What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Par
Everything hinges on a single detail: if your engine has started since the AdBlue was added — far more than anything else. Not run so far? Then keep the vehicle like that, whether the vehicle is — Par or Biscovey. Normally that means emptying and thoroughly flushing it on the spot around Par — and so keep the ignition and motor off then ring 0333 366 0103. Already run? Stop when you safely can, then switch it off. The job is bigger, but the first step is the same.
Further down: the situations our technicians meet, anywhere in Cornwall. Pick the one that fits.
Par forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Only now, nozzle still in your hand, you realise that the cap you took off was the wrong one, right at the petrol pump. Anywhere around Par, then — Gulf, BP, or anywhere else close by.
The upshot: of every spot to find out, the forecourt is the best. Nothing has drawn it through, and so the AdBlue stays just inside the tank.
Your move: keep out of the driver's seat, however much the pump wants freeing. Ask the attendants to help you roll the vehicle into a parking space, keep your receipt or the bottle, and ring us from the forecourt. If it cannot be shifted, it can be drained at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a working forecourt.
AdBlue in the diesel tank at home in Par
The warning light had been on for days. Only at the recycling bin, the empty container in your hand, did you look back at the cap you'd opened at the driveway. Drives near Polmear Road get it as much as any other street.
Meaning? As long as your car has not moved since, it is second to the pump case. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
Put the keys in the house tonight — otherwise a person may take it away first thing — then phone us. In Polmear or right here around Par, the draining happens at your driveway. The equipment works quiet enough that it won't wake the street at night.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around Par?
Lumpy running, smoke, lost power or a glowing dashboard started a short way after the top-up. Possibly it was on Par Green, maybe on the way out towards Truro, under 25 miles away.
Meaning? The pump has taken the AdBlue in. Mileage sets how far it gets: filter and pipework first, then the injection pump and each injector. More driving, more starts: further it goes.
Do this: pull up anywhere sensible, then switch your motor off. Service stations further on are too far: from the M5, over 50 miles out of Par, take the first junction. No test starts: clearing itself is not something AdBlue will do. About what distance had it go? Tell us when you phone.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
It is a motor you have had for a week. Unbeknown to you, the two fillers are side by side here — not like your own car, which has none or stores it in another spot. Across Cornwall, nobody is safe from it.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it has run, with one more stage. Many rental and company agreements require the owner's approval before work.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's quicker settled before our technicians turn up than after. Stranded by Par Library or at the nearest station till someone answers, your vehicle stays switched off throughout.
AdBlue in your diesel tank? Not sure, around Par
"I think so" is sometimes as honest answer there is. A slight ammonia-like whiff hangs around the filler, the bottle feels too light, and the cap you took off is a blur. Maybe on a friend's drive in St Blazey Gate, or in a rush by Tywardreath School at the school run.
Meaning? Spills around the filler don't reach your engine at all. If it is inside your diesel tank, though, it does. Turning on your car cannot tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in the tank it will suck it in.
Assume it was put in, and don't start your key. Ring with what you saw: we'd sooner find a clean tank than empty one after your motor has been run.
Each AdBlue drain in Par shares these steps
Whatever the case, a single opening is used. Anywhere the vehicle is — The Welcome Home Inn's car park, a street beside Cornubia, a driveway, a filling station — our van gets there and we ask about the liquid, the quantity, plus whether your motor has turned over. Those replies decide this work, and you hear our price on the phone, before anybody heads out.
Then your tank is emptied and the fuel system flushed thoroughly, which counts 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. Fresh diesel goes in after the filter has been cleaned or changed, and your car is then tested. The majority of unrun cars are a half-hour job from the moment our engineers arrive.
Firing it up comes last. Before we go, it is tested to make sure it runs correctly on clean diesel. We do the entire job where the vehicle is, and long-term damage is very rare if it has been caught soon. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Plenty of insurance policies cover misfuelling, and so check yours while the van travels.
About Par
Par is a small coastal village in Cornwall, situated near the towns of Tywardreath and Polmear. Par sits at a low elevation of around 6 metres, close to the sea and within commuting distance of Truro. Par has a mix of housing types, but detached homes are particularly common in the area. Par is located near the village of Kilhallon, and is around 214 miles from London.
AdBlue drains across Cornwall, Par included
Over PL postcodes, the vans covering Par — a coastal village — work surrounding towns too, Tywardreath and Kilhallon among them. Telling us your PL24 2 postcode pins you fastest of all.
No towing is required, be it stopped in the centre of Par or on a lay-by heading to Glencliffe Community Garden, and so leave it where it is. Where it sits, that is where it is emptied. If you're somewhere hard to explain, near Par Sports Club or close to a border, ring and ask rather than assuming.
The one-line version
If it has not started, ring then keep it that way. Run already? Pull over, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest whatever case, in Par and Cornwall, on 0333 366 0103.