What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Astwood
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: whether the engine has run since it was put in. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether the car is around Astwood itself or out in Barbourne. Call 0333 366 0103 with the key and motor both off. Across Astwood, that is typically emptied and flushed on the spot. Already run? Pull over once you safely can, then switch everything off. It is a bigger job, though step one does not change.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever across Worcestershire it happened.
On a Astwood forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Only at this point, nozzle yet in hand, you realise that the cap you took off was the wrong one, right at the petrol pump. It could be the BP, or the Sainsbury's, or another station in Astwood.
In short: there is no better spot exists to discover it. Only that tank has AdBlue; no part beyond it has taken any in.
Freeing the petrol pump is no excuse to start it — so don't get back in. A few jobs: a push into a space with the attendants helping, the bottle kept, and a call to us from where you stand. The equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt, so a vehicle that can't be pushed clear is cleared where it is at the pump.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Astwood drive?
On your dash, a warning had been lit all week. Only at the recycling bin, the empty bottle in your hand, did you glance back at the cap you'd opened at the driveway. Homes just off Woodland Road are hit as often as everywhere else.
The upshot: zero miles since leaves this nearly as good to finding it at the pump. On the floor of the tank sits where AdBlue stays, because it won't blend with diesel — and a night going by makes nothing of the difference.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so no one moves your car in the morning. Then call. Your driveway is where it is drained, be it around Astwood or Blackpole. Night-time empties beside a house are fine: the pumps are quiet.
Astwood: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Filled up, drove away, and before long the motor was turning unevenly, smoking, down on power, or lighting up your dash. Astwood Road, perhaps, or the way to Worcester — a run of under 3 miles.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been sucked into the system. The high-pressure pump and each injector see it too on a longer trip, after the fuel filter and lines have had it. Every restart, like each mile, carries it on.
Next: find a safe spot, stop, then turn the motor off. Astwood sits under 3 miles from the M5; there, pull off at the next junction rather than pressing on for the services. It will not have cleared, and so there is no point restarting to find out. Let us hear the mileage driven as you ring.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company vehicles
A week back, the car was unknown to you. Unknown to you, the two inlets sit side by side here — not like your own vehicle, which has no AdBlue or stores it elsewhere. Any driver, anywhere across Worcestershire, might do it.
The upshot: exactly as above, split by whether it ran, but with an added step. The owner often has to sign off any work, under plenty of hire and fleet contracts.
Your move: hire firm or your fleet manager first, us second, because settling it early cuts time. Waiting for an answer at the car park outside Worcester Shrub Hill, or near Marks & Spencer? Keep your engine off meanwhile.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Astwood?
At times, "I think so" is the most you can honestly say. What cap was taken off, you cannot say; meanwhile the bottle feels less than it ought to, and ammonia lingers by the filler. It might have been at a friend's drive in Tolladine, or rushing by St Barnabas CofE Primary School at the school run.
What it means: a little spilled around your filler does no damage to the engine. The diesel tank with AdBlue in it is a different matter. You cannot tell which by turning the key, and doing so would pull in any AdBlue that is in your tank.
Take it that it went in, and never start your engine. Describe what you noticed on the phone. A clean tank looked at counts as a better outcome than an already-run one emptied.
Every AdBlue drain around Astwood shares these steps
Each case has the same start to the work. Our engineers come to the vehicle, whether it is on a forecourt, a driveway, the car park outside The New Chequers or a side street near St Barnabas, and ask three things: what got in, roughly how much, and whether your motor has been run. The price comes on the call, ahead of anyone setting off, and those replies shape the job.
Emptying your tank comes next, then a full flush — more vital after urea than after petrol, since crystals and corrosion won't clear by themselves, no matter how long it sits. Then is the fuel filter — flushed, or replaced where needed — followed by clean diesel, and a test of the vehicle. Most unstarted cars are a half-hour job after the moment our engineers get there.
The final step is firing it up. Our engineers make sure it runs properly on new diesel before leaving. Permanent damage is very unusual if it's caught quickly, and the whole job is done where your car is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Astwood, briefly
Astwood is a suburban area located on the outskirts of Worcester, situated near the River Severn at an elevation of 31 metres. Astwood sits adjacent to other local neighbourhoods such as Blackpole and Brickfields, and is close to the city centre. Astwood is characterized by its predominantly semi-detached housing stock, reflecting the typical residential development of the West Midlands region. Astwood is also near to Rainbow Hill, another nearby suburb of Worcester.
Astwood and Worcestershire: AdBlue drains across the area
Astwood is a residential suburb, and the same vans that cover it work the towns near it too, Brickfields and Rainbow Hill among them, across the WR postcode area. Giving us your WR3 8 postcode finds you quickest of all.
No moving is required, whether stopped in the centre of Astwood or on a lay-by en route to Perdiswell Park, so leave it put. The van empties it in place. Assuming won't help near School Playing Fields, close to a county line or somewhere hard to pin down; phone and ask.
In one line: your scenario
Unstarted? Leave it that way and ring. Started by now? Stop, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest whatever it is, across Astwood and Worcestershire, on 0333 366 0103.