AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Badgworth, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if the engine has been run since it went in. Not run so far? Then keep the vehicle that way, whether the car is — Badgworth or Lower Weare. Keep nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, and expect a thorough flush after a drain, carried out right where your car sits around Badgworth. When your motor has been run, pull in somewhere safe first, then switch the vehicle off. The job is bigger, but the first step is the same.
Match your case to a situation from the ones below, wherever in Somerset you are.
At the pump around Badgworth: AdBlue in a diesel
You're at the petrol pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Perhaps you are at the BP Weare, perhaps at the Shell, maybe somewhere else around Badgworth.
Meaning? Spotting it here is as good as it can be. Only the tank has AdBlue; no part past it has drawn it in.
Your move: stay out of the car, however much the queue wants clearing. Ring us from the forecourt once your vehicle sits in a space — the attendants will help push it — then keep the receipt. Draining it right at the pump is fine when it cannot be moved, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in the diesel tank at home in Badgworth
For days the dash had been warning you. Only at the recycling bin, the empty bottle in hand, did you glance back at the cap you had opened at the driveway. It occurs on drives just off Quarrylands Lane as regularly as anywhere.
The point: zero miles since leaves it nearly equal to finding it at the pump. Being unable to mix, AdBlue settles low inside your tank and waits. One night standing changes nothing.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so no one moves the car in the morning. Then ring. Out in Biddisham or here around Badgworth, the drain happens at your drive. Late-night clears beside a house are no problem: the pumps are quiet.
Badgworth: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later the engine began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Maybe heading to Wells, under 15 miles away, or simply along Church Lane.
Meaning? Your pump has taken the AdBlue in. The injection pump and every injector see it as well on a bigger trip, after your filter and lines have it. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Stop safely — that's the next job — then switch everything off. Services further along are too far: from the M5, under 3 miles out of Badgworth, use the first junction. Starting it again to test gets nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear itself. Tell us know the mileage driven as you ring.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You've had the car barely a week. Unbeknown to you, the AdBlue and diesel fillers are next to each other here — not like your own car, which has none or keeps it in another spot. It can happen to anyone, anywhere across Somerset.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it has run, with one more stage. Many hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on your car.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is faster settled before our technicians arrive than after. Hanging on for an answer in the car park at Highbridge & Burnham, or beside St Congar? Leave the engine off meanwhile.
AdBlue in your diesel tank? Not sure, around Badgworth
Occasionally the honest answer is "I think so". The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia around the filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. Possibly it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Weare Academy First School, or on a friend's drive in Rackley.
What it means: a little spilled about your filler does no damage to your motor. Once it is inside the diesel tank, though, that changes. You can't tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so will pull in any AdBlue that is in your tank.
What to do: treat it as if it went in. Don't start it. Describe what you noticed on the phone. A clear tank checked counts as a happier outcome than a run one drained.
Badgworth: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Whichever scenario you are in, this job starts the same way. Filling station, drive, the pub in the village's car park or a road beside St John the Baptist — the van reaches your vehicle, and three questions follow: what liquid, what amount, and whether it has run. Answers shape the job; the quote comes by phone while no one has set off yet.
A thorough flush follows the drain. With petrol it's routine; with AdBlue it is essential, since deposits build up and some metals corrode, and none of that washes away unaided. Clean diesel is put in once the fuel filter has been cleaned or changed, and your car is finally tested. Most unstarted cars are a half-hour job from the moment our technicians get there.
Starting it comes last. Before our engineers leave, it's checked to be sure it runs correctly on clean diesel. When it's noticed early, the vehicle very rarely has long-term damage, and the entire job takes place where it is. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, nothing in advance. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Badgworth
Badgworth is a small village in inland Somerset, situated near the villages of Biddisham and Stone Allerton. Badgworth lies close to the Somerset Levels, with its elevation of around 9 metres above sea level. Badgworth is characterised by its predominantly detached housing stock, reflecting its rural setting. Badgworth is located approximately 10.5 miles from the city of Wells, and around 119 miles from London.
AdBlue drains across Somerset, Badgworth included
Stone Allerton and Tarnock have the identical vans as Badgworth, a rural village, plus other towns throughout BS postcodes. The whereabouts is clearest from a postcode that starts BS26 2.
No towing is required, be it parked centrally in Badgworth or on a lay-by heading to King's Wood, so keep it where it is. Wherever it stands, that is where it gets emptied. Awkward to pin down? Close to St Gregory or a border? Asking beats assuming, so ring.
Your scenario, summed up
Engine never started: phone, leaving it switched off. Started by now? Stop, turn off, phone. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder whichever case, across Badgworth and Somerset, on 0333 366 0103.