Alstone: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Find Your Situation
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: if your engine has been run since it went in. Not run yet? Then leave it like that, wherever the vehicle sits — Alstone or Montpellier. Normally this means emptying and thoroughly purging it on the spot in Alstone — and so leave your ignition and engine off and phone 0333 366 0103. Where the motor has run, stop safely straight away, then turn the car off. It is a larger job, yet stage one does not change.
Match your case to one of the ones below, anywhere across Gloucestershire you happen to be.
Alstone forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Only at this point, bottle still in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you opened was the wrong one, there at the petrol pump. It could be the Shell, or the Tesco, or another station around Alstone.
Meaning? Spotting it on the forecourt is the best it gets. Only the tank holds AdBlue; no component past it has drawn any in.
Clearing the petrol pump is no excuse to run it — so do not get back in. Ask the attendants to help you push the car into a parking spot, keep your receipt or the bottle, then call us from the forecourt. Draining it right at the petrol pump is possible when it can't be moved, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in the diesel tank at home in Alstone
On the dash, a warning had been lit for days. Only at the recycling bin, the empty bottle in your hand, did you glance back at the cap you had opened on the drive. Driveways near Gloucester Road get it as much as any other street.
Meaning? As long as the vehicle hasn't been driven since, it is close to the pump case. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Next: stop an early-morning drive by keeping your keys in the house, then phone us. Our technicians drain the vehicle on your drive, whether that's around Alstone or out in Overton Park. The equipment runs quietly enough that it won't wake the street at night.
Alstone: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
A short way beyond filling up, the engine started misbehaving: roughness, smoke, lost power, warnings on your dash. Maybe heading to Gloucester, under 10 miles away, or just down Alstone Lane.
In short: the AdBlue has been pulled into your fuel system. It's been through the fuel filter and your lines and, the further you went, into your high-pressure pump and the injectors. It travels further with every extra mile covered and each restart.
Next: find a sensible place, pull in, and switch your engine off. Services farther along are too far: on the M5, under 3 miles out of Alstone, use the next junction. Restarting it to check gets nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear on its own. About how far had it go? Tell us as you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
A week ago, it was unknown to you. The AdBlue filler sits right beside the diesel one, which you didn't know, because your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Throughout Gloucestershire, no one is safe from it.
Meaning? Whichever applies above applies here — run or unrun — plus one extra stage. Many hire and company agreements need the owner's approval before repairs.
Sorting it before we turn up is faster, so phone the hire company or your fleet manager, then us. Hanging on for an answer in the car park at Cheltenham Spa, or beside CLC Sports Centre? Keep your car off meanwhile.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Alstone?
Truthfully, the only answer might be that you think so. What cap came off, you can't recall; meanwhile the bottle weighs less than it ought to, and ammonia hangs by the filler. Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Christ Church CofE Primary School, or on a friend's drive in St Pauls.
What it means: a little spilled about the filler does no harm to the motor. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. You can't tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so would suck in any AdBlue that is in your tank.
What to do: treat it as if it was put in. Do not fire it up. Ring and give the details: we would rather find a tank free of AdBlue than drain one after your motor has run.
Every AdBlue drain around Alstone shares these steps
Each situation has the same opening to the work. Three questions are asked once our technicians arrive — on a forecourt, a drive, a street by Salem or the car park at King's Arms: the fluid, the quantity, and whether the motor has run. On the phone, before dispatch, you hear the quote, and those replies decide the work too.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to some metals used in fuel systems, so it won't wash out unaided; that is why a full flush, after this drain, matters much more with AdBlue than with petrol. Your filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the car is tested. Not started? In that case about half an hour on site covers most jobs.
Our technicians start the engine at the end. Before our technicians go, it's checked to confirm it runs correctly on new diesel. Our technicians do the whole job where the car is, and lasting damage is very unusual when it has been caught early. Payment is on the day, never in advance. For your insurer, you get a VAT invoice and a written report from the engineer. Check your insurance while we arrive: misfuelling cover is built into many policies.
About Alstone and where it is
Alstone is a suburban area in Gloucestershire, situated on the riverside at an elevation of around 55 metres. Alstone lies close to the city of Gloucester, approximately 7 miles away, and is near other local areas such as Overton Park and Bays Hill. Alstone is characterized by its predominantly flat housing stock, which is typical of many suburban areas in the region. Alstone is also within commuting distance of London, at around 88 miles away.
Alstone and Gloucestershire: AdBlue drains across the area
Being a residential suburb, Alstone has the same vans as the surrounding towns — Rowanfield, Bays Hill — all the way through GL postcodes. Fastest of all: a GL51 8 postcode to show your location.
Central Alstone or a layby near Pates Avenue: either way it sits, your vehicle never needs to shift an inch for the drain. Our van drains it where it stands. Awkward to pin down? By Christ Church or a county line? Checking beats guessing, so phone.
Your situation, summed up
Motor never started: ring, and leave it alone. Started already? Stop, turn off, ring. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder whichever it is, across Alstone and Gloucestershire, on 0333 366 0103.