What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Brookleigh
All of that turns on one detail: whether your engine has been run after the AdBlue went in — more than anything else. Not started so far? Then keep the car like that, wherever your vehicle is — Brookleigh or Rewe. Ring 0333 366 0103 with the ignition and motor both off. In Brookleigh, that is typically emptied and cleaned on the spot. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. Stage one remains the same, even though the work is bigger.
Anywhere around Devon it took place, one of the situations below matches yours.
On a Brookleigh forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Just now, nozzle yet in hand, you realise that the cap you opened was the wrong one, there at the pump. Possibly you're at the Murco, maybe at the Sainsbury's, maybe somewhere else in Brookleigh.
Put simply: there is no better spot to be to spot it. Still in your tank, and nothing drawn through: that's where the AdBlue is.
Your move: stay out of the car, even if the queue needs clearing. Have the staff to lend a hand pushing it to a space, save the receipt, then ring us from there. Draining it right at the pump is possible when it can't be moved, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
Brookleigh, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
For days the dashboard 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 Exeter Road see it as much as anywhere.
Meaning? Provided your car hasn't been driven since, it's second 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.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so nobody moves the vehicle in the morning. Then ring. Huxham or Brookleigh: wherever your drive sits, that is where it gets emptied. Even at night, our pumps are quiet enough for a driveway.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around Brookleigh?
A short way beyond filling up, the engine began misbehaving: rough running, smoke, less power, lights on the dash. Columbjohn Bridge, perhaps, or the route to Exeter — a trip of under 5 miles.
What it means: your fuel system has pulled the AdBlue in. Distance sets how deep it gets: filter and pipework to begin with, then the injection pump and every injector. Each restart, like each mile, carries it on.
Do this: stop somewhere sensible, then turn your engine off. Brookleigh sits under 3 miles from the M5; on it, come off at the next junction instead of pushing on to the services. Starting it again to test achieves nothing — AdBlue never clears itself. Let us hear the mileage driven when you ring.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company vehicles
You have only had this car a week. Unbeknown to you, the AdBlue and diesel fillers sit next to each other here — unlike your own vehicle, which has none or keeps it in another spot. Any driver, anywhere around Devon, might make the same.
In short: an extra stage on top of the situations above, and those depend on whether it has run. Work on the vehicle frequently requires the owner's approval under hire or fleet agreements.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is quicker settled before our engineers arrive than after. Stuck near St Mary the Virgin or outside Pinhoe till the firm answers, the vehicle stays switched off throughout.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank around Brookleigh?
Occasionally the honest answer is "I think so". A slight ammonia-like smell hangs near your filler, the bottle seems too light, and the cap you took off is hard to recall. Maybe on a friend's driveway in Stoke Canon, or rushing by Stoke Canon Church of England Primary School and Pre-School on the school run.
Put simply: a spill near your filler leaves the engine unharmed. In your diesel tank, however, AdBlue harms it. If there is AdBlue in that tank, turning on your car would draw it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Next: act as though it got in, and leave the motor off. Describe what you noticed on the phone. A clean tank checked counts as a better outcome than a run one drained.
Brookleigh: what every AdBlue drain has in common
The work begins the same way, whatever your case. Filling station, drive, the pub in the village's car park or a road beside Saint Mary the Virgin — the van comes to your car, and three questions follow: what fluid, what amount, and if it ran. Replies shape the job; the price follows by phone whilst nobody has left yet.
A thorough flush follows the drain. With petrol it's routine; with AdBlue it's crucial, since crystals form and some metals are attacked, and neither rinses away unaided. Your filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and your car is tested. If the engine has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
Firing it up comes at the end. With clean diesel in, it runs while our engineers confirm it's running correctly, and then we leave. If it's spotted early, the vehicle very rarely has long-term damage, and the entire job happens where it is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Plenty of policies include misfuelling, so look at yours while the van travels.
About Brookleigh, for a moment
Brookleigh is a locality in Devon, situated inland at an elevation of 38 metres, approximately 4.3 miles from Exeter. Brookleigh is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock, reflecting its relatively rural setting. Brookleigh is close to nearby places such as Huxham, Ratsloe, and Columbjohn, and is home to around 551 residents.
AdBlue drains across Devon, Brookleigh included
Brookleigh is a small village, and the same teams that cover it work the towns near it too, Ratsloe and Columbjohn among them, across the EX postcode area. Fastest of all: a EX5 4 postcode for your location.
No moving is required, be it parked centrally in Brookleigh or in a layby en route to Danes Wood, so keep it put. We drain the vehicle where it sits. Phone and check instead of guessing when you're by Columbjohn, on a border, or somewhere tricky to explain.
In one line: your situation
Not run yet: keep the car off then call. Run by now: stop, switch down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, within Brookleigh or wherever in Devon.