AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Alcombe: What Now?
Has your engine turned over since the AdBlue was put in? That single point settles nearly everything about what comes next. Not run so far? Then leave it that way, whether your car is — Alcombe or Periton. Leave your engine and the ignition off then call 0333 366 0103; it's usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Alcombe. When the engine has been run, stop somewhere safe first, then turn the vehicle off. The job is bigger, yet the first step is the same.
Below: the situations we meet, anywhere around Somerset. Pick yours.
At the pump around Alcombe: AdBlue in a diesel
Just at this point, bottle still in your hand, it dawns on you that the cap you opened was the wrong one, right at the pump. Anywhere in Alcombe, then — Tesco, Morrisons, or anywhere else close by.
Meaning? Spotting it here is the best it can be. No pump has pulled it in, so the AdBlue sits only in your tank.
What to do: do not get back in and fire it up to clear the pump. Ring us from the forecourt once the car sits in a space — the attendants will lend a hand to push it — and save the receipt. Our equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt, and so a vehicle that can't be pushed clear is cleared right at the pump.
At home around Alcombe with AdBlue in the diesel tank
Several days had gone by with the warning light on. Only at the recycling bin, the empty container in hand, did you look back at the cap you had opened at the driveway. It happens on drives just off Bircham Road as regularly as anywhere.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue stay separate: the AdBlue drops to the base of the tank and remains there, no matter how long the night.
Keep your keys in the house tonight — or someone may drive it off first thing — and call us. Ellicombe or Alcombe: wherever your drive sits, that is where it gets cleared. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel around Alcombe?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later your engine began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Maybe it was on Alcombe Road, possibly on the way out towards Cardiff, under 25 miles away.
In short: the AdBlue has been sucked into the system. The injection pump and every injector see it as well on a longer trip, after your filter and lines have had it. More driving, more starts: deeper it goes.
Stop somewhere safe — that is the next step — then switch everything off. Services further along can wait: from the M5, under 25 miles out of Alcombe, use the next junction. It will not have cleared, and so there's no point starting it again to find out. About what distance did it gone? Say so when you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company vehicles
You have had this vehicle hardly a week. Your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere different, so no one warned you the AdBlue cap sits just next to the diesel. Across Somerset, no one is safe from it.
Meaning? Whatever applies above applies too — run or unrun — and one extra step. The owner frequently has to approve the work, under plenty of rental and company contracts.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is faster settled before our technicians get there than after. Waiting for a reply at the car park at the nearest station, or beside St Michael the Archangel? Keep the car off throughout.
Alcombe: unsure whether it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Honestly, the best answer may be that you think it did. Too light, that bottle; a trace of ammonia round the filler; a hazy memory of the cap. Sound familiar? A hurried top-up by the gates of Minehead First School, or a call to a friend in Marsh Street: both fit.
What it means: a little spilled about the filler does no harm to the engine. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. If there is AdBlue in that tank, starting the vehicle would suck it in, and it would not tell you which either.
What to do: treat it as if it got in. Do not crank it. Ring us and explain what you saw; we'd rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
Alcombe: what every AdBlue drain has in common
The job opens identically, whatever your case. Three questions come when we reach the car — at a filling station, a driveway, a street by Alcombe Village Hall or the car park at Britannia Inn: the fluid, the quantity, and if it has been started. Those answers determine this work, and you get our price by phone, before anyone heads out.
A thorough flush follows the drain. With petrol it is standard; with AdBlue it's crucial, since crystals build up and some metals are attacked, and neither washes out unaided. Your filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Where the motor has not been started, allow about half an hour on site, for most cases.
Our engineers start the car last. Our check that it runs smoothly on clean diesel comes before our engineers go. Lasting damage is very rare when it's caught quickly, and the whole job is done where the vehicle is. Payment is on the day, never in advance. For the insurer, there is a VAT invoice and a written report from the engineer. Check your insurance while we're en route: misfuelling cover comes built into many policies.
About Alcombe
Alcombe is a suburban area in Somerset, situated on the coast near Minehead and Higher Town. Alcombe has a population of around 3260 people and is characterised by semi-detached housing. Alcombe sits at an elevation of 23 metres, looking out over the Bristol Channel towards Wales. Alcombe is located near Ellicombe, another nearby suburban area.
AdBlue drains across Somerset, Alcombe included
Minehead and Higher Town have the same teams as Alcombe, a residential suburb, along with other places over TA postcodes. Telling us your TA24 6 postcode pins you fastest of all.
No moving is required, be it stopped in the centre of Alcombe or on a lay-by heading to King George V Playing Field, so keep it put. We drain the vehicle where it sits. Awkward to pin down? Close to The Hub Soft Play Centre or a county line? Asking is better than guessing, so phone.
In one line: your situation
Not run yet: keep it off and ring. Whichever case applies, Petrol in Diesel handles from there on 0333 366 0103, across Somerset and within Alcombe — once you stop, switch off then phone, if it's run.