Cheddar: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Find Your Situation
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: whether your engine has been run since it got in. Not run so far? Then leave the car like that, wherever your car sits — Cheddar or Hamfield. Call 0333 366 0103 with the ignition and engine both off. In Cheddar, such a case is typically emptied and cleaned on the spot. When the engine has been run, pull in safely straight away, then turn it off. The job is bigger, but the first stage is the same.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever around Somerset it happened.
Cheddar forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you only spot it while you are stood at the petrol pump, bottle or nozzle in hand. Somewhere in Cheddar, then — Murco, BP, or somewhere else close by.
What it means: this is the best location to find out. Nothing has drawn it through, so the AdBlue sits just inside the tank.
What to do: don't get back in and crank it to clear the petrol pump. Get the attendants to lend a hand rolling it into a space, save the receipt, then phone us right there. Draining it there at the pump is fine when it can't be moved, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
Cheddar, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
For days the dash had been warning you. Picked up a bottle, poured it in outside the house, recycled the empty — and at that point checked the cap again, after the fact. Just off Bath Street is not less likely from any other place.
Meaning? As long as your vehicle hasn't been driven since, it is second to the pump case. As it is unable to blend, AdBlue drops low inside the tank and waits. A night parked alters nothing.
Next: the keys indoors, so no one drives your car anywhere at breakfast. After that, phone. We drain the car on your driveway, whether that is in Cheddar or out in Lippiatt. Late-night empties beside a house are no problem: the pumps are low-noise.
Cheddar: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Lumpy running, smoke, lost power or a glowing dashboard arrived a short way beyond the top-up. Maybe driving to Wells, under 10 miles away, or simply along Church Street.
What it means: your fuel system has sucked the AdBlue in. It has been through the fuel filter and the fuel lines and, the further you went, into your high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Do this: stop somewhere safe, then turn the engine off. On the M5, under 10 miles from Cheddar, that means the next exit, not the services further on. No test starts: clearing is not something AdBlue does. Phone, saying what distance your vehicle went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
Seven days back, it was new to you. Your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or puts it elsewhere, and so no one warned you the AdBlue inlet sits right next to the diesel. Any driver, wherever around Somerset, could make the same.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it's run, with one more step. Any work on the car frequently needs the owner's approval under rental or fleet agreements.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is quicker settled before our technicians get there than after. Leave it switched off as the answer arrives, even if you're parked outside Worle or close to Market Cross.
Unsure about AdBlue in your diesel tank in Cheddar?
Now and then, "I think so" is all you can honestly say. Which cap was taken off, you cannot say; but the bottle weighs less than it ought to, and a whiff of ammonia hangs by your filler. Possibly it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Cheddar First School, or on a friend's drive in Bradley Cross.
What it means: a little spilled about your filler does no damage to your engine. Inside the diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue damages it. Firing up the vehicle won't tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in that tank it will draw it in.
Your move: act as though it did, and never start your engine. Phone and give what you saw: we would rather find a clean tank than drain one once your engine has been run.
The common ground in each Cheddar AdBlue drain
Every situation has the same start to the work. Forecourt, driveway, Bath Arms Hotel's car park or a road by Cheddar Parish Hall — the van comes to the vehicle, and three answers come next: what fluid, which amount, and if it ran. Your price comes on the call, ahead of anyone setting off, and those replies shape the job.
Emptying that tank comes first, followed by a careful flush — more vital after urea than with petrol, since crystals and corrosion will not clear by themselves, however long it sits. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and your car is tested. Never started? In that case roughly half an hour once we are there covers most jobs.
We fire it up at the end. We confirm it runs properly on new diesel before we leave. The whole job is done where the vehicle is, and when it's noticed soon, permanent damage is very uncommon. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, nothing in advance. Worth remembering: lots of insurers include misfuelling cover, so a check of your documents as you wait is worthwhile.
About Cheddar, briefly
Cheddar is a village situated in the Somerset countryside, beside the River Yeo and near the Mendip Hills. Cheddar sits at a low elevation of around 13 metres, close to the city of Wells and surrounded by smaller settlements like Lippiatt and Hillfield. Cheddar has a mix of housing types, with semi-detached homes being particularly common. Cheddar is located approximately 115 miles west of London, making it a relatively rural community in the South West of England.
AdBlue drains across Somerset, Cheddar included
Hillfield and Barrows get the identical vans as Cheddar, a village, plus further places throughout BS postcodes. Your location comes clearest from a postcode that starts BS27 3.
Central Cheddar or a layby near All Weather Pitch: wherever it is, the vehicle doesn't need to move an inch for us. Draining is done on the spot. If you are somewhere hard to explain, near Cheddar Library or close to a border, ring and ask rather than guessing.
Your scenario, summed up
Engine never started: ring, and leave it switched off. Already run: stop, switch off and ring. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there around Cheddar and anywhere across Somerset on 0333 366 0103.