What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Beechen Cliff
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if your motor has run since it was put in. Not started yet? Then leave the vehicle like that, whether the vehicle is — Beechen Cliff or Kingsmead. Ring 0333 366 0103 with the key and engine still off. In Beechen Cliff, that is typically emptied and flushed on the spot. Already run? Stop when safe, then switch everything off. A bigger job, yes, but the identical first move.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever across Somerset it happened.
On a Beechen Cliff forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Just now, bottle still in hand, you realise that the cap you took off was the wrong one, right at the petrol pump. Anywhere in Beechen Cliff, then — Esso, Sainsbury's, or somewhere else nearby.
Meaning? Spotting it here is the best it gets. The AdBlue is inside that tank and nowhere else. Nothing has drawn it in.
Next: resist the urge to fire it up only to free up the pump. A few things: a push into a space with the attendants assisting, the bottle saved, and a call to us from where you stand. Our equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt, so a car that can't be pushed clear is drained where it is at the pump.
At home in Beechen Cliff with AdBlue in the diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. Only at the recycling bin, the empty bottle in your hand, did you glance back at the cap you'd used at the drive. Houses just off Byron Road are hit as much as anywhere else.
Meaning? Provided the vehicle hasn't moved since, it is second to the forecourt case. Being reluctant to mix, AdBlue drops to the base inside that tank and waits. One night standing alters nothing.
Keep the keys indoors tonight — otherwise a person might drive it off at breakfast — and phone us. Out in Lyncombe Hill or right here around Beechen Cliff, the draining is done on your driveway. Even at night, the pumps stay quiet enough for a residential street.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel around Beechen Cliff?
Lumpy running, smoke, lost power or a lit dashboard arrived a short way after the top-up. Beechen Cliff Road, say, or the way to Bath — a run of under a mile.
Meaning? Your fuel pump has taken the AdBlue up. The high-pressure pump and each injector see it too on a longer trip, once the fuel filter and pipework have it. More driving, more starts: further it travels.
What to do: pull over where it is safe to do so and switch off. On the M4, under 10 miles from Beechen Cliff, that means the next exit, not the services further on. No trial restarts: clearing is not something AdBlue does. About how far had it gone? Say so when you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company motors
You've just driven this car a week. Your own motor either does without AdBlue or puts it somewhere different, so nothing warned you the AdBlue cap sits just beside your diesel. Any driver, wherever around Somerset, could do it.
Meaning? Whatever applies above counts too — run or not — plus one further stage. Plenty of rental and company agreements need the owner's sign-off before work.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is quicker settled before we arrive than after. If you're stuck in the car park outside Bath Spa, or by Alexandra Bowling Club, whilst you wait for an answer, leave the car off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Beechen Cliff?
At times the fair answer is "I think so". The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia round your filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. The gates of Widcombe Infant School in a rush, perhaps, or someone's drive over in Westmoreland.
Meaning? Spills outside the inlet never reach the motor at all. The diesel tank with AdBlue inside is a different story. If there is AdBlue in your tank, starting the vehicle will pull it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Take it that it went in, and never turn your key. Describe what you noticed on your phone. A clear tank checked counts as a happier outcome than a run one emptied.
Beechen Cliff: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Every situation has the same start to the job. Anywhere the car stands — The Bear's car park, a street by St Mary Magdalen, a driveway, a forecourt — the van gets there and we ask about the fluid, the quantity, plus if the engine has been run. Those replies determine the work, and you get the price by phone, before anyone heads out.
A thorough flush comes after this drain. With petrol it is routine; with AdBlue it's essential, since crystals form and certain metals corrode, and none of it washes away unaided. Then comes the fuel filter — cleaned, or replaced when needed — followed by clean diesel, and a test of the vehicle. Not started? Then about half an hour once we are there covers most jobs.
Firing it up comes at the end. Our technicians make sure it runs correctly on fresh diesel before we go. Long-term damage is very rare when it's noticed early, and the entire job is done where the car is. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, nothing in advance. Check your insurance while we arrive: cover for misfuelling is built into plenty of policies.
About Beechen Cliff and where it is
Beechen Cliff is a suburban area situated on the riverside in Bath, Somerset, with a mix of terraced housing and a population of around 6199 residents. Beechen Cliff sits at an elevation of 101 metres, overlooking the surrounding countryside and the nearby city of Bath. Beechen Cliff is located close to other suburban areas such as Lyncombe Hill, Bear Flat, and Lyncombe Vale, and is approximately 96.7 miles west of London.
AdBlue drains across Somerset, Beechen Cliff included
Bear Flat and Lyncombe Vale have the same teams as Beechen Cliff, a residential suburb, plus other places over BA postcodes. The whereabouts comes quickest from a postcode that starts BA2 4.
No moving is required, be it stopped centrally in Beechen Cliff or on a layby heading to the green space at the edge of the village, so keep it put. The drain is done right there. Assuming won't help beside Bruton Community Hall, on a border or anywhere awkward to pin down; ring and ask.
Your scenario, summed up
Unstarted? Keep the car that way then phone. Whatever line applies, Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest on 0333 366 0103, throughout Somerset and within Beechen Cliff — after you pull over, turn off then ring, if it has run.