AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Berrow: What Now?
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. Anywhere the vehicle stands — Burnham-on-Sea, Berrow — don't run a motor that hasn't run yet. Normally that is emptying and thoroughly flushing it right there around Berrow — and so leave your ignition and engine off and call 0333 366 0103. When your motor has run, pull in safely straight away, then turn the car off. It is a larger job, yet stage one doesn't change.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever across Somerset it happened.
Berrow forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Imagine it: standing by the pump, holding the nozzle, you spot the filler you opened was not the correct one. Be it Applegreen, Esso or anywhere else in Berrow, the situation is the same.
The point: of all places to find out, this is the best. The AdBlue is inside the tank and nowhere else. Nothing has drawn it in.
Next: avoid the temptation to fire it up just to move away from the pump. Ring us from the forecourt after the car sits in a space — the attendants will help push it — and save the bottle. Draining it there at the petrol pump is fine when it can't be moved, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in the diesel tank at home in Berrow
For days the dashboard had been nagging you. 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. Just off Manor Way is no different from any other place.
In short: if your vehicle has not moved since, it is almost as good as spotting it at the pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of that tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Next: prevent an early move by putting your keys indoors, then phone us. Our technicians drain it on your driveway, whether that is in Berrow or out in Ham. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
Berrow: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Rough running, smoke, lost power or a glowing dashboard arrived a mile or two beyond the top-up. Possibly it was on Manor Drive, maybe on the way out towards Wells, under 25 miles away.
Meaning? The pump has sucked the AdBlue up. It's been through the filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and the fuel injectors. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
What to do: pull over where it's safe to do so then switch off. On the Edithmead Spur, under 5 miles from Berrow, that means the next exit, not the services further on. It won't have cleared, and so there is no point starting it again to check. Call, and say how far your car was driven.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You've had the car barely a week. Unbeknown to you, the two inlets sit next to each other here — not like your own vehicle, which has no AdBlue or keeps it in another spot. Wherever you happen to be around Somerset, every driver could be caught.
The upshot: exactly as above, divided by if it ran, but with an added step. Many hire and company agreements need the owner's sign-off for repairs.
Next: phone the rental company or your fleet manager first, and then us — sorting it before we arrive is faster. Waiting for an answer at the car park at Highbridge & Burnham, or near Blessed Virgin Mary? Keep the engine off throughout.
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Not sure, in Berrow
Honestly, the only answer may be that you think so. Which cap came off, you can't recall; but the bottle feels less than it ought to, and ammonia lingers by your filler. A hurried stop by the gates of Berrow Primary Church Academy, or a call to a friend in Brent Knoll: both fits.
What it means: a little spilled round the filler does no damage to your motor. The diesel tank with AdBlue in it is another matter. Any AdBlue in your tank will be sucked in by starting the car, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Take it that it went in, and never turn the engine. Describe what you saw on your phone. A clean tank looked at counts as a happier outcome than a run one drained.
What every AdBlue drain in Berrow has in common
No matter the situation, a single opening applies. Wherever your vehicle is — the pub in the village's car park, a street beside Brean Theme Park, a driveway, a forecourt — our van gets there and asks about the fluid, the amount, plus if your engine has turned over. Those replies decide the work, and you hear the quote on the phone, before anyone sets off.
Draining your tank comes next, then a full flush — more vital after urea than after petrol, because crystals and corrosion will not clear on their own, however long it sits. Last come the filter, flushed or renewed as needed; fresh diesel; and a test of your car. If your engine has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
We start the car last. Our engineers make sure it runs correctly on new diesel before leaving. We do the whole job where the vehicle is, and long-term damage is very uncommon when it has been spotted quickly. Nothing is taken upfront, settlement is made on the day, and you receive what the insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About Berrow and where it is
Berrow is a small coastal village in Somerset, situated near the mouth of the River Parrett and adjacent to the villages of Ham and Brean. Berrow has a low elevation of around 8 metres above sea level, making it a typical example of a low-lying coastal settlement in the South West. Berrow remains a quiet residential community with a mix of housing types, including semi-detached homes, and is within easy reach of the nearby city of Wells. Berrow is also close to the nearby village of Wick, and is a popular base for exploring the local coastline.
AdBlue drains around Berrow, and across Somerset too
Being a coastal village, Berrow shares its vans with the surrounding towns — Wick, Brean — all the way through TA postcodes. Your whereabouts comes quickest from a postcode beginning TA8 2.
No towing is needed, whether stopped centrally in Berrow or on a layby heading to Burnham & Berrow Golf Club, so leave it where it is. Draining is done right there. Assuming won't help near Brean Sands Holiday Centre, close to a county line or anywhere hard to describe; ring and check.
The one-line version
Still unrun? Leave the car off then phone. Run by now: pull over, power down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, within Berrow or wherever in Somerset.