Gloucester: 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. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether the car is around Gloucester itself or out in Pool Meadow. Leave the motor and the ignition off and ring 0333 366 0103; it's generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is around Gloucester. Stop the minute you safely can then turn off, if it has been run. Step one stays the same, even though the work is bigger.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever across Gloucestershire it happened.
At the pump in Gloucester: AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you just notice it while you're stood at the petrol pump, bottle or the nozzle in your hand. It could be the Esso, or perhaps the another forecourt nearby, or a different station in Gloucester.
What it means: this is the best spot to find out. Just the tank holds AdBlue; not one component past it has drawn any in.
Freeing the pump is no reason to run it — and so do not get back in. Ask the staff to help you roll the car into a parking bay, keep the receipt or the bottle, then ring us from the forecourt. The equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt, and so a car that cannot be pushed clear gets cleared right at the pump.
Gloucester, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. A bottle bought at the shop, tipped in on the driveway — and it's just by the bin that the cap caught your eye. Driveways near Southgate Street get it as much as any other street.
Meaning? As long as your vehicle has not been driven since, it's close 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.
Next: the keys indoors, so no one drives the vehicle anywhere at breakfast. Then, ring. In The Island or right here around Gloucester, the drain happens at your driveway. Our equipment works quietly enough that it won't wake the neighbours at night.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in Gloucester?
Rough running, smoke, lost power or a glowing dashboard arrived a short way beyond the top-up. Anywhere along Longsmith Street or heading to Worcester — under 25 miles away.
In short: the AdBlue has been sucked through your fuel system. Distance sets how far it goes: filter and pipework to begin with, then the high-pressure pump and every injector. Every restart, like every mile, pushes it on.
Next: pick a sensible spot, pull in, then switch the engine off. Service stations further along can wait: on the M5, under 3 miles out of Gloucester, take the next junction. It won't have cleared, so there's no point restarting to find out. About what distance had it go? Say so as you call.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
It is a car you have had for a week. Your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere different, so no one told you the AdBlue inlet was right beside the diesel. Across Gloucestershire, nobody is immune.
Meaning? Whatever applies above applies here — run or unrun — plus one further stage. Many hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on your car.
Next: ring the hire company or the fleet manager first, and then us — sorting it before our arrival is quicker. Leave the vehicle switched off while the reply arrives, whether you are parked at the nearest station or near Discovery Centre, Museum of Gloucester.
Unsure about AdBlue in your diesel tank around Gloucester?
Sometimes the fair answer is "I think so". Lighter, the bottle; a hint of ammonia near the filler; a hazy recollection of which cap. Sound familiar? Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Kingsholm Church of England Primary School, or on a friend's drive in Kingsholm.
The upshot: your engine is not harmed by some AdBlue splashed on the filler. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. You cannot tell which by turning the key, and doing so would draw in any AdBlue that is in that tank.
Next: act as though it went in, and keep your engine off. Phone with the details: we'd sooner find a tank free of AdBlue than drain one after the engine has been run.
The common ground in every Gloucester AdBlue drain
The work opens identically, whichever your case. We come to your car, whether it's at a forecourt, a drive, the car park at Robert Raikes House or a side street near Saint Mary de Crypt, and ask three things: what got in, about how much, and whether the motor has been run. Answers shape the job; the price follows by phone while no one has set off yet.
Then that tank is cleared and your system flushed thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't rinse out on its own. The filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. If the motor hasn't run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
The final step is starting the engine. Before we head off, it's tested to make sure it runs smoothly on new diesel. When it is caught quickly, the car very seldom has long-term damage, and the entire job takes place where it is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Check your insurance before we're en route: cover for misfuelling is included in plenty of policies.
About Gloucester itself
Gloucester is a city located in the South West of England, situated on the banks of the River Severn at an elevation of around 25 metres. Gloucester sits near the intersection of several major roads and railways, approximately 94 miles west of London and 23 miles south of Worcester. Gloucester is a predominantly residential city with a mix of housing types, including semi-detached homes, and is surrounded by smaller neighbourhoods such as The Island, High Orchard, and St Pauls. Gloucester has a population of around 71,662 people.
AdBlue drains round Gloucester and across Gloucestershire
High Orchard and St Pauls have the identical teams as Gloucester, a cathedral city, plus further places throughout GL postcodes. A postcode starting GL1 1 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No moving is required, be it parked centrally in Gloucester or on a lay-by heading to Brunswick Square, and so leave it where it is. The drain is done right there. Guessing won't help beside Gloucester Masonic Hall, close to a county line or somewhere awkward to describe; ring and check.
Your situation, in one line
Where it has not started, phone then leave it that way. Already run: stop, switch off and ring. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there in Gloucester and anywhere across Gloucestershire on 0333 366 0103.