What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Bailbrook
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: whether your engine has run since it got in. Over in Upper Swainswick or here around Bailbrook, an unrun engine should remain that way. Phone 0333 366 0103 with your key and motor both off. Across Bailbrook, such a case is typically drained and flushed where it stands. Where the engine has run, pull in safely first, then turn the vehicle off. A bigger job, then, but the same opening step.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever in Somerset it happened.
On a Bailbrook forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
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. Somewhere in Bailbrook, then — Esso, Sainsbury's, or somewhere else close by.
In short: no better place to be to spot it. No pump has pulled it in, so the AdBlue sits just in your tank.
Clearing the petrol pump is no reason to run it — and so do not get back in. Three things: a push into a space with the attendants assisting, the receipt saved, and a call to us from where you stand. Our equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt, so a vehicle that cannot be pushed clear gets cleared where it is at the petrol pump.
At home in Bailbrook with AdBlue in your diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. Bought a container, tipped it in at home, recycled the empty — and only then checked the cap again, after the fact. Drives near Eveleigh Avenue get it as much as any other street.
Meaning? As long as the vehicle has not been driven since, it is close to the pump case. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Put your keys indoors overnight — otherwise a person might drive it off first thing — and call us. Our technicians drain it on your drive, whether that is in Bailbrook or out in Lower Swainswick. Even at night, our pumps are quiet enough for a residential street.
Bailbrook: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Rough running, smoke, falling power or a lit dashboard started a short way beyond the top-up. A46, say, or the way to Bath — a trip of under 3 miles.
Meaning? Your fuel pump has sucked the AdBlue in. It has been through the fuel filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure pump and your injectors. Each restart, like every mile, pushes it on.
Do this: pull up somewhere safe, then turn the engine off. On the M4, under 10 miles from Bailbrook, that means the next junction, not the services further on. It will not have cleared, so there's no point restarting to find out. Ring us and say how far you went.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
It is a car you have had for a week. Unbeknown to you, the AdBlue and diesel inlets sit side by side here — not like your own car, which has none or stores it in another spot. It can happen to anyone, anywhere across Somerset.
Put simply: one extra step on top of the cases above, and those depend on if it has run. The owner frequently has to approve the work, under plenty of rental and company contracts.
Your move: rental firm or fleet manager to begin with, us next, since settling it beforehand saves time. If you're stuck in the car park outside Bath Spa, or by New Oriel Hall, whilst you wait for an answer, leave the car off.
Bailbrook: unsure whether it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Honestly, the only answer may be that you think it did. Which cap came off, you cannot say; meanwhile the bottle weighs lighter than it ought to, and ammonia lingers by the filler. The gates of St Saviours Junior Church School in a hurry, perhaps, or someone's driveway out in Grosvenor.
What it means: a little spilled round the filler does no harm to the motor. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. Firing up the car won't tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in your tank it will suck it in.
What to do: treat it as if it was put in. Don't start the vehicle. Ring with what you saw: we would rather confirm a tank free of AdBlue than drain one once the engine has been run.
Each AdBlue drain in Bailbrook shares these steps
Whichever situation you are in, this job starts the same way. Three questions come when our technicians arrive — on a filling station, a driveway, a road beside The Rondo Theatre or the car park outside Bladud's Head: the fluid, the quantity, and if the motor has been started. Replies set the work; the price follows by phone whilst no one has left yet.
A thorough flush follows this drain. With petrol it's routine; with AdBlue it's crucial, since crystals build up and some metals are attacked, and none of that rinses out unaided. Last come your filter, flushed or renewed if necessary; clean diesel; and a test of your car. The majority of unstarted vehicles are a half-hour job from the moment we turn up.
Lastly, we fire it up. Before we head off, it's tested to be sure it runs smoothly on fresh diesel. We do the entire job where your car is, and permanent damage is very uncommon when it has been noticed soon. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, no money in advance. Check your insurance before we're en route: cover for misfuelling is included in many policies.
About Bailbrook, for a moment
Bailbrook is a suburban area situated on the outskirts of Bath, alongside the River Avon in Somerset. Bailbrook sits at an elevation of around 75 metres, with its riverside location influencing the local landscape. Bailbrook is characterized by its predominantly terraced housing stock, reflecting the area's history of residential development. Bailbrook is close to nearby places such as Lower Swainswick, Lambridge, and Larkhall, and is approximately 1.7 miles from the city centre of Bath.
AdBlue drains round Bailbrook and across Somerset
Bailbrook is a residential suburb, and the same teams that cover it work the towns around it too, Lambridge and Larkhall among them, across the BA postcode area. Giving us a BA1 7 postcode finds you quickest of all.
Parked en route to St Saviour's Little Park, or bang in the heart of Bailbrook, your vehicle stays put — there's no need to move it anywhere. Our van empties it in place. Assuming doesn't help beside Larkhall United Reformed Church, close to a border or anywhere hard to pin down; ring and check.
In one line: your scenario
Unstarted? Leave the vehicle off then phone. Run by now: stop, switch down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, in Bailbrook or wherever across Somerset.