What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Wardie
Everything hinges on a single detail: if your engine has started after the AdBlue was added — more than anything else. Out in Warriston or here in Wardie, an unrun motor must stay unrun. Keep nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, then count on a thorough flush after a drain, carried out right where the vehicle sits around Wardie. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. The job is bigger, but the first step is the same.
Anywhere in City of Edinburgh it happened, one of the situations below matches yours.
On a Wardie forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Picture it: standing by the pump, holding the bottle, you realise the filler you took off was not the correct one. Possibly you're at the Morrisons, perhaps at the Shell, perhaps somewhere else in Wardie.
Meaning? Finding out on the forecourt is as good as it can be. Just the tank holds AdBlue; not one component beyond it has drawn any in.
Next: resist the urge to fire it up only to move away from the petrol pump. Phone us from the forecourt after the vehicle is in a bay — the attendants will help roll it — then keep the bottle. If it can't be moved, it can be cleared at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a working forecourt.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home in Wardie
Several days had gone by with the warning light on. Only by the recycling, the empty container in hand, did you glance back at the cap you'd opened at the drive. Just off Boswall Terrace is no different from anywhere.
In short: if your car hasn't moved since, it is almost as good as finding out at the pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of the tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
Put your keys in the house overnight — otherwise a person might drive it off at breakfast — and call us. Your drive is where it is drained, be it in Wardie or Pilton. Night-time drains outside a house are no problem: the pumps are quiet.
On the road in Wardie with AdBlue in a diesel
A short way after filling up, your engine started playing up: roughness, smoke, less power, warnings on the dash. Anywhere on Boswall Gardens or heading to Edinburgh — under 3 miles away.
Meaning? Your fuel pump has taken the AdBlue in. It's been through your filter and the fuel lines and, the further you went, into your high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors. It goes deeper with each extra mile driven and each restart.
Do this: pull up anywhere sensible, then turn the engine off. On the M8, under 5 miles from Wardie, that means the next junction, not the services further on. Don't restart the car to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Let us know the mileage covered as you call.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You have had the car barely a week. Unknown to you, the two fillers sit side by side here — not like your own vehicle, which has none or stores it elsewhere. Any driver, anywhere across City of Edinburgh, could make it.
The upshot: just as above, divided by whether it ran, but with an added step. Any work on your car often requires the owner's go-ahead under rental or fleet terms.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is quicker settled before our technicians arrive than after. Stranded by War Memorial or at Edinburgh Waverley until the firm answers, the car stays switched off throughout.
Unsure about AdBlue in your diesel tank around Wardie?
"I think so" is sometimes the most honest as it gets. A faint ammonia-like whiff lingers around the filler, the bottle feels too light, and the cap you took off is hard to recall. Possibly it happened in a hurry at the school gates at the local primary school, or on a friend's drive in Craigleith.
What it means: a little spilled round the filler does no harm to the motor. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. If there is AdBlue in your tank, starting your car will pull it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Do this: act as though it got in, and don't start your engine. Phone with the details: we would sooner confirm a clean tank than drain one after your engine has run.
Wardie: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Whatever the case, one start applies. Three things come once our engineers arrive — at a filling station, a drive, a street beside Granton Parish Church or the car park outside The Anchor Inn: the fluid, the quantity, and whether the motor has run. Over the phone, ahead of dispatch, you are told the quote, and those replies decide the work too.
A thorough flush comes after this drain. With petrol it's routine; with AdBlue it's crucial, because deposits build up and certain metals corrode, and neither rinses away unaided. The filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Where your motor hasn't run, expect roughly half an hour once we arrive, for most jobs.
The final step is firing it up. With new diesel in, it runs while our engineers make sure it's running properly, and then we head off. Our engineers do the entire job where the vehicle is, and lasting damage is very unusual if it has been spotted early. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Check your insurance while we're en route: cover for misfuelling comes built into many policies.
About Wardie
Wardie is a coastal suburban area in the City of Edinburgh, situated approximately 2 miles from Edinburgh city centre. Wardie occupies a relatively low-lying area, with an elevation of around 28 metres, and is characterised by predominantly flat-type housing. Wardie is close to nearby places such as Pilton, Granton, and Inverleith, and is part of the larger Edinburgh urban area. Wardie has a population of around 9951 residents.
AdBlue drains round Wardie and across City of Edinburgh
Over EH postcodes, the teams covering Wardie — a residential suburb — reach nearby places too, Granton and Inverleith included. Your whereabouts comes quickest from a postcode that starts EH5 2.
No towing is required, be it stopped centrally in Wardie or on a lay-by en route to Granton Crescent Park Wee Forest, and so leave it where it is. Draining is done on the spot. Assuming won't help beside Granton Salvation Army Hall, on a border or anywhere hard to pin down; phone and check.
The one-line version
Not run yet: keep the car off and call. Run by now: pull over, power down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, within Wardie or anywhere in City of Edinburgh.