Don't Start It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in New Town
Engine off, ignition off: that's how you start if AdBlue has gone into the diesel tank. In plain terms, AdBlue is simply urea in water. Not like fuel, it neither burns nor mixes, and no harm starts until your motor pulls it round. If the motor hasn't run yet, AdBlue in a diesel tank is normally drained and carefully flushed where the vehicle stands in New Town. Before you do anything else, phone 0333 366 0103.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in New Town: the first few minutes
To do:
- So nobody can turn the ignition on, take the keys out.
- Close to moving traffic? Then put the hazard lights on.
- The empty bottle or the receipt shows us the fluid and the amount, and so do not bin it out.
- The van locates you quickest with a postcode starting EX10 8, or simply the name of a street close by, so call from the car.
Never:
- Moving the car even a few yards is no reason to fire up your engine.
- Many diesels power their pump the instant the ignition goes on, so leave it off.
- Pouring in extra diesel doesn't help: AdBlue separates out instead of thinning.
- Never drive the car anywhere, not even a short distance down Milford Avenue.
- Draining your tank on your own by the road is not worth trying.
Get the people behind the counter to help you roll your vehicle away from the island if you are at a forecourt in New Town, whether it is the the nearest petrol station or elsewhere. If you are on your own drive, leave it just where it sits.
AdBlue in a diesel tank: what it does
The engine is not what AdBlue is made for; your exhaust is. From a separate tank it goes straight to your exhaust, treating what the engine emits. A fuel pump is not designed to cope with it, and AdBlue was never intended to go through one.
Inside a diesel tank it behaves very differently from fuel. It doesn't mix in. It is heavier than diesel, so it sinks and gathers at the bottom of the tank, which is where the pickup draws fuel from. When the system runs, the AdBlue is top of the list to go through. Until then it sits underneath the diesel, which is why a vehicle filled in Western Town yesterday and not started remains the straightforward case, as long as nobody touches your key.
It does two kinds of damage from there. Crystals and corrosion. As the water evaporates, it leaves urea that crystallises in filters and narrow passages; and, since it attacks some metals, each part it reaches keeps suffering for as long as it remains in there. A car left sitting around New Town with AdBlue already in its lines is worse by the morning; one with AdBlue only in its tank isn't. The water in it causes damage of its own: the high-pressure fuel pump and your injectors rely on diesel to lubricate them, and water gives them nothing.
AdBlue in a diesel: why it's regularly worse than petrol
Fill a diesel with petrol in error over at the East Budleigh Garage, and this problem is thinned fuel. It mixes with the diesel, and whilst it's inside that tank it causes no harm; the damage comes from running the motor on it.
AdBlue in a diesel is a fault of the wrong substance altogether. Not burning, it can't just be run through. Crystals and corrosion stay through the next tankful, and AdBlue separates again out of your diesel, so thinning it can't help. That is why the flush counts so much, and trying your engine "to see" costs more with AdBlue than nearly any other mistake — in Sid or the heart of New Town alike.
With AdBlue, the good news is no distinct from petrol. Emptying a tank is the simplest job on any fuel system, and with no running, the AdBlue remains in there — anywhere around Devon your car has stopped.
How AdBlue ends up in a diesel tank around New Town
No one means to do it. The AdBlue filler on many motors waits right next to your diesel filler, sometimes under the same flap, and the two caps can look alike in poor light. It mostly occurs at home, from a bottle bought on the journey home, not at the filling station.
The ways it takes place are few and familiar. A warning light comes on during the school run, and the top-up occurs in a hurry outside Sidmouth Church of England (VA) Primary School. Close to Mill Street, someone tips a bottle in on that drive in the evening. One more version: dim light, the car park by Swan Inn, and someone using that flap for the first time.
It takes place most in the cars motorists know least: a hire car, a new car, a company car, or the second motor of a household with one diesel and one petrol. Wherever you're in New Town or the remainder of Devon, it is the same slip and the same first answer: leave the vehicle off.
Started your engine with AdBlue in your diesel tank in New Town?
Then the tank is no longer where the AdBlue is. Given any running time, it goes on to the injection pump and each injector, having passed through your filter and lines.
You may notice your motor running roughly, smoking, losing power, showing warning lights or cutting out, possibly on the way back from Blackmore Gardens or halfway across New Town. Once safe, stop then switch everything off — with no restarting to test. More of that is pulled through with each start.
On the M5, under 15 miles from New Town, the next junction is where to leave, and somewhere sensible is where to park — not driving on.
Each mile carries the AdBlue further in. That's why a hop across New Town to park beside Byes Toll House and a drive of under 15 miles for Exeter are very distinct jobs. Tell us about how far it had come.
Once the engine has run, the flush takes in more, and all of it is done where your car has come to a stop. If it is caught early, lasting damage is very rare.
Clearing AdBlue in a diesel around New Town: what it takes
Wherever it has stopped in New Town — a filling station, a layby, a drive, a street by Scott Cinemas — our van comes to your car. The work depends on three replies, and we get first — what went in, the amount, and if your engine has turned over.
Next, emptying the tank on the spot takes out the contaminated diesel along with the AdBlue in one go. A full flush counts much more with AdBlue than with petrol, since residue will not wash out on its own. The filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and your car is tested. If your motor has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once our technicians arrive. Explosion-proof pumps mean a live forecourt safe to work on, and they run quiet enough not to disturb the neighbours at night.
The final step is to bleed the fuel system on fresh diesel. Whether it's a parking bay outside Feniton or a driveway around New Town, that is where our engineers start the car and you drive off. We confirm it runs smoothly on new diesel before we leave. No workshop is needed at any point, with the whole job done then and there. Insurers want a VAT invoice and an engineer report, and both come afterwards.
About New Town itself
New Town is a suburban area in Devon, situated on the coast at a low elevation of around 9 metres. New Town lies near the city of Exeter, approximately 13 miles to the south, and is close to other nearby places such as Sidmouth. New Town has a population of around 3179 people and is characterised by predominantly terraced housing.
New Town and Devon: AdBlue drains across the area
Our vans that answer AdBlue jobs around New Town also cover the spots about it, Sidmouth, Eastern Town and Land Part among them, and most of Devon beyond, across the EX postcode area. Phone and ask instead of guessing if you are close to a county line, or somewhere awkward to pin down.
No moving is needed. In New Town, a residential suburb, a mobile service fits: your vehicle is emptied where it stands, whether on a drive, a residential street, a car park or a forecourt.
AdBlue in a diesel tank around New Town: the cost of fixing it
Not one flat figure would be fair, because every job differs. What moves the cost is, first of all, whether your engine has been running and for how long; then how much AdBlue got in; and after that where the car is and whether a van can get to it safely, which is simpler on an open drive than in a tight gap behind Sidmouth Methodist Church.
What was put in, how much, and if it ran: every New Town call begins by asking exactly that, ahead of a quote, never afterwards. With them, the range shrinks to a single firm figure.
You get that quote by phone, before anybody heads out, and you pay on the day, by card or by phone, with nothing upfront. Misfuelling cover is part of many insurance policies, so it pays to look at yours before the van gets there.
Still next to the car around New Town?
Then the most useful thing you can do is nothing to the car. Keys out, motor off, ignition off. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, across New Town or anywhere in Devon, after you call 0333 366 0103 saying it was AdBlue, about what quantity, and if it ran.