What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Berkeley
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if your motor has been run since it was put in. Out in Ham or right around Berkeley, an unstarted motor must stay that way. Ring 0333 366 0103 with the key and engine still off. Across Berkeley, such a case is generally drained and cleaned on the spot. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. It is a bigger job, though stage one doesn't change.
Anywhere across Gloucestershire it happened, one of the cases below fits yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Berkeley forecourt
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. It might be the Sea Fuels, or the another forecourt nearby, or a different forecourt around Berkeley.
Meaning? Spotting it on the forecourt is the best it can be. No pump has drawn it in, so the AdBlue sits only inside the tank.
What to do: don't get back in and crank it to clear the pump. Have the attendants to lend a hand rolling it into a bay, save the bottle, then ring us right there. If it cannot be shifted, it can be emptied at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a working forecourt.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Berkeley drive?
For days the dash had been nagging you. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the driveway, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look again at the cap. Driveways close to Market Place see it as much as anywhere.
The upshot: zero driving since leaves it almost as good to spotting it at the pump. Diesel and AdBlue keep apart: the AdBlue drops to the base of that tank and remains there, however long it waits.
Put your keys in the house tonight — or a person might take it away first thing — and call us. Lynch or Berkeley: whichever your driveway sits, that's where it is drained. Our equipment runs quiet enough not to disturb the neighbours at night.
Berkeley: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later the motor began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Canonbury Street, say, or the route towards Gloucester — a trip of under 25 miles.
The point: the system has pulled AdBlue through already. It has been through the fuel filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and the fuel injectors. It travels further with every extra mile covered and every restart.
Do this: stop anywhere sensible, then switch the motor off. Services further on can wait: from the M5, under 3 miles out of Berkeley, use the first junction. Do not restart it to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Ring us and say how far you drove.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
Seven days back, it was unknown to you. On your own car, AdBlue is absent or elsewhere. On this one, the cap is right next to the diesel cap — a surprise to you. Throughout Gloucestershire, nobody is safe from it.
Meaning? Whatever case above counts too — run or not — plus one extra stage. Work on your vehicle frequently needs the owner's go-ahead under rental or fleet terms.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is faster settled before we turn up than after. If you're stuck in the car park outside Lydney, or by Berkeley Town Hall, while you wait for an answer, leave the vehicle off.
Unsure about AdBlue in your diesel tank around Berkeley?
At times the fair answer is "I think so". The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia round your filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Berkeley Primary School, or on a friend's drive in Oakhunger.
Meaning? Spills around the filler never reach the engine at all. Once it's inside your diesel tank, though, that changes. Any AdBlue in your tank would be drawn in by turning on the vehicle, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Next: assume it got in, then keep the motor off. Call us and describe what you saw; we would rather check a tank that turns out free of AdBlue than drain one that has already been run.
The common ground in every Berkeley AdBlue drain
The job opens identically, whichever your case. Anywhere your car stands — The Malt House's car park, a road by Edward Jenner Museum, a driveway, a filling station — our van arrives and we ask about the fluid, the quantity, plus whether the motor has turned over. The price is given on the call, before a van leaves, and those replies set the job.
Emptying your tank comes first, followed by a careful flush — more vital after urea than after petrol, because crystals and corrosion won't go on their own, no matter how long you wait. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Most unstarted vehicles are a half-hour visit after the moment our engineers turn up.
Starting the engine comes at the end. Before we head off, it is checked to make sure it runs correctly on new diesel. The entire job is done where the vehicle is, and if it's spotted early, long-term damage is very rare. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, nothing in advance. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Berkeley itself
Berkeley is a small village in Gloucestershire, situated near the coast in the South West of England. Berkeley sits at an elevation of 21 metres, close to the nearby settlements of Lynch, Hook Street, and Mobley. Berkeley is characterized by its predominance of terraced housing, reflecting its historical development as a residential community. Berkeley is located approximately 15 miles from Gloucester and 100 miles from London.
Berkeley and Gloucestershire: AdBlue drains across the area
Being a coastal village, Berkeley has the same vans as the surrounding towns — Mobley, Hook Street — all the way across GL postcodes. Quickest of all: a GL13 9 postcode to show where you stand.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to Mobley Withybeds or in a car park in the middle of Berkeley, it doesn't need to move. We drain the vehicle where it is. If you're somewhere hard to describe, close to Berkeley Books or close to a boundary, ring and ask rather than guessing.
In one line: your scenario
Still unrun? Keep the car off and phone. Run by now? Pull over, switch off, phone. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder whatever case, in Berkeley and Gloucestershire, on 0333 366 0103.