AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Fairview, and What to Do Next
One fact matters most once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is whether the engine has been started since. Not run yet? Then keep the vehicle like that, wherever your vehicle sits — Fairview or Pittville. Leave your motor and your ignition off and phone 0333 366 0103; it is normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Fairview. Already started? Stop once you safely can, then turn everything off. It's a larger job, though stage one doesn't change.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever across Gloucestershire it happened.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Fairview forecourt
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you just notice it while you are stood at the pump, bottle or nozzle in your hand. Anywhere in Fairview, then — BP, Sainsbury's, or anywhere else nearby.
The upshot: of all places to notice, this is the best. No pump has pulled it in, and so the AdBlue stays only inside the tank.
Do this: keep out of the car, even if the queue needs clearing. Have the attendants to lend a hand rolling it to a space, hold on to the bottle, then ring us from there. Emptying it there at the pump is fine if it can't be moved, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Fairview drive?
For days the dash had been warning 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 again at the cap. It happens on driveways just off All Saints' Road as regularly as anywhere.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so nobody moves your car in the morning. Then ring. Out in Whaddon or here in Fairview, the drain happens at your drive. Even at night, our pumps are quiet enough for a driveway.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel around Fairview?
A mile or two beyond topping up, the motor began playing up: rough running, smoke, less power, warnings on the dash. St Anne's Close, perhaps, or the way to Gloucester — a run of under 10 miles.
What it means: the system has sucked the AdBlue in. Through the filter, through the pipework, and — the further the distance — on into the high-pressure pump and every injector. Every restart, like every mile, pushes it on.
Stop safely — that is the next step — then switch everything off. Fairview sits under 5 miles from the M5; on it, come off at the next junction instead of pressing on to the services. Do not restart the car to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Phone, and say how far the car went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
It is a vehicle you have had for a week. Unbeknown to you, the two fillers sit next to each other here — unlike your own car, which has none or stores it in another spot. Any driver, wherever in Gloucestershire, could do it.
The point: just as above, split by if it ran, but with an added step. The owner often has to sign off any work, under many rental and fleet agreements.
Sorting it before the van turn up is faster, so ring the rental company or your fleet manager, then us. Stuck by All Saints or outside Cheltenham Spa till the firm answers, the vehicle remains turned off the whole time.
Fairview: unsure whether it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Truthfully, the best answer might be that you think it did. What cap was taken off, you can't say; meanwhile the bottle feels less than expected, and ammonia hangs by your filler. The gates of Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School in a rush, say, or a friend's drive over in Cleevemount.
What it means: a little spilled round your filler does no harm to the motor. If it's inside the diesel tank, though, that changes. If there is AdBlue in that tank, turning on the vehicle would draw it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Next: assume it went in, then keep the motor off. Ring with what you saw: we would sooner confirm a clean tank than empty one once the engine has been run.
What every AdBlue drain around Fairview has in common
Whichever situation you are in, the job starts the same way. Our technicians come to your car, whether it's on a forecourt, a driveway, the car park outside Kemble Brewery Inn or a side street close to Cheltenham Evangelical Free Church, and ask three things: what got in, about how much, and if the motor has run. On the phone, before dispatch, you hear our quote, and those replies shape the work too.
Then your tank is emptied and the system cleaned thoroughly, which matters more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not rinse out on its own. The filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the car is tested. If the engine has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
We fire it up at the end. Before our engineers head off, it's tested to make sure it runs correctly on fresh diesel. When it is spotted quickly, the vehicle very seldom has lasting damage, and the whole job happens where it is. Nothing is taken upfront, payment happens on the day, and you get what your insurer asks for: an engineer report plus a VAT invoice. Check your insurance while we're en route: misfuelling cover comes built into many policies.
About Fairview and where it is
Fairview is a suburban area in Gloucestershire, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 67 metres, with a mix of residential and local amenities. Fairview lies close to the city of Gloucester, approximately 8 miles away, and is also near other nearby places such as Whaddon and Cheltenham. Fairview has a population of around 10090 people, predominantly residing in flats. Fairview is located within the wider South West region, about 87 miles west of London.
AdBlue drains across Gloucestershire, Fairview included
Fairview is a residential suburb, and the same vans that cover it work the places near it too, Cheltenham and Coltham Fields among them, across the GL postcode area. Quickest of all: a GL52 2 postcode for your location.
Parked heading to Fairview Open Space, or right in the centre of Fairview, the car stays put — there is no need to shift it at all. Draining happens right there. Awkward to pin down? Close to Masjid Al Madina or a border? Checking is better than guessing, so ring.
The one-line version
Not run yet: keep it off and ring. Run already: pull over, switch down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest, within Fairview or anywhere in Gloucestershire.