AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Great Torrington, and What to Do Next
Everything turns on a single fact: whether the motor has been run after the AdBlue was added — more than anything else. Over in Frithelstock or here in Great Torrington, an unrun engine should remain that way. Leave the engine and your ignition off and call 0333 366 0103; it is usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Great Torrington. Pull over the minute you safely can then turn off, if it has been run. It's a larger job, though stage one does not change.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever in Devon it happened.
At the petrol pump around Great Torrington: AdBlue in a diesel
Picture it: stood by the pump, gripping the bottle, you spot the cap you opened wasn't the correct one. It could be the BP, or perhaps the another forecourt nearby, or another station around Great Torrington.
What it means: this is the ideal spot to find out. The AdBlue is inside that tank and nowhere else. Nothing has pulled it in.
Your move: keep out of the driver's seat, even if the queue needs freeing. Three things: a shove into a space with the staff helping, the receipt saved, and a call to us from where you stand. Emptying it there at the pump is fine when it cannot be moved, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
Great Torrington, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the driveway, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look a second time at the cap. Houses just off Fore Street get caught out as often as anywhere else.
The point: zero miles since leaves it nearly equal to finding it at the petrol pump. At the floor of the tank sits where AdBlue stays, because it will not blend with diesel — and a night passing changes no difference.
Keep your keys indoors overnight — or a person might take it off first thing — and call us. Out in Taddiport or here in Great Torrington, the draining happens on your driveway. Even at night, the pumps stay quiet enough for a residential street.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel around Great Torrington?
A mile or two beyond filling up, your engine started misbehaving: rough running, smoke, less power, lights on your dash. Maybe heading for Exeter, under 50 miles away, or simply along High Street.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been pulled through your fuel system. Past the fuel filter, along the pipework, and — the more the distance — deeper into the injection pump and every injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Next: pick a sensible spot, stop, then switch the engine off. Leave by the next junction — not the services beyond — if you're on the M5, under 50 miles from Great Torrington. It won't have cleared, so there's no sense restarting to check. Let us hear the distance covered as you ring.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You've had the car barely a week. Unknown to you, the two fillers sit next to each other here — not like your own vehicle, which has none or stores it in another spot. Anywhere you happen to be across Devon, every driver could be caught.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it's run, with one more stage. Any work on the car frequently requires the owner's go-ahead under hire or fleet agreements.
Sorting it before the van turn up is quicker, so phone the hire company or your fleet manager, and then us. If you are stuck in the car park at Chapleton, or by The Old Town Hall, while you wait for an answer, leave your car off.
Unsure about AdBlue in your diesel tank in Great Torrington?
Honestly, the best answer might be that you think it did. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia about the filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. The gates of Great Torrington Bluecoat Church of England Primary School in a hurry, perhaps, or someone's drive over in St Giles in the Wood.
Put simply: spillage near the filler leaves your engine no harm. If it's inside your diesel tank, though, that changes. Starting the vehicle will not tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in your tank it would draw it in.
Do this: behave as if it did, and never start the engine. Call us and describe what you saw; we would rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
What each AdBlue drain around Great Torrington has in common
Whichever situation you are in, the job starts the same way. Three questions are asked once our engineers reach the car — on a forecourt, a driveway, a road by The Plough Arts Centre or the car park at The Black Horse: the liquid, the amount, and whether it has run. On the phone, before dispatch, you are told the price, and those answers decide the job too.
AdBlue forms crystals and eats at certain metals in fuel systems, so it won't wash out on its own; that's why a full flush, after the drain, matters much more with AdBlue than with petrol. The fuel filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Most unrun vehicles are a half-hour job after the moment our engineers get there.
Starting the engine comes last. Our test that it runs properly on new diesel comes before we head off. Our technicians do the whole job where the car is, and permanent damage is very unusual when it has been caught early. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money in advance. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Great Torrington itself
Great Torrington is a town situated in the River Torridge valley in Devon, with a population of around 5958 people. Great Torrington sits at an elevation of 105 metres, approximately 31 miles northwest of Exeter, and is characterised by its terraced housing. Great Torrington is located near several smaller settlements, including Taddiport and Little Torrington, and is about 178 miles west of London. Great Torrington has a riverside setting, with the River Torridge flowing through the town.
AdBlue drains across Devon, Great Torrington included
Being a riverside town, Great Torrington has the same vans as the surrounding towns — Stevenstone, Little Torrington — all the way through EX postcodes. Your location is clearest from a postcode that starts EX38 8.
No moving is needed, whether parked in the centre of Great Torrington or in a lay-by heading to Sydney House Memorial Garden, so keep it put. Wherever it sits, that's where it is drained. If you're somewhere hard to describe, near St Michael and All Angels' Church or close to a boundary, ring and ask instead of guessing.
In one line: your situation
Not run yet: keep the vehicle off and call. Already run: stop, switch off and ring. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there in Great Torrington and anywhere across Devon on 0333 366 0103.