AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Degibna: What Now?
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if your motor has run since it went in. If it has not, keep it that way, whether your car is in Degibna itself or out in Penrose Hill. Switch nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, and count on a thorough flush after a drain, done right where your vehicle sits around Degibna. When your motor has run, stop safely straight away, then turn the vehicle off. The job is bigger, yet the first step is the same.
Compare your case to one of the ones below, wherever in Cornwall you are.
Degibna forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you only spot it as you're standing at the pump, bottle or nozzle in your hand. Maybe you're at the Sainsbury's, maybe at the Pace, perhaps somewhere else around Degibna.
In short: no better spot to be to discover it. Still in the tank, with no fuel pulled through: that is where the AdBlue sits.
Clearing the pump is no excuse to run it — so do not get back in. Have the attendants to help rolling it into a bay, hold on to the bottle, then phone us right there. Draining it right at the petrol pump is possible if it can't be shifted, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Degibna drive?
On your dash, a warning had been lit for days. A bottle from the garage, emptied in on the driveway — and it was only at the bin that the cap caught a second look. It takes place on drives just off A3083 as often as anywhere.
Put simply: if your vehicle has not moved since, it's nearly as good as spotting it at the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue stay apart: the AdBlue drops to the base of that tank and stays put, however long the night.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so nobody moves the car in the morning. Then ring. Our technicians drain the vehicle on your drive, whether that's in Degibna or out in Goonhusband. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Degibna: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Lumpy running, smoke, lost power or a lit dashboard arrived a short way after the fill. Somewhere along Roundhouse Way or heading to Truro — under 25 miles away.
The upshot: your system has pulled AdBlue through already. Through the filter, through the lines, and — the further the distance — on into the high-pressure pump and every injector. It travels further with each mile covered and each restart.
What to do: pull over where it's safe then switch off. On the M5, over 50 miles from Degibna, that means the next junction, not the services further on. Don't restart it to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Phone, and say what distance your vehicle went.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
A week back, the car was unknown to you. Your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere different, and so no one told you the AdBlue cap was just beside your diesel. Any driver, anywhere in Cornwall, could make it.
The point: just as above, divided by if it ran, but with an added stage. Work on the vehicle frequently needs the owner's go-ahead under hire or company agreements.
Sorting it before the van arrives is faster, so phone the rental company or your fleet manager, then us. Stranded near Degibna Prayer Chapel or at Camborne until someone answers, your vehicle remains turned off throughout.
Degibna: unsure if it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
"I think so" is sometimes the most honest answer there is. 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 Nansloe Academy, or on a friend's drive in Berepper.
What it means: a little spilled around the filler does no damage to your motor. Once it is inside the diesel tank, though, it does. If there is AdBlue in the tank, starting your car would suck it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Your move: behave as though it did, and don't start the motor. Checking a tank that proves clean beats emptying one once it's been run — so ring then tell us what you noticed.
What every AdBlue drain in Degibna has in common
Each situation has the same opening to the work. Three questions are asked once our engineers reach your car — on a forecourt, a drive, a road by Flambards or the car park at the pub in the village: the fluid, the quantity, and if the motor has been started. The price is given over the phone, ahead of anyone setting off, and those replies set the work.
AdBlue crystallises and eats at certain metals used in fuel systems, and so it won't rinse out on its own; that's why the flush, after the drain, counts far more with AdBlue than with petrol. Then comes your filter — cleaned, or swapped where necessary — followed by clean diesel, and a test of your vehicle. Most unstarted vehicles are a half-hour job from the moment we get there.
Firing it up comes at the end. Before we go, it's tested to make sure it runs smoothly on new diesel. When it is noticed early, the car very rarely has lasting damage, and the entire job happens where it is. Payment is that day, never in advance. For your insurer, you get a VAT invoice and a written report from the engineer. Worth remembering: many insurers offer misfuelling cover, so a check of your policy while you wait is worthwhile.
About Degibna and where it is
Degibna is a small coastal locality in Cornwall, situated near the towns of Helston and Goonhusband. Degibna sits at an elevation of 42 metres, with its terraced housing reflecting the traditional building styles of the region. Degibna is located approximately 16 miles from Truro, the nearest city, and is part of the wider South West England region. Degibna has a population of around 562 people, living in a community that is close to the sea.
AdBlue drains around Degibna and across Cornwall
Being a coastal area, Degibna shares its vans with the nearby places — Chyvarloe, Helston — right through TR postcodes. Telling us a TR12 7 postcode finds you quickest of all.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to Kitchen Garden or in a car park in the middle of Degibna, it doesn't need to move. The van empties it where it stands. Tricky to pin down? Close to Helston Methodist Church or a border? Checking is better than assuming, and so phone.
Your situation, in one line
Engine not started: phone, and leave it alone. Whatever line applies, Petrol in Diesel takes over from there on 0333 366 0103, across Cornwall and in Degibna — once you stop, switch off then phone, if it's run.