What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Penmayne
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: whether your motor has been run since it went in. If it has not, keep it that way, whether the vehicle is in Penmayne itself or out in Porthilly. Ring 0333 366 0103 with the key and motor still off. In Penmayne, that is generally drained and cleaned where it stands. Already run? Stop when you safely can, then turn it off. It is a larger job, yet step one does not change.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever across Cornwall it happened.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Penmayne forecourt
Only at this point, bottle yet in your hand, you realise that the cap you opened was the wrong one, right at the pump. Whether Texaco, BP or somewhere else in Penmayne, the situation is the same.
What it means: this is the ideal spot to find out. No pump has drawn it through, and so the AdBlue stays just inside the tank.
Freeing the pump is no excuse to start it — so do not get back in. Ask the staff to help you roll the vehicle into a parking bay, keep the receipt or the bottle, then call us from the forecourt. Stuck by the pump? Our explosion-proof equipment makes a live forecourt safe, and so we can drain the car where it is.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Penmayne drive?
On the dash, a reminder had been lit for days. A bottle bought at the shop, tipped in at the drive — and it's only at the recycling that the cap got a second look. Just off Croftlands is no less likely from any other place.
In short: if your car has not moved since, it's almost equal to finding out at the pump. Diesel and AdBlue stay apart: the AdBlue settles to the floor of that tank and stays there, no matter how long the night.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so no one moves your car in the morning. Then call. Stoptide or Penmayne: whichever your driveway is, that is where it gets drained. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
Penmayne: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Lumpy running, smoke, falling power or a lit dashboard started a mile or two beyond the top-up. Possibly it was on Cricketers Hollow, possibly on the way out towards Truro, under 25 miles away.
The upshot: your system has pulled AdBlue through by now. It has been through the fuel filter and the fuel lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors. More miles, more starts: deeper it travels.
Next: find a safe place, pull in, then switch the motor off. On the M5, over 50 miles from Penmayne, that means the next exit, not the services further on. Do not restart it to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Call us and say how far you travelled.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company motors
Seven days back, it was new to you. On your own car, AdBlue is missing or elsewhere. On this one, its inlet is just next to your diesel inlet — a surprise to you. Wherever you happen to be in Cornwall, any driver could slip up.
The upshot: just as above, split by if it ran, only with one added step. Work on your vehicle frequently 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's faster settled before our technicians arrive than after. Stranded by Trewint Playing Fields or outside Roche until the firm answers, the car stays switched off throughout.
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Not sure, in Penmayne
At times the fair answer is "I think so". A faint ammonia-like whiff hangs around your filler, the bottle seems too light, and which cap came off is a blur. The gates of St Minver School in a hurry, say, or a friend's drive over in Rock.
In short: spillage round the filler leaves the motor no harm. The diesel tank with AdBlue inside is another matter. You cannot tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so will pull in any AdBlue that is in that tank.
What to do: treat it as if it got in. Do not crank it. Inspecting a tank that turns out clean beats draining one once it has been run — so ring then tell us what you saw.
Penmayne: what every AdBlue drain has in common
The work begins the same way, whatever the situation. Our engineers come to your car, whether it is on a forecourt, a drive, the car park at The Pityme Inn or a side street near Rock Methodist Church, and ask three things: what got in, about how much, and whether the motor has run. Your price is given on the call, before a van leaves, and those replies set the work.
Then your tank is cleared and the fuel system rinsed 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 doesn't rinse out on its own. Last come the filter, flushed or renewed if necessary; clean diesel; and a check of the vehicle. The majority of unrun cars are a half-hour visit from the moment we turn up.
We start the engine last. We check it runs properly on clean diesel before leaving. The whole job is done where your car is, and when it is caught early, lasting damage is very unusual. Nothing is taken upfront, payment happens on the day, and you receive what the insurer asks for: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Many insurance policies include misfuelling, and so check yours while the van travels.
About Penmayne
Penmayne is a small suburban area in Cornwall, situated on the coast at an elevation of 44 metres. Penmayne lies near several nearby places, including Stoptide, Splatt, and Pityme, and is approximately 20.8 miles from the city of Truro. Penmayne has a population of around 836 people and is characterised by predominantly detached housing.
AdBlue drains across Cornwall, Penmayne included
Being a residential suburb, Penmayne shares its vans with the nearby places — Pityme, Splatt — right through PL postcodes. A postcode starting PL27 6 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Whether the car is on a lay-by on the way to St Enodoc Golf Club or in a car park in the middle of Penmayne, it does not need to move. Our technicians drain it where it is. Tricky to explain? Close to Sharp's Brewery Shop or a border? Checking is better than guessing, and so ring.
The one-line version
Engine not started: ring, and leave it switched off. Started by now? Stop, turn off, ring. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest whatever case, in Penmayne and Cornwall, on 0333 366 0103.