What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Penninn
Everything hinges on one fact: if the motor has been run after the AdBlue went in — more than anything else. Over in Newtake or here in Penninn, an unrun engine must remain unrun. Usually that means emptying and properly cleaning it on the spot around Penninn — so leave your ignition and engine off and call 0333 366 0103. Already started? Stop once you safely can, then switch everything off. The job is bigger, yet the first step is the same.
Match what happened to one of the ones below, wherever around Devon you are.
On a Penninn forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Imagine it: standing by the petrol pump, gripping the bottle, you spot the cap you opened was not the right one. Somewhere around Penninn, then — Sainsbury's, Esso, or anywhere else nearby.
Put simply: there is no better spot to be to spot it. The AdBlue is in the tank and nowhere else. Nothing has drawn it in.
Next: resist the temptation to fire it up only to move away from the pump. Get the attendants to lend a hand rolling it to a space, save the bottle, then ring us from there. The equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt, so a car that cannot be pushed away gets drained where it is at the petrol pump.
Penninn, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
Days had gone by with the dash light on. Only by the recycling, the empty container in your hand, did you glance back at the cap you'd used on the drive. Homes just off St Marychurch Road are caught out as often as everywhere else.
Put simply: if the vehicle hasn't been driven since, it is nearly equal to finding out at the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue keep apart: the AdBlue drops to the floor of your tank and stays put, no matter how long the night.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so nobody moves your car in the morning. Then call. Your drive is where it is drained, be it around Penninn or Milber. The pumping kit runs quiet enough that it won't wake the neighbours at night.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel around Penninn?
Rough running, smoke, falling power or a glowing dashboard started a short way after the top-up. Queensway, say, or the route to Exeter — a trip of under 15 miles.
Meaning? The fuel pump has taken the AdBlue up. The injection pump and each injector get it too on a bigger trip, after the filter and pipework have it. Each restart, like every mile, carries it deeper.
Next: find a sensible place, stop, and switch the engine off. Leave at the next junction — not the services beyond — if you're on the M5, under 15 miles from Penninn. Do not restart the vehicle to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Tell us know the distance covered as you call.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You have just had this vehicle a week. Unknown to you, the two inlets sit next to each other here — not like your own vehicle, which has no AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere. It can happen to anyone, anywhere around Devon.
The upshot: just as above, split by whether it ran, only with one added stage. Work on the vehicle often requires the owner's approval under hire or company agreements.
Next: ring the rental company or the fleet manager first, and then us — settling it before our arrival is quicker. Stranded near The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or at Newton Abbot till the firm answers, the car stays turned off throughout.
Unsure about AdBlue in your diesel tank in Penninn?
"I think so" is often as honest as it gets. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia around your filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. The gates of Haytor View Community Primary School in a rush, perhaps, or someone's drive over in Wolborough.
What it means: a little spilled about your filler does no damage to your engine. The diesel tank with AdBlue inside is another story. Starting your car cannot tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in that tank it will pull it in.
Your move: act as though it did, and don't start the motor. Describe what you noticed on the phone. A clear tank checked is a happier outcome than a run one drained.
The common ground in each Penninn AdBlue drain
The job begins the same way, whichever your situation. Anywhere your vehicle is — The Keyberry's car park, a road by Teignbridge District Council HQ, a drive, a filling station — our van gets there and we ask for the liquid, the amount, plus if the motor has turned over. Those answers settle the work, and you hear our quote on the phone, before anyone heads out.
Then that tank is drained and the system purged thoroughly, which matters 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. Next is the fuel filter — cleaned, or replaced where necessary — followed by fresh diesel, and a test of the vehicle. Where your motor hasn't been started, expect about half an hour once we arrive, in most cases.
We start the engine last. With clean diesel in, it runs while our engineers make sure it's running smoothly, and then we head off. The entire job is done where the vehicle is, and when it's caught quickly, lasting damage is very rare. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. It is worth remembering: lots of insurers offer misfuelling cover, and so a check of your documents while you wait pays.
About Penninn itself
Penninn is a suburban area located on the riverside in Devon, with a relatively low elevation of 8 metres. Penninn sits near the cities of Exeter and other nearby places such as Milber and Aller Park. Penninn has a population of approximately 4289 residents, predominantly living in semi-detached housing. Penninn is situated in a region that is about 165 miles from London, but is more closely tied to the local city of Exeter, which is about 14 miles away.
AdBlue drains in Penninn, and across Devon too
Penninn is a residential suburb, and the same vans that cover it work the places around it too, Aller Park and Buckland among them, across the TQ postcode area. A postcode starting TQ12 4 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Centre of Penninn or a layby towards Penninn Plantation: either way it is, the car never needs to shift an inch for the drain. The van drains it where it stands. Phone and check instead of guessing if you are close to St Lukes, on a border, or somewhere awkward to pin down.
The one-line version
Motor never started: phone, and leave it switched off. Already run: stop, switch off and call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there around Penninn and anywhere around Devon on 0333 366 0103.