AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Bishopsworth, and What to Do Next
One fact matters most when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is if your engine has been started afterwards. Out in Uplands or here around Bishopsworth, an unrun engine should remain that way. Leave the engine and the ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103; it is usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Bishopsworth. Stop the minute it is safe and turn off, if it has been run. A larger job, yes, but the identical first step.
Wherever across Bristol it happened, one of the situations below matches yours.
At the petrol pump around Bishopsworth: AdBlue in a diesel
Picture it: stood by the petrol pump, holding the nozzle, you spot the cap you took off wasn't the right one. Anywhere around Bishopsworth, then — Esso, Morrisons, or anywhere else close by.
Meaning? Spotting it here is as good as it can be. Nothing has drawn it through, so the AdBlue stays just in that tank.
Next: resist the temptation to fire it up only to move away from the pump. A few things: a push into a bay with the attendants assisting, the receipt saved, and a ring to us from where you stand. The equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a live forecourt, so a car that can't be pushed clear is cleared where it is at the petrol pump.
Bishopsworth, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
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 once more at the cap. Just off Chapel Road is no different from any other place.
Put simply: if the vehicle hasn't been driven since, it is nearly equal to finding out at the forecourt. As it is reluctant to blend, AdBlue settles low inside your tank and waits. One night parked changes none of that.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so nobody moves the vehicle in the morning. Then ring. Out in Highridge or right here in Bishopsworth, the drain is done at your drive. Our equipment runs quietly enough not to disturb the street at night.
Bishopsworth: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Lumpy running, smoke, falling power or a lit dashboard arrived a mile or two after the fill. Maybe driving for Bristol, under 3 miles away, or just along Gullons Close.
Meaning? The fuel pump has sucked the AdBlue in. Through the filter, along the pipework, and — the more the mileage — on into the injection pump and each injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Your move: pull up anywhere safe, then turn your engine off. Service stations further on are too far: on the M32, under 5 miles out of Bishopsworth, use the first junction. Do not restart it to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Call us and say how far you travelled.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You have only had the vehicle a week. On your own car, AdBlue is absent or elsewhere. On this one, the cap is just by your diesel inlet — news to you. It can happen to anyone, anywhere around Bristol.
The upshot: just as above, divided by whether it ran, only with one added stage. Any work on the car often needs the owner's approval under hire or company terms.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's quicker settled before we arrive than after. Leave the car off as the answer arrives, whether you're waiting outside Parson Street or close to St Peter.
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Not sure, in Bishopsworth
"I think so" is often as honest answer there is. What cap came off, you cannot recall; meanwhile the bottle feels lighter than it ought to, and a whiff of ammonia lingers by your filler. The gates of St Peter's Church of England Primary School (VC) in a hurry, say, or someone's driveway out in Bedminster Down.
What it means: a little spilled round your filler does no harm to your engine. The diesel tank with AdBlue in it is a different matter. If there is AdBlue in that tank, starting your car will draw it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
What to do: treat it as if it went in. Do not fire it up. Phone with what you saw: we would rather confirm a tank free of AdBlue than empty one after the engine has been run.
What each AdBlue drain around Bishopsworth has in common
The job begins identically, whatever your situation. Three things come once our technicians arrive — at a filling station, a drive, a road by Headley Park Church or the car park outside The Tythings: the fluid, the amount, and if the motor has run. Replies shape the job; the price comes by phone while nobody has set off yet.
Then your tank is drained and your system rinsed thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't rinse out on its own. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Where the motor hasn't run, expect roughly half an hour on site, for most cases.
Last, our engineers start the car. Our test that it runs correctly on new diesel comes before our engineers go. The entire job is done where the vehicle is, and if it's noticed early, lasting damage is very uncommon. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Bishopsworth and where it is
Bishopsworth is a suburban area in Bristol, situated near the River Avon and approximately 2.7 miles from the city centre. Bishopsworth has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are the most common, and the area is relatively low-lying at an elevation of 44 metres. Bishopsworth is close to other residential areas, including Highridge, Headley Park, and Withywood, and is part of the larger Bristol urban area. Bishopsworth is also within commuting distance of London, which is around 107 miles to the east.
AdBlue drains across Bristol, Bishopsworth included
As a residential suburb, Bishopsworth has the same vans as the surrounding places — Withywood, Headley Park — right across BS postcodes. A postcode starting BS13 7 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Stopped heading to Kings Head Lane Park, or bang in the heart of Bishopsworth, the vehicle stays where it is — there is no need to shift it at all. Where it sits, that's where it is emptied. Phone and ask rather than guess if you're close to Bishopsworth Library, on a border, or anywhere tricky to pin down.
Your scenario, summed up
Still unrun? Keep the vehicle that way and phone. Run already? Pull over, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest whichever case, across Bishopsworth and Bristol, on 0333 366 0103.