AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Tollcross: What Now?
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: if the motor has run since it was put in. If it has not, keep it that way, whether the vehicle is in Tollcross itself or out in Shettleston. Leave the engine and your ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103; it is usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is in Tollcross. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. Step one stays the same, even though the job grows.
Below: the situations our engineers see, wherever across Glasgow City. Choose yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Tollcross forecourt
Only at this point, bottle yet in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you took off was the wrong one, right at the petrol pump. It might be the Shell, or perhaps the Esso, or a different station in Tollcross.
What it means: this is the ideal place to find out. Only that tank has AdBlue; no part beyond it has taken any in.
Freeing the petrol pump is no reason to start it — and so don't get back in. Three jobs: a shove into a bay with the attendants assisting, the bottle saved, and a call to us from where you stand. Our equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a live forecourt, so a vehicle that cannot be pushed away gets cleared where it is at the pump.
AdBlue in the diesel tank at home in Tollcross
The warning light had been on for days. Only at the recycling bin, the empty container in your hand, did you glance back at the cap you'd opened at the driveway. Homes just off Dalness Street get hit as often as everywhere else.
Meaning? Provided your car hasn't been driven since, it's close to the pump case. As it is unable to blend, AdBlue settles to the base in that tank and stays. A night standing alters nothing.
Put your keys in the house tonight — or a person may drive it off first thing — and phone us. Braidfauld or Tollcross: wherever your driveway is, that is where it is cleared. Even at night, the pumps stay quiet enough for a driveway.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel in Tollcross?
Topped up, pulled away, and before long the engine was running unevenly, blowing smoke, down on power, or flashing up the dash. Somewhere on Altyre Street or heading towards Glasgow — under 3 miles away.
The point: the system has drawn AdBlue in already. It's been through the filter and the lines and, the further you went, into your high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors. It travels further with every mile covered and every restart.
What to do: pull over where it's safe and switch off. Service stations farther on are too far: from the M74, under a mile out of Tollcross, use the first junction. Don't restart it to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Call, saying how far the vehicle was driven.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
Seven days ago, it was new to you. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is absent or somewhere else. On this one, the cap is just by the diesel cap — a surprise to you. Any driver, wherever in Glasgow City, could do the same.
Put simply: one extra step on top of the cases above, which turn on whether it's run. Many hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on your car.
Your move: hire firm or fleet manager first, us next, because settling it beforehand saves time. Hanging on for an answer at the car park at Carntyne, or beside Victoria Tollcross? Keep your car off throughout.
Tollcross: unsure if it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
"I think so" is sometimes as honest answer there is. Which cap was taken off, you cannot say; but the bottle feels less than expected, and ammonia lingers by your filler. It might have been on a friend's driveway in Sandyhills, or rushing outside the local primary school on the school run.
The upshot: the motor is not harmed by some AdBlue spilled on the outside. Once it's inside your diesel tank, though, that changes. If there is AdBlue in the tank, firing up the vehicle will draw it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Take it that it was put in, and don't turn your engine. Checking a tank that turns out free of AdBlue beats emptying one after it's been run — so ring and tell us what you saw.
Every AdBlue drain in Tollcross shares these stages
Whichever scenario you are in, this job starts the same way. Three things come when we arrive — on a filling station, a drive, a road beside Tollcross International Swimming Centre or the car park at The Weaverley: the fluid, the amount, and whether the motor has been started. Those replies settle this work, and you hear the price by phone, before anyone heads out.
Draining that tank comes first, then a full flush — more important after urea than with petrol, because crystals and corrosion will not clear on their own, no matter how long you wait. Then comes your filter — flushed, or swapped when needed — followed by fresh diesel, and a test of the vehicle. Most unrun cars are a half-hour job from the moment our engineers turn up.
Starting the engine comes at the end. We check it runs properly on fresh diesel before leaving. If it is caught quickly, the car very seldom has long-term damage, and the entire job happens where it is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Dig out your insurance while we arrive: misfuelling cover is built into plenty of policies.
About Tollcross
Tollcross is a suburban area in Glasgow City, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 27 metres, with the River Clyde flowing nearby. Tollcross is located approximately 2.8 miles from Glasgow city centre and is surrounded by other suburban areas such as Braidfauld and Dalbeth. Tollcross is predominantly composed of flat-type housing, which is typical of many Glasgow suburbs. Tollcross has a population of around 6436 residents, according to recent estimates.
AdBlue drains across Glasgow City, Tollcross included
Tollcross is a residential suburb, and the same vans that cover it work the towns around it too, Dalbeth and Fullarton among them, across the G postcode area. Telling us your G32 8 postcode pins you fastest of all.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to Amulree Recreation Ground or in a car park in the middle of Tollcross, it does not need to shift. Our van empties it in place. Guessing won't help beside Glasgow Club Tollcross, close to a county line or anywhere hard to pin down; phone and ask.
Your situation, summed up
Engine not started: phone, and leave it alone. Started already? Stop, turn off, ring. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest whatever case, in Tollcross and Glasgow City, on 0333 366 0103.