AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Tranmere: What Now?
One thing counts above all when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is whether your engine has been started since. Wherever your vehicle stands — Dacre Hill, Tranmere — don't run an engine that has not been started yet. Leave your motor and your ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103; it's normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is in Tranmere. Where the engine has run, stop somewhere safe straight away, then turn the car off. The job is bigger, yet the first stage is the same.
Match your case to one of the ones below, anywhere across Merseyside you happen to be.
On a Tranmere forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
You are at the petrol pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Anywhere in Tranmere, then — Shell, Esso, or somewhere else close by.
In short: no better spot to be to spot it. No pump has pulled it in, and so the AdBlue sits only inside your tank.
Next: avoid the urge to start it just to free up the petrol pump. Get the attendants to help rolling it into a bay, hold on to the bottle, then ring us right there. If it can't be moved, it can be emptied at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Tranmere drive?
For days the dashboard had been warning you. A bottle bought at the garage, tipped in on the driveway — and it's only by the recycling that the cap got your eye. Homes just off Mersey Walk are caught out as much as everywhere else.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. On the bottom of your tank sits exactly where AdBlue stays, since it will not mix with diesel — and a night passing makes no difference.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so nobody moves the vehicle in the morning. Then call. Your drive is where it gets drained, whether around Tranmere or Rock Ferry. The pumping kit works quietly enough that it won't wake the street at night.
Tranmere: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Lumpy running, smoke, lost power or a glowing dashboard arrived a mile or two beyond the top-up. Perhaps it was on Beaconsfield Close, possibly on the way out towards Liverpool, under 3 miles away.
The upshot: your system has drawn AdBlue through already. Through the filter, along the lines, and — the further the distance — on into the injection pump and each injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Stop somewhere safe — that's the next job — then switch everything off. Leave by the first junction — not the services beyond — if you are on the M53, under 3 miles from Tranmere. Do not restart it to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Phone, saying how far your vehicle was driven.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You've had this vehicle hardly a week. Unknown to you, the AdBlue and diesel inlets are next to each other here — unlike your own vehicle, which has no AdBlue or stores it elsewhere. Wherever you happen to be across Merseyside, any motorist can slip up.
The upshot: exactly as above, split by if it ran, but with one added stage. Plenty of hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on the vehicle.
Next: phone the rental company or your fleet manager first, then us — settling it before we arrive is quicker. Stuck near Salvation Army Community Church or outside Green Lane until the firm replies, your vehicle stays switched off throughout.
Tranmere: unsure if it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Sometimes the honest answer is "I think so". Lighter, that bottle; a hint of ammonia near the filler; a hazy memory of the cap. Sound familiar? The gates of Well Lane Primary School in a rush, say, or someone's drive out in Birkenhead.
Put simply: spillage near the filler leaves your engine unharmed. Inside your diesel tank, however, AdBlue harms it. Starting the vehicle will not tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in the tank it would draw it in.
Assume it was put in, and don't turn the engine. Checking a tank that proves free of AdBlue beats emptying one once it has been run — so phone then tell us what you noticed.
What each AdBlue drain around Tranmere has in common
The job begins the same way, whatever your situation. Our technicians come to your car, whether it is on a forecourt, a driveway, the car park outside Lord Raglan Hotel or a side street close to Pembroke Court/ The Beacons, and ask three things: what got in, roughly how much, and whether your motor has been run. The price comes over the phone, before a van leaves, and those replies shape the work.
Then that tank is cleared and the 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, and so it does not rinse out on its own. Your filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Most unstarted vehicles are a half-hour visit from the moment we turn up.
The last step is firing it up. With new diesel in, it runs while our technicians check it's running properly, and then we head off. Long-term damage is very rare when it is caught early, and the entire job is done where the car is. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money upfront. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Tranmere
Tranmere is a coastal suburban area in Merseyside, situated near the city of Liverpool. Tranmere has a relatively low elevation of 17 metres and is located close to nearby places such as Rock Ferry, Devonshire Park, and Egerton Park. Tranmere is characterised by its predominantly terraced housing stock, reflecting its historical development as a residential area. Tranmere is also part of the larger Liverpool urban area, with the city centre just 2.6 miles away.
AdBlue drains around Tranmere and across Merseyside
As a residential suburb, Tranmere shares its vans with the surrounding towns — Egerton Park, Devonshire Park — right through CH postcodes. Telling us a CH42 3 postcode pins you fastest of all.
No moving is needed, whether parked in the centre of Tranmere or on a layby heading to Mersey Park, so keep it put. The drain happens right there. Assuming won't help near St Paul's Church, on a county line or somewhere awkward to describe; phone and ask.
Your situation, summed up
Not run yet: keep the vehicle off and ring. Run already: stop, power down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest, within Tranmere or anywhere across Merseyside.