What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Whitby
One fact counts above all once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is if your engine has been started since. Out in Overpool or here around Whitby, an unrun engine must remain that way. Leave your engine and the ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103; it is normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is in Whitby. Where your engine has been run, stop somewhere safe straight away, then turn the car off. The job is bigger, but the first stage is the same.
Wherever across Cheshire it took place, one of the situations below fits yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Whitby forecourt
You're at the pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Maybe you are at the Morrisons, maybe at the Shell, perhaps somewhere else around Whitby.
Meaning? Finding out here is as good as it can be. Still inside the tank, with no fuel pulled through: that's where the AdBlue sits.
Next: resist the temptation to start it just to free up the petrol pump. Ring us from the forecourt after the vehicle sits in a space — the staff will help push it — then save the receipt. If it cannot be moved, it can be emptied at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home around Whitby
For days the dash had been nagging you. Only by the recycling, the empty container in your hand, did you look back at the cap you had opened at the driveway. Drives close to Dawn Gardens get it as much as anywhere.
The point: no miles since leaves this nearly as good to finding it at the pump. Diesel and AdBlue stay separate: the AdBlue settles to the floor of that tank and stays there, however long the night.
Put your keys in the house overnight — otherwise a person may drive it away at breakfast — and call us. Ellesmere Port or Whitby: wherever your drive is, that is where it is cleared. The equipment works quiet enough that it won't wake the street at night.
Whitby: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Rough running, smoke, lost power or a lit dashboard arrived a short way beyond the fill. Anywhere along Vale Road or on the road to Chester — under 10 miles away.
In short: the AdBlue has been pulled into the system. Distance sets how deep it gets: filter and lines first, then the injection pump and each injector. More miles, more starts: deeper it goes.
What to do: pull over where it is safe to do so then switch off. Leave by the next junction — not the services beyond — if you are on the M53, under 3 miles from Whitby. Restarting it to check achieves nothing — AdBlue never clears on its own. Phone us and say how far you travelled.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
It is a car you have had for a week. Unbeknown to you, the AdBlue and diesel inlets are next to each other here — unlike your own vehicle, which has none or stores it elsewhere. Wherever you are in Cheshire, any motorist could slip up.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it's run, with one more stage. Any work on your car frequently 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's quicker settled before our engineers turn up than after. Waiting for an answer at the car park at Ellesmere Port, or near St. Thomas & All Saints? Keep your engine off meanwhile.
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Not sure, in Whitby
Truthfully, the best answer may be that you think it did. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia round the filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. The gates of Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Primary School in a rush, say, or someone's driveway over in Great Sutton.
The upshot: your engine is not harmed by a little AdBlue spilled around the outside. Inside the diesel tank, however, AdBlue harms it. Any AdBlue in the tank would be sucked in by starting your car, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
What to do: treat it as if it went in. Don't crank it. Tell us what you saw on the phone. A clean tank looked at counts as a happier result than a run one drained.
Whitby: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Every case has the same start to the work. We come to the car, whether it is on a forecourt, a drive, the car park at Grace Arms or a side street near St. Thomas's Parish Hall, and ask three things: what was put in, roughly how much, and whether the motor has been run. On the phone, ahead of dispatch, you hear the quote, and those replies shape the work too.
Then that tank is drained and your system purged thoroughly, which counts 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. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. If the engine has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Starting the car comes at the end. Before we leave, it is checked to confirm it runs properly on fresh diesel. Our engineers do the whole job where the car is, and long-term damage is very rare if it has been spotted quickly. Payment is on the day, never upfront. For the insurer, there is a VAT invoice and a written report from the engineer. It is worth knowing: many insurers offer misfuelling cover, and so a check of your policy as you wait pays.
About Whitby and where it is
Whitby is a suburban area in Cheshire, situated near the coast and approximately 5.9 miles from Chester. Whitby sits at an elevation of 33 metres, with semi-detached housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Whitby is part of the wider North West region, with nearby places including Ellesmere Port and Whitbyheath. Whitby is located about 169.3 miles from London, making it a relatively distant suburb from the capital city.
Whitby and Cheshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Being a residential suburb, Whitby has the same vans as the nearby places — Whitbyheath, Wolverham — all the way through CH postcodes. A postcode starting CH65 6 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Centre of Whitby or a lay-by towards Whitby Park: wherever it is, your vehicle doesn't need to move at all for us. Our engineers drain it where it is. If you are somewhere hard to explain, near War Memorial or close to a border, ring and ask instead of guessing.
The one-line version
Motor not started: ring, and leave it alone. Whichever line applies, Petrol in Diesel handles from there on 0333 366 0103, across Cheshire and within Whitby — after you stop, switch off then phone, if it's run.