AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Lower Town, and What to Do Next
One fact matters above all when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is if your motor has run afterwards. Anywhere the vehicle stands — Buckfast, Lower Town — never run an engine that has not been started yet. Keep nothing on, phone 0333 366 0103, then expect a thorough flush after a drain, done right where your vehicle stands around Lower Town. When your motor has run, stop somewhere safe first, then turn the car off. A larger job, yes, yet the identical first move.
Compare what happened to a situation from the ones below, wherever in Devon you are.
At the petrol pump around Lower Town: AdBlue in a diesel
Picture it: stood by the petrol pump, gripping the bottle, you realise the filler you took off wasn't the correct one. Whether Dart Garage Ltd., Shell or anywhere else around Lower Town, the situation is identical.
The point: of all places to find out, the forecourt is the best. The AdBlue is inside that tank and nowhere else. Nothing has drawn it in.
Do this: stay out of the car, even if the queue needs freeing. Have the staff to help pushing it into a bay, hold on to the bottle, then ring us right there. Our equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt, so a vehicle that can't be pushed away gets emptied right at the pump.
At home in Lower Town with AdBlue in the diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. A bottle from the garage, emptied in on the drive — and it was just at the bin that the cap got your eye. It takes place on driveways just off Market Street as often as anywhere.
The point: no driving since makes this nearly equal to finding it at the pump. Diesel and AdBlue stay apart: the AdBlue drops to the floor of that tank and stays there, however long it waits.
Next: prevent any early drive by keeping the keys in the house, then ring us. Our technicians drain the vehicle on your driveway, whether that's in Lower Town or out in Buckfastleigh. Late-night empties outside a house are fine: the pumps are low-noise.
Lower Town: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Rough running, smoke, lost power or a glowing dashboard started a short way beyond the top-up. Market Close, say, or the route to Plymouth — a trip of under 25 miles.
Meaning? Your pump has taken the AdBlue in. Distance decides how far it goes: filter and pipework to begin with, then the injection pump and every injector. More driving, more restarts: further it goes.
What to do: pull over where it's safe and switch off. Leave by the first junction — not the services further along — if you are on the M5, under 25 miles from Lower Town. No trial restarts: clearing itself isn't something AdBlue does. Phone, saying how far your vehicle went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company vehicles
A week ago, the car was new to you. Your own motor either has no AdBlue or puts it elsewhere, and so nothing told you the AdBlue cap was right next to your diesel. Wherever you are across Devon, any motorist could slip up.
In short: an extra stage on top of the cases above, which turn on if it has run. The owner often needs to sign off the work, under many rental and company contracts.
Sorting it before the van turn up is quicker, so ring the hire company or your fleet manager, and then us. If you are stranded in the car park at Totnes, or by St. Benedicts, whilst you wait for an answer, leave the car off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Lower Town?
Sometimes the fair answer is "I think so". Lighter, the bottle; a trace of ammonia round the filler; no clear recollection of the cap. Look familiar? Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Buckfastleigh Primary School, or on a friend's drive in Lower Dean.
What it means: a little spilled about your filler does no damage to the engine. Inside the diesel tank, however, AdBlue harms it. If there is AdBlue in the tank, turning on your car will pull it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Take it that it got in, and don't turn your engine. Describe what you saw on the phone. A clean tank checked is a better result than an already-run one emptied.
Lower Town: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Whatever the case, a single opening is used. Our technicians come to the car, whether it's at a forecourt, a drive, the car park at Globe Inn or a side street near Church of the Christian Community, and ask three things: what was put in, roughly how much, and if the engine has been run. Replies shape the work; the price comes on the call while nobody has set off yet.
AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some metals in fuel systems, and so it does not rinse out unaided; that is why the flush, after the drain, counts much more with AdBlue than with petrol. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Most unrun cars are a half-hour job after the moment we arrive.
Lastly, our engineers start the car. Before our engineers head off, it's checked to be sure it runs correctly on fresh diesel. The entire job is done where the car is, and if it is spotted quickly, lasting damage is very uncommon. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money upfront. It is worth knowing: many insurers offer misfuelling cover, so a check of your documents while you wait pays.
About Lower Town and where it is
Lower Town is a suburban area in Devon, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 44 metres, with terraced housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Lower Town lies near the towns of Buckfastleigh and Higher Town, and is approximately 17.6 miles from Plymouth. Lower Town is part of a larger residential area that has developed along the river, with nearby Glebelands also being a neighbouring suburb. Lower Town has a population of around 1998 residents.
AdBlue drains about Lower Town and across Devon
Over TQ postcodes, the teams covering Lower Town — a residential suburb — reach nearby places too, Glebelands and Higher Town included. A postcode starting TQ11 0 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Central Lower Town or a lay-by near Victoria Park: either way it sits, the car never needs to move an inch for this drain. Wherever it sits, that's where it is drained. Guessing doesn't help beside Moor Information Centre, close to a county line or anywhere hard to pin down; phone and ask.
Your scenario, in one line
Where it has not run, phone then leave it off. Run already: pull over, switch down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, within Lower Town or wherever across Devon.