What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in West Park
One fact counts above all once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is whether your engine has run since. Anywhere the car is — Green Bank, West Park — don't start an engine that hasn't run yet. Leave the engine and your ignition off and call 0333 366 0103; it is usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is around West Park. Already started? Pull over once you safely can, then switch it off. A larger job, then, but the identical opening move.
Below: the situations our engineers meet, anywhere in Merseyside. Pick the one that fits.
AdBlue in a diesel on a West Park forecourt
You're 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. It might be the Morrisons, or the Asda petrol station, or a different forecourt in West Park.
Meaning? Finding out on the forecourt is the best it gets. Only the tank has AdBlue; no part past it has taken any in.
Clearing the petrol pump is no reason to start it — and so do not get back in. Have the staff to lend a hand rolling it to a space, save the bottle, then phone us right there. Our equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt, so a car that can't be pushed away is emptied right at the petrol pump.
West Park, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
Days had passed with the dash light on. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the driveway, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look again at the cap. Right off Moxon Street is no different from any other place.
Meaning? Provided your car has not moved since, it's close to the forecourt case. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of the tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
Keep the keys in the house tonight — otherwise someone may take it off at breakfast — then call us. Your driveway is where it gets drained, whether in West Park or Newtown. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in West Park?
Topped up, pulled away, and soon your engine was turning roughly, blowing smoke, losing power, or flashing up your dash. Anywhere along Balfour Street or heading towards Liverpool — under 10 miles away.
What it means: your fuel system has sucked the AdBlue in. Mileage sets how far it goes: filter and pipework to begin with, then the injection pump and each injector. Every restart, like each mile, carries it on.
Pull in somewhere safe — that's the first step — then turn everything off. On the M57, under 3 miles from West Park, that means the next junction, not the services further on. Starting it again to test gets nothing — AdBlue never clears itself. Tell us hear the mileage covered as you ring.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You've had this car hardly a week. Your own car either does without AdBlue or puts it elsewhere, so no one warned you the AdBlue cap sits just next to the diesel. Across Merseyside, no one is immune.
In short: an extra step on top of the cases above, which depend on whether it's run. The owner frequently has to sign off the work, under plenty of rental and fleet contracts.
Next: ring the hire company or your fleet manager first, then us — sorting it before we arrive is faster. Stuck near Taylor Park Community Cycle Hub or outside Thatto Heath till someone answers, your car remains switched off the whole time.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank in West Park?
Sometimes the fair answer is "I think so". Too light, the bottle; a hint of ammonia round your filler; a hazy recollection of the cap. Sound familiar? Perhaps it happened in a hurry at the school gates at St Teresa's Catholic Primary School, Devon Street, or on a friend's drive in Eccleston.
Meaning? Drips around the inlet don't touch your engine at all. Once it is inside the diesel tank, though, it does. Any AdBlue in the tank will be sucked in by firing up the car, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
What to do: treat it as if it went in. Don't fire it up. Checking a tank that proves clean is better than emptying one once it's been run — so phone and tell us what you saw.
West Park: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Whichever scenario you are in, the job starts the same way. Our technicians come to the car, whether it is on a forecourt, a driveway, the car park at Bird I'th Hand or a side street close to St Luke, and ask three things: what was put in, roughly how much, and if the motor has been run. On the phone, ahead of dispatch, you hear the quote, and those replies shape the work too.
Then the tank is cleared and the fuel system flushed thoroughly, which matters more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't rinse out on its own. Finally come the fuel filter, flushed or replaced if necessary; fresh diesel; and a check of your vehicle. If your engine hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
We fire it up last. Our test that it runs properly on clean diesel comes before we go. The entire job is done where your car is, and when it is spotted soon, lasting damage is very unusual. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, nothing upfront. Worth knowing: lots of insurers offer misfuelling cover, so a check of your policy while you wait pays.
About West Park and where it is
West Park is a suburban area in Merseyside, situated on the lakeside with views across the surrounding water. West Park has a mix of housing types, but is predominantly characterised by terraced homes. West Park is located near several other suburban areas, including Newtown and Toll Bar, and is around 9 miles from Liverpool. West Park sits at an elevation of 58 metres above sea level, in a relatively low-lying area of the North West region.
AdBlue drains around West Park and across Merseyside
West Park is a residential suburb, and the same vans that cover it work the places near it too, Toll Bar and Ravenhead among them, across the WA postcode area. Telling us a WA10 4 postcode pins you quickest of all.
Centre of West Park or a lay-by towards Eccleston Branchline Linear Park: wherever it is, the car never needs to shift an inch for us. The drain happens right there. If you're somewhere hard to explain, close to The Tunza Centre or close to a boundary, ring and ask instead of assuming.
Your situation, in one line
Engine never started: ring, leaving it switched off. Run already: stop, switch down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest, in West Park or wherever in Merseyside.