AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Whalley Range, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: whether your motor has been run since it was put in. If it has not, keep it that way, whether the vehicle is around Whalley Range itself or out in Old Trafford. Keep nothing on, call 0333 366 0103, and expect a proper flush plus a drain, carried out just where the vehicle stands in Whalley Range. Already started? Pull over once you safely can, then switch everything off. The job is bigger, yet the first step is the same.
Compare your case to one of the list below, anywhere in Greater Manchester you are.
At the petrol pump around Whalley Range: 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. Perhaps you are at the Shell, perhaps at the Texaco, maybe somewhere else in Whalley Range.
Meaning? Finding out on the forecourt is as good as it gets. Only your tank holds AdBlue; not one part beyond it has drawn it in.
What to do: do not get back in and start it to clear the pump. A few things: a shove into a space with the staff helping, the receipt saved, and a ring to us from where you stand. Emptying it right at the petrol pump is possible if it can't be shifted, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home around Whalley Range with AdBlue in the diesel tank
On your dash, a reminder had shown all week. Only at the recycling bin, the empty container in your hand, did you look back at the cap you'd opened at the driveway. Driveways close to Stanley Road get it as much as any other street.
The upshot: zero driving since leaves it almost as good to finding it at the petrol pump. Diesel and AdBlue stay apart: the AdBlue drops to the base of the tank and stays there, no matter how long it waits.
Keep your keys indoors tonight — otherwise a person may take it away first thing — then call us. Moss Side or Whalley Range: wherever your driveway sits, that is where it is drained. Night-time clears outside a house are fine: the pumps are quiet.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel around Whalley Range?
Rough running, smoke, lost power or a glowing dashboard arrived a mile or two after the top-up. Burford Road, perhaps, or the way to Manchester — a run of under 3 miles.
In short: the AdBlue has been sucked through the system. It has been through the fuel filter and your lines and, the further you went, into your high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors. It travels deeper with each extra mile driven and each restart.
Pull in somewhere safe — that's the first job — then switch it off. Whalley Range lies under 3 miles from the A57(M); there, pull off at the next junction instead of pressing on for the services. It will not have cleared, so there's no sense starting it again to check. Roughly what distance had it go? Tell us when you phone.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You've only had the vehicle for days. Your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere, and so no one warned you the AdBlue inlet sits right next to your diesel. Anyone, wherever across Greater Manchester, could do the same.
The point: just as above, split by whether it ran, only with one added stage. Many hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on the car.
Settling it before we turn up is faster, so ring the rental company or your fleet manager, and then us. Waiting for an answer in the car park at Manchester United Football Club, or beside Zakaria Mosque? Keep your car off throughout.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Whalley Range?
Sometimes the fair answer is "I think so". The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia round the filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. Maybe on a friend's drive in St Georges, or rushing by St Margaret's CofE Primary School on the school run.
What it means: a little spilled about the filler does no harm to your engine. Inside your diesel tank, however, AdBlue harms it. Any AdBlue in that tank will be sucked in by starting the car, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Take it that it was put in, and don't turn your engine. Ring with what you saw: we'd sooner confirm a tank free of AdBlue than empty one once your motor has run.
Whalley Range: what each AdBlue drain has in common
No matter the situation, a single opening is used. Filling station, drive, Carlton Club's car park or a street beside Hare Krishna Centre (ISKCON) — our van reaches your vehicle, and three questions come next: what liquid, which quantity, and if it ran. Replies set the job; the quote comes on the call whilst nobody has left yet.
A thorough flush comes after this drain. With petrol it's routine; with AdBlue it's essential, since crystals build up and some metals corrode, and neither washes away unaided. Last come the filter, cleaned or renewed as needed; clean diesel; and a test of your car. Where your motor hasn't run, allow roughly half an hour on site, for most jobs.
The last step is starting the car. Before our technicians head off, it's tested to be sure it runs correctly on clean diesel. Our engineers do the entire job where the vehicle is, and long-term damage is very uncommon if it has been spotted soon. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Worth remembering: many insurers include misfuelling cover, and so a quick look at your documents while we travel is worthwhile.
About Whalley Range and where it is
Whalley Range is a suburban area in Greater Manchester, situated approximately 2 miles southwest of Manchester city centre. Whalley Range is characterised by its predominantly flat housing stock, with many residents living in apartments. Whalley Range sits near the River Mersey, at an elevation of around 37 metres, and is close to nearby suburbs such as Moss Side and Chorlton-cum-Hardy.
AdBlue drains across Greater Manchester, Whalley Range included
Chorlton-cum-Hardy and Firswood get the identical vans as Whalley Range, a residential suburb, plus other places throughout M postcodes. The whereabouts is clearest from a postcode that starts M16 8.
Centre of Whalley Range or a lay-by near Range Road Community Park: wherever it sits, your car doesn't need to move an inch for us. Draining happens right there. If you are somewhere hard to explain, near Shair-e-Rabbani Mosque or close to a boundary, ring and ask rather than guessing.
In one line: your scenario
Not run yet: keep the vehicle off and ring. Run already? Stop, turn off, phone. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder whichever it is, across Whalley Range and Greater Manchester, on 0333 366 0103.