What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Pennsylvania
Everything turns on one fact: if the motor has been run after the AdBlue was added — far more than anything else. Over in Polsloe or right around Pennsylvania, an unrun motor should remain that way. Leave the engine and your ignition off and ring 0333 366 0103; it's generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is around Pennsylvania. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. It's a bigger job, yet step one doesn't change.
Below: the cases our engineers meet, anywhere around Devon. Pick yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Pennsylvania forecourt
You're at the petrol pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Somewhere in Pennsylvania, then — Morrisons, Esso, or anywhere else nearby.
What it means: this is the best location to find out. Only that tank has AdBlue; no component past it has drawn it in.
What to do: do not get back in and start it to clear the pump. Have the staff to lend a hand pushing it into a space, save the receipt, then ring us right there. If it cannot be moved, it can be cleared at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a working forecourt.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Pennsylvania drive?
On the dash, a reminder had been lit all week. A bottle bought at the garage, emptied in on the drive — and it's just at the bin that the cap caught a second look. Right off Pennsylvania Road is not different from anywhere.
The point: no miles since makes it nearly equal to spotting it at the petrol pump. On the bottom of your tank is where AdBlue waits, because it won't mix with diesel — and a night passing makes nothing of the difference.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so no one moves the car in the morning. Then ring. We drain the car on your drive, whether that is around Pennsylvania or out in St James. Even at night, the pumps stay quiet enough for a driveway.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel in Pennsylvania?
A mile or two beyond filling up, the motor began misbehaving: rough running, smoke, less power, lights on the dash. Maybe it was on Pennsylvania Park, maybe on the way out towards Exeter, under 3 miles away.
The upshot: your system has drawn AdBlue through by now. The high-pressure pump and every injector get it as well on a bigger run, after the filter and lines have had it. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Next: pick a sensible place, stop, and switch your motor off. Pennsylvania sits under 3 miles from the M5; on it, come off at the next junction instead of pushing on to the services. Restarting it to test achieves nothing — AdBlue never clears itself. Call, and say what distance the vehicle went.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
A week ago, the car was new to you. The AdBlue filler is right next to the diesel filler, which you did not know, since your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Any driver, anywhere across Devon, could do it.
Meaning? Whatever case above applies too — run or not — and one further stage. Plenty of hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on the car.
Sorting it before the van turn up is faster, and so ring the hire company or your fleet manager, then us. If you're stranded in the car park at St James' Park, or by Pure Land Buddhist Centre, whilst you wait for an answer, leave the vehicle off.
AdBlue in your diesel tank? Not sure, in Pennsylvania
"I think so" is sometimes as honest as it gets. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia around the filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. A hurried stop by the gates of Stoke Hill Infant and Nursery School, or a visit to a friend in Newtown: either fit.
What it means: a little spilled around your filler does no damage to the engine. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. If there is AdBlue in your tank, starting your car would suck it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Next: assume it went in, then leave the engine off. Checking a tank that turns out clean is better than emptying one after it's been run — so phone then tell us what you saw.
Pennsylvania: what each AdBlue drain has in common
The job opens the same way, whatever your situation. We come to the vehicle, whether it's at a forecourt, a drive, the car park at The Victoria Inn or a side street near Devon and Exeter Squash and Racketball Club, and ask three things: what went in, about how much, and whether the motor has been run. Replies shape the job; the price comes by phone whilst no one has left yet.
AdBlue crystallises and eats at certain metals in fuel systems, and so it won't rinse out unaided; that's why a full flush, after the drain, counts much more here than with petrol. The fuel filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and your car is tested. Where the motor hasn't been started, allow about half an hour once we arrive, for most cases.
Finally, we start the car. Our check that it runs correctly on fresh diesel comes before our technicians go. Long-term damage is very unusual when it is noticed early, and the whole job is done where the car is. Payment is that day, never in advance. For the insurer, you get a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer. Worth knowing: many insurers include misfuelling cover, and so a quick look at your documents as you wait pays.
About Pennsylvania, briefly
Pennsylvania is a suburban area located on the outskirts of Exeter in Devon, sitting alongside the River Exe at an elevation of around 99 metres. Pennsylvania is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock and is situated near other local areas such as St James and Stoke Hill. Pennsylvania benefits from its proximity to Exeter city centre, being just over a mile away, and is also close to historic sites like Polsloe Priory. Pennsylvania has a population of approximately 9438 residents.
Pennsylvania and Devon: AdBlue drains across the area
Pennsylvania is a residential suburb, and the same teams that cover it work the places around it too, Stoke Hill and Polsloe Priory among them, across the EX postcode area. A postcode starting EX4 6 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No moving is needed, whether stopped in the centre of Pennsylvania or in a layby heading to Exeter Community Garden, so leave it where it is. Our technicians drain the vehicle where it stands. Phone and check instead of guessing when you are close to Calvary Exeter, near a boundary, or somewhere tricky to explain.
Your scenario, summed up
Where it has not started, phone and keep it that way. Already run: stop, switch off and call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there around Pennsylvania and anywhere around Devon on 0333 366 0103.