it does not need to move. The drain happens right there. If you're somewhere hard to describe, close to St Peter or close to a border, ring and ask instead of guessing.
The one-line version
Unstarted? Leave the car that way and phone. Already run: stop, switch off and call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there in Thurstonfield and anywhere in Cumbria on 0333 366 0103.