AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Park Bottom: What Now?
Has the engine turned over since the AdBlue went in? That one question decides almost everything else from here. Anywhere the car is — Pool, Park Bottom — never start a motor that has not been started yet. Leave the engine and the ignition off then ring 0333 366 0103; it is normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Park Bottom. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. Step one remains the same, even if the job grows.
Below: the cases our technicians see, wherever across Cornwall. Pick yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Park Bottom forecourt
Only now, bottle still in your hand, it dawns on you that the cap you took off was the wrong one, right at the pump. It could be the Morrisons, or perhaps the Texaco, or a different station in Park Bottom.
What it means: this is the ideal place to find out. Still in that tank, with no fuel drawn onwards: that's where the AdBlue sits.
What to do: do not get back in and start it to clear the petrol pump. Ring us from the forecourt after the car is in a space — the staff will lend a hand to push it — and keep the receipt. Emptying it there at the petrol pump is fine when it can't be moved, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Park Bottom drive?
For days the dashboard had been warning you. A bottle bought at the garage, emptied in on the driveway — and it's only at the recycling that the cap got a second look. Homes just off Park Road get hit as much as anywhere else.
Meaning? Provided your vehicle hasn't moved since, it's second to the pump case. Being unable to blend, AdBlue settles low inside the tank and waits. One night parked changes nothing.
Put your keys indoors overnight — otherwise a person may take it off first thing — and phone us. We drain it on your drive, whether that is in Park Bottom or out in Tolvaddon. The pumping kit runs quiet enough not to disturb the neighbours at night.
On the road around Park Bottom with AdBlue in a diesel
A mile or two after topping up, the motor started misbehaving: rough running, smoke, less power, warnings on the dash. Possibly it was on Church Road, perhaps on the way out towards Truro, under 15 miles away.
The upshot: the system has pulled AdBlue through by now. Mileage decides how far it goes: filter and pipework first, then the injection pump and each injector. It goes deeper with every mile covered and each restart.
What to do: pull over where it is safe to do so then switch off. Service stations farther along are too far: on the M5, over 50 miles out of Park Bottom, take the first junction. Don't restart the car to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Tell us hear the distance covered when you ring.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You've had this car hardly a week. The AdBlue filler is right next to the diesel one, which you didn't know, because your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. It can happen to anyone, anywhere around Cornwall.
Meaning? Whatever applies above counts too — run or unrun — plus one extra stage. Plenty of hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on the vehicle.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's quicker settled before we turn up than after. If you are stuck in the car park at Camborne, or by Trevenson Church, while you wait for an answer, leave your car off.
Park Bottom: unsure if it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Occasionally the honest answer is "I think so". Lighter, that bottle; a trace of ammonia round the filler; no clear recollection of which cap. Look familiar? The gates of Treloweth Community Primary School in a rush, say, or a friend's driveway over in South Tehidy.
Meaning? Spills outside the inlet don't touch your motor at all. Once it is inside the diesel tank, though, it does. If there is AdBlue in your tank, firing up your car would draw it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Your move: act as though it did, and don't start the engine. Phone with what you saw: we would rather find a clean tank than empty one once your engine has been run.
The common ground in each Park Bottom AdBlue drain
The work opens the same way, whichever your situation. Wherever your car stands — Plume of Feathers's car park, a road beside Trevenson Community Hall, a driveway, a forecourt — the van arrives and asks about the fluid, the amount, and if your engine has turned over. The price is given on the call, before a van leaves, and the answers shape the job.
A thorough flush comes after the drain. With petrol it is standard; with AdBlue it is essential, because deposits form and certain metals are attacked, and none of that washes out unaided. Last are the filter, flushed or replaced if necessary; clean diesel; and a check of the vehicle. If your engine has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
Lastly, our engineers fire it up. Our test that it runs correctly on fresh diesel comes before our technicians leave. Permanent damage is very unusual when it's caught quickly, and the whole job is done where the vehicle is. Payment comes that day, never in advance. For your insurer, there is a VAT invoice plus a written report from the engineer. Dig out your insurance while we arrive: cover for misfuelling is built into plenty of policies.
About Park Bottom itself
Park Bottom is a coastal locality in Cornwall, situated near the towns of Tolvaddon and Illogan, and approximately 10 miles from the city of Truro. Park Bottom sits at an elevation of 84 metres, overlooking the surrounding countryside. Park Bottom is characterised by its predominantly detached housing stock, reflecting its residential nature.
Park Bottom and Cornwall: AdBlue drains across the area
As a coastal area, Park Bottom shares its vans with the nearby towns — Illogan, Tolvaddon Downs — right across TR postcodes. Telling us your TR15 3 postcode finds you fastest of all.
No towing is required, be it parked in the centre of Park Bottom or in a layby en route to Trelowia, and so keep it where it is. Where it sits, that is where it is drained. If you're somewhere hard to explain, close to Sports Hall or close to a border, ring and ask instead of assuming.
Your situation, in one line
Not run yet: keep the vehicle off and ring. Started by now? Stop, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest whatever case, across Park Bottom and Cornwall, on 0333 366 0103.