What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in West Heath
One thing matters above all once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is if the motor has run afterwards. Not run yet? Then keep the vehicle that way, wherever your vehicle is — West Heath or Congleton. Leave your engine and your ignition off then call 0333 366 0103; it's generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around West Heath. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. It's a larger job, though stage one doesn't change.
Further down: the cases our technicians see, wherever in Cheshire. Choose the one that fits.
On a West Heath forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you only notice it as you're stood at the pump, bottle or the nozzle in your hand. Possibly you're at the BP, maybe at the Shell, maybe somewhere else around West Heath.
Meaning? Finding out on the forecourt is as good as it can be. Still in that tank, with no fuel drawn onwards: that is where the AdBlue sits.
What to do: don't get back in and start it to clear the pump. Get the staff to lend a hand pushing it to a space, hold on to the bottle, then ring us from there. 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 West Heath
For days the dash had been warning you. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look a second time at the cap. Just off Orchard Manor Close is no different from any other place.
The upshot: zero miles since leaves it almost as good to finding it at the pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of the tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Next: stop an early move by putting your keys indoors, then phone us. Astbury Marsh or West Heath: whichever your drive is, that's where it gets drained. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around West Heath?
Topped up, pulled away, and soon the engine was turning roughly, blowing smoke, losing power, or flashing up the dash. Padgbury Lane, say, or the way to Stoke-on-Trent — a trip of under 15 miles.
In short: the AdBlue has been pulled through your fuel system. It's been through your filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure pump and the injectors. More miles, more restarts: further it goes.
Do this: stop anywhere safe, then turn the motor off. Exit by the first junction — not the services beyond — if you are on the M6, under 5 miles from West Heath. It won't have cleared, and so there is no sense starting it again to find out. Ring us and say how far you went.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
A week ago, it was unknown to you. Unbeknown to you, the AdBlue and diesel inlets sit next to each other here — unlike your own vehicle, which has none or stores it in another spot. Throughout Cheshire, nobody is safe from it.
Put simply: an extra stage on top of the cases above, and those turn on whether it has run. The owner frequently has to sign off any work, under plenty of hire and fleet contracts.
Settling it before the van arrives is quicker, and so ring the rental company or your fleet manager, and then us. Stuck near The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or outside Congleton until someone replies, your car remains switched off throughout.
West Heath: unsure whether it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Now and then, "I think so" is all you can honestly say. Lighter, that bottle; a hint of ammonia near the filler; no clear memory of which cap. Look familiar? A rushed top-up by the gates of The Quinta Primary School, or a visit to a friend in Brownlow: either fit.
The upshot: the motor isn't harmed by some AdBlue splashed on the filler. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. If there is AdBlue in your tank, firing up your car would pull it in, and it would not tell you which either.
What to do: treat it as if it got in. Do not start the car. Ring with the details: we'd rather confirm a tank free of AdBlue than drain one once the engine has run.
West Heath: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Whatever the case, one opening is used. Forecourt, driveway, Heath Farm's car park or a road by Astbury Water Sports — the van comes to the vehicle, and three answers come next: what liquid, what amount, and whether it ran. Over the phone, ahead of anything else, you hear our quote, and those replies decide the job too.
Draining the tank comes first, then a full flush — more vital after urea than with petrol, since crystals and corrosion will not go by themselves, however long it sits. Clean diesel is put in after your filter is cleaned or replaced, and your car is then tested. Never started? In that case about half an hour once we are there is most jobs.
Last, we start the car. Our test that it runs correctly on clean diesel comes before our technicians head off. The entire job is done where the vehicle is, and when it is spotted soon, permanent damage is very rare. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money in advance. Dig out your insurance while we arrive: misfuelling cover is built into plenty of policies.
About West Heath, for a moment
West Heath is a suburban area in Cheshire, situated near the riverside and surrounded by nearby places such as Astbury Marsh and Astbury. West Heath has a population of around 3167 people and is characterised by predominantly detached housing. West Heath sits at an elevation of 97 metres, approximately 10 miles from Stoke-on-Trent and 145 miles from London.
West Heath and Cheshire: AdBlue drains across the area
West Heath is a residential suburb, and the same vans that cover it work the places around it too, Astbury and Radnor among them, across the CW postcode area. Telling us a CW12 4 postcode finds you quickest of all.
Central West Heath or a layby towards Harebell Drive Tiny Forest: either way it is, the car never needs to shift an inch for the drain. Our engineers drain the car where it sits. Ring and check instead of guessing if you are by Astbury Village Hall, near a border, or somewhere tricky to explain.
Your scenario, summed up
Unstarted? Leave the vehicle that way and ring. Whichever case applies, Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest on 0333 366 0103, across Cheshire and within West Heath — after you pull over, switch off then phone, if it's run.