AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Honicknowle, and What to Do Next
Has your motor turned over since the AdBlue got in? That one question decides nearly everything else from here. Not started so far? Then leave the car like that, whether your vehicle is — Honicknowle or Pennycross. Normally this means emptying and properly rinsing it on the spot in Honicknowle — so keep your ignition and motor off and call 0333 366 0103. Pull over the minute you safely can then turn off, if it has been run. It's a bigger job, yet stage one does not change.
Anywhere across Devon it happened, one of the cases below matches yours.
At the petrol pump in Honicknowle: AdBlue in a diesel
Imagine it: stood by the pump, holding the bottle, you spot the filler you opened wasn't the right one. It could be the Tesco, or perhaps the Texaco, or another forecourt in Honicknowle.
In short: no better spot exists to spot it. The AdBlue is inside that tank and nowhere else. Nothing has sucked it in.
What to do: do not get back in and fire it up to clear the pump. Ask the staff to help you push your car into a parking bay, keep the till receipt or the bottle, then call us from the forecourt. If it can't be shifted, it can be emptied at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home around Honicknowle
The warning light had been on for days. A bottle bought at the garage, emptied in on the driveway — and it's just at the bin that the cap got a second look. Houses just off Cobbett Road are caught out as much as anywhere else.
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 that tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so nobody moves the car in the morning. Then call. In West Park or right here around Honicknowle, the draining happens at your drive. The equipment runs quiet enough that it won't wake the neighbours at night.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving in Honicknowle?
Rough running, smoke, lost power or a glowing dashboard started a mile or two after the fill. Maybe driving to Plymouth, under 3 miles away, or simply down Byron Avenue.
In short: the AdBlue has been pulled into the system. The injection pump and every injector see it as well on a bigger trip, after the filter and lines have it. Each restart, like every mile, carries it deeper.
Next: find a safe place, pull in, and switch the engine off. On the M5, under 50 miles from Honicknowle, that means the next junction, not the services further on. It won't have cleared, so there is no point restarting to find out. About what distance had it go? Tell us when you phone.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
Seven days back, it was unknown to you. Your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere, and so no one told you the AdBlue inlet was right beside your diesel. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in Devon.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it's run, with one more stage. Work on your vehicle often needs the owner's approval under hire or company agreements.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is quicker settled before our technicians get there than after. Hanging on for a reply at the car park outside St Budeaux Ferry Road, or near Honicknowle Reading and Recreation Hall? Keep your engine off meanwhile.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Honicknowle?
Occasionally the honest answer is "I think so". Too light, the bottle; a hint of ammonia round your filler; a hazy memory of the cap. Look familiar? It might have been at a friend's driveway in Ham, or rushing outside Shakespeare Primary School at the school run.
Meaning? Spills around the inlet never touch the engine at all. In the diesel tank, however, AdBlue harms it. If there is AdBlue in that tank, turning on the vehicle would pull it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Next: act as though it got in, then keep your motor off. Describe what you saw on the phone. A clean tank looked at is a happier outcome than a run one drained.
The common ground in every Honicknowle AdBlue drain
Every situation gets the same start to the work. Anywhere your car is — The Victory's car park, a street by Honicknowle Youth and Community Centre, a driveway, a forecourt — the van gets there and asks for the liquid, the amount, plus if your motor has turned over. Those replies settle the work, and you hear the price on the phone, before anyone heads out.
Then the tank is drained 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, so it does not rinse out on its own. Then comes the filter — flushed, or swapped where needed — followed by clean diesel, and a test of your vehicle. Most unrun cars are a half-hour job after the moment our technicians get there.
Our engineers start the engine last. Our technicians check it runs correctly on fresh diesel before we leave. Lasting damage is very uncommon when it's noticed soon, and the entire job is done where the car is. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money upfront. Dig out your insurance before we're en route: misfuelling cover comes built into many policies.
About Honicknowle and where it is
Honicknowle is a suburban area located on the outskirts of Plymouth in Devon, sitting at an elevation of 57 metres above sea level. Honicknowle is characterized by its predominantly terraced housing stock and is situated near other residential areas such as West Park and Whitleigh. Honicknowle is close to the city centre of Plymouth, being only 2.7 miles away, and is part of the larger urban landscape of the city. Honicknowle has a population of approximately 6749 residents.
Honicknowle and Devon: AdBlue drains across the area
Being a residential suburb, Honicknowle shares its vans with the surrounding places — Whitleigh, Manadon — all the way across PL postcodes. Giving us your PL5 3 postcode pins you fastest of all.
Centre of Honicknowle or a lay-by towards Woodland Wood: either way it is, the vehicle never needs to move at all for this drain. Draining is done on the spot. Tricky to explain? Close to Phoenix Centre or a county line? Checking beats guessing, and so phone.
Your situation, summed up
Engine not started: phone, and leave it switched off. Whatever case applies, Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest on 0333 366 0103, across Devon and in Honicknowle — after you pull over, turn off then phone, if it has run.