Downderry: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Find Your Situation
Has the engine run since the AdBlue got in? This one question settles almost everything else from here. Anywhere your vehicle stands — Trelowia, Downderry — don't start an engine that hasn't run yet. Call 0333 366 0103 with your key and motor still off. Across Downderry, that is generally emptied and cleaned where it stands. When the engine has been run, stop safely first, then switch the vehicle off. It is a larger job, though step one does not change.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever across Cornwall it happened.
On a Downderry forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you just notice it while you're stood at the pump, bottle or nozzle in your hand. It might be the Shell, or perhaps the Texaco, or another station around Downderry.
What it means: this is the ideal spot to find out. The AdBlue is in the tank and nowhere else. Nothing has drawn it in.
What to do: don't get back in and start the car to clear the pump. Have the staff to lend a hand pushing it into a space, save the receipt, then ring us right there. Can't move the car beside the petrol pump? Explosion-proof kit makes a busy forecourt safe, so it can be drained where it is.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Downderry drive?
On your dash, a reminder had shown for days. Bought a container, tipped it in at home, recycled the empty — and at that point checked the cap a second time, too late. Right off Beach Hill is not less likely from anywhere.
The point: zero driving since makes it nearly as good to finding it at the petrol pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of the tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so no one moves the vehicle in the morning. Then call. Your drive is where it is drained, whether in Downderry or Seaton. Even at night, our pumps stay quiet enough for a driveway.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in Downderry?
Rough running, smoke, lost power or a lit dashboard arrived a short way beyond the top-up. Maybe it was on Main Road, perhaps on the way out towards Plymouth, under 15 miles away.
In short: the AdBlue has been pulled into the system. It has been through the filter and the lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and the fuel injectors. More driving, more restarts: deeper it goes.
Pull in somewhere safe — that's the next step — then switch it off. Downderry sits under 50 miles from the M5; on it, pull off at the next junction rather than pressing on to the services. It will not have cleared, and so there's no point restarting to check. Call us and say how far you drove.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You've had this car barely a week. Unknown to you, the two fillers sit next to each other here — unlike your own vehicle, which has no AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere. Any driver, anywhere across Cornwall, could do the same.
Meaning? Whatever applies above counts here — run or unrun — plus one further stage. The owner frequently has to sign off any work, under many rental and fleet agreements.
Next: ring the hire company or the fleet manager first, and then us — sorting it before our arrival is quicker. If you're stranded in the car park outside St Germans, or by Downderry Methodist Church, whilst you wait for an answer, leave the vehicle off.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank in Downderry?
At times the fair answer is "I think so". A faint ammonia whiff hangs around your filler, the bottle feels too light, and which cap came off is hard to recall. Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at St Nicolas' CofE VA School, Downderry, or on a friend's drive in Hessenford.
The point: your engine isn't harmed by some AdBlue splashed around the filler. Once it is inside your diesel tank, though, that changes. Any AdBlue in your tank would be sucked in by starting the car, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Your move: act as though it got in, and never start the motor. Checking a tank that turns out clean is better than draining one once it has been run — so phone then describe to us what you saw.
What every AdBlue drain around Downderry has in common
No matter the case, one opening is used. Three things are asked once our technicians arrive — at a forecourt, a driveway, a street beside Downderry and Seaton Village Hall or the car park at Inn On The Shore: the fluid, the amount, and if the motor has run. The price is given over the phone, before a van leaves, and those replies shape the work.
AdBlue crystallises and eats at some metals in fuel systems, and so it does not wash out unaided; that is why the flush, after this drain, counts far more here than with petrol. Last come your filter, flushed or replaced as needed; fresh diesel; and a check of your vehicle. If the engine hasn't run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
Lastly, our technicians start the engine. Our technicians make sure it runs properly on fresh diesel before leaving. The entire job is done where the car is, and if it is spotted quickly, permanent damage is very unusual. Paying is on the day, never upfront. For the insurer, there is a VAT invoice and a written report from the engineer. It is worth remembering: many insurers include misfuelling cover, and so a check of your policy while you wait is worthwhile.
About Downderry
Downderry is a small coastal village in Cornwall, situated near the mouth of the River Seaton and looking out over the English Channel. Downderry has a population of around 829 people and is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock. Downderry sits at a low elevation of 27 metres above sea level, close to neighbouring villages such as Seaton and Deviock.
AdBlue drains across Cornwall, Downderry included
Throughout PL postcodes, the vans serving Downderry — a coastal village — work surrounding places too, Deviock and Narkurs included. The whereabouts is quickest from a postcode that starts PL11 3.
Whether the car is on a lay-by on the way to Hendra Brake or in a car park in the middle of Downderry, it does not need to move. The van drains it in place. Tricky to explain? Close to St Nicholas or a county line? Checking beats guessing, and so ring.
The one-line version
Where it hasn't started, phone then leave it off. Already run: stop, switch off then call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there around Downderry and anywhere across Cornwall on 0333 366 0103.