Aveton Gifford: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Find Your Situation
One fact counts above all once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is whether your motor has run afterwards. Over in Hatch or here around Aveton Gifford, an unrun engine should remain unrun. Switch nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, and expect a thorough flush after a drain, carried out just where the vehicle stands in Aveton Gifford. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. Stage one remains unchanged, even though the work grows.
Compare what happened to one of the ones below, wherever in Devon you happen to be.
Aveton Gifford forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
You are 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. It might be the Asda Express, or the BP, or a different forecourt around Aveton Gifford.
What it means: this is the best place to find out. Still in that tank, with no fuel pulled through: that's where the AdBlue sits.
What to do: do not get back in and crank it to clear the pump. Get the staff to help pushing it into a bay, save the bottle, then phone us from there. The equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt, and so a car that cannot be pushed clear is cleared right at the petrol pump.
At home around Aveton Gifford with AdBlue in the diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look again at the cap. Drives near Fore Street see it as much as any other street.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of the tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Next: the keys in the house, so nobody takes the vehicle anywhere at breakfast. Then, phone. Your driveway is where it gets drained, be it around Aveton Gifford or Icy Park. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in Aveton Gifford?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later your motor began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. It might have been driving for Plymouth, under 15 miles away, or simply down A379.
What it means: the system has drawn the AdBlue in. Past your filter, through the pipework, and — the more the distance — on into the injection pump and every injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
What to do: pull over where it's safe then switch off. Exit by the next junction — not the services beyond — if you are on the M5, under 50 miles from Aveton Gifford. It will not have cleared, so there's no sense restarting to check. Call, and say what distance the vehicle went.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
A week ago, the car was unknown to you. The AdBlue filler is right beside the diesel one, which you didn't know, because your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. It can happen to anyone, anywhere around Devon.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it has run, with one more stage. Plenty of hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on the car.
Next: phone the rental company or the fleet manager first, and then us — sorting it before we arrive is faster. Stuck near Aveton Gifford Village Hall or outside Ivybridge till the firm replies, your car stays turned off throughout.
Aveton Gifford: unsure whether it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
"I think so" is often the most honest answer there is. Too light, the bottle; a hint of ammonia round the filler; a hazy memory of which cap. Sound familiar? It might have been on a friend's driveway in Easton, or rushing by Aveton Gifford CofE Primary School at the school run.
What it means: a little spilled round your filler does no harm to your engine. Once it is inside your diesel tank, though, that changes. Turning on the car cannot tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in your tank it would suck it in.
Take it that it got in, and never start the engine. Call us and explain what you saw; we would rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
The common ground in every Aveton Gifford AdBlue drain
No matter the situation, one opening applies. Our engineers come to the car, whether it is on a forecourt, a driveway, the car park outside Fisherman's Rest or a side street close to Aveton Gifford Community Pool, and ask three things: what went in, about how much, and if your motor has been run. Those answers decide the work, and you get our quote by phone, before anybody heads out.
Then your tank is drained and the 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, and so it doesn't rinse out on its own. Then comes the fuel filter — flushed, or replaced where necessary — followed by fresh diesel, and a test of your vehicle. Most unstarted cars are a half-hour job after the moment our engineers turn up.
The last step is starting the car. Our engineers make sure it runs smoothly on clean diesel before leaving. The whole job is done where your car is, and if it's spotted soon, lasting damage is very uncommon. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, nothing upfront. Dig out your insurance before we're en route: cover for misfuelling comes built into many policies.
About Aveton Gifford, briefly
Aveton Gifford is a small village in Devon, situated near the coast and close to the estuary of the River Avon. Aveton Gifford has a low elevation of around 4 metres, and its location near the sea has influenced its development. Aveton Gifford remains a quiet residential community with a mix of housing types, including terraced homes. Aveton Gifford is within commuting distance of Plymouth, which is around 14 miles away.
AdBlue drains in Aveton Gifford, and across Devon too
Aveton Gifford is a coastal village, and the same vans that cover it work the places around it too, Venn and Ashford among them, across the TQ postcode area. Giving us your TQ7 4 postcode pins you fastest of all.
Centre of Aveton Gifford or a lay-by towards South Efford Marsh Nature Reserve: either way it sits, your vehicle doesn't need to move an inch for us. Draining is done on the spot. Ring and check rather than guess if you're by St Andrew's, near a border, or anywhere awkward to explain.
Your scenario, summed up
Motor not started: ring, and leave it switched off. Run by now: pull over, power down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder, within Aveton Gifford or wherever across Devon.