AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Hollands, and What to Do Next
One thing matters most once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is if your engine has been started afterwards. Out in New Town or right around Hollands, an unrun motor must remain unrun. Keep nothing on, phone 0333 366 0103, then expect a thorough flush plus a drain, carried out right where the car sits around Hollands. When the motor has run, stop safely first, then turn the car off. A larger job, yes, but the same opening step.
Compare your case to one of the ones below, wherever around Somerset you happen to be.
Hollands forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
You're at the petrol pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Anywhere in Hollands, then — Esso, Tesco, or somewhere else close by.
What it means: this is the best location to find out. Only the tank holds AdBlue; not one part past it has drawn any in.
Your move: stay out of the driver's seat, however much the queue needs freeing. Have the attendants to help rolling it to a space, save the bottle, then phone us right there. Emptying it there at the pump is possible if it can't be shifted, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home in Hollands with AdBlue in your diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. A bottle from the garage, tipped in on the driveway — and it's just at the bin that the cap got your eye. Homes just off Pickett Lane get hit as much as anywhere else.
Meaning? As long as the car hasn't been driven since, it's second to the pump case. Diesel and AdBlue stay separate: the AdBlue drops to the base of your tank and remains there, however long it waits.
Put the keys indoors tonight — or someone may take it away first thing — then phone us. Summerlands or Hollands: whichever your drive is, that is where it gets cleared. Night-time empties outside a house are no problem: the pumps are quiet.
On the road around Hollands with AdBlue in a diesel
Rough running, smoke, falling power or a glowing dashboard started a short way beyond the top-up. Maybe heading for Wells, under 25 miles away, or just along Ilchester Road.
What it means: your fuel system has drawn the AdBlue in. Distance decides how far it goes: filter and lines first, then the high-pressure pump and each injector. Each restart, like every mile, carries it on.
Next: pick a sensible spot, pull in, then switch your motor off. Leave by the first junction — not the services further along — if you're on the M5, under 25 miles from Hollands. Restarting it to test gets nothing — AdBlue never clears itself. Call us and say how far you travelled.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You've only driven the vehicle for days. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is absent or somewhere else. On this one, its inlet is right by the diesel cap — news to you. Any driver, wherever across Somerset, might do it.
Meaning? Whichever case above counts too — run or unrun — plus one extra step. The owner often needs to sign off the work, under many hire and company contracts.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's quicker settled before we arrive than after. Stranded by St Peter or at Yeovil Pen Mill until someone answers, your car remains turned off throughout.
Hollands: unsure whether it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Honestly, the only answer may be that you think it did. Which cap was taken off, you cannot recall; meanwhile the bottle feels less than expected, and a whiff of ammonia lingers by the filler. A hurried top-up by the gates of Milford Infants' School, or a call to a friend in Goar Knap: either fits.
What it means: a little spilled round the filler does no damage to your engine. If it is inside your diesel tank, though, it does. If there is AdBlue in that tank, turning on the vehicle would draw it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
What to do: treat it as if it went in. Do not crank it. Ring us and describe what you saw; we would rather check a tank that turns out free of AdBlue than drain one that has already been run.
Hollands: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Whichever scenario you are in, this job starts the same way. Anywhere your vehicle stands — The Armoury's car park, a road beside Hundred Stone, a driveway, a forecourt — the van gets there and asks for the liquid, the amount, and if your engine has turned over. Those answers determine the work, and you hear our quote on the phone, before anybody heads out.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to certain metals in fuel systems, so it won't wash out on its own; that's why the flush, after this drain, counts much more here than with petrol. Finally are the filter, flushed or replaced if necessary; fresh diesel; and a test of your vehicle. Most unstarted vehicles are a half-hour job from the moment our engineers get there.
Firing it up comes last. Before our engineers head off, it's tested to make sure it runs correctly on clean diesel. If it is noticed early, the car very rarely has permanent damage, and the whole job happens where it is. Nothing is taken upfront, settlement is made on the day, and you receive what the insurer asks for: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About Hollands, for a moment
Hollands is a suburban area in Somerset, situated inland at an elevation of 94 metres, with semi-detached housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Hollands is located near several other residential areas, including Summerlands and Crofton Park, and is within commuting distance of the city of Wells. Hollands is also close to the town of Yeovil, which provides additional amenities and services. Hollands has a population of approximately 5768 people, making it a relatively small but established community.
AdBlue drains across Somerset, Hollands included
Being a residential suburb, Hollands shares its vans with the surrounding places — Yeovil, Crofton Park — all the way across BA postcodes. Giving us your BA21 3 postcode pins you quickest of all.
Parked en route to Yeovil Recreation Ground, or right in the centre of Hollands, your car remains put — there's no need to shift it at all. Draining is done on the spot. If you are somewhere hard to describe, close to Johnson Park or close to a boundary, ring and ask instead of assuming.
In one line: your situation
Motor not started: phone, and leave it switched off. Run by now: stop, switch down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, within Hollands or anywhere across Somerset.