Pennycross: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Leave It Off
With AdBlue in your diesel tank, the ignition stays off and so does the motor. Urea mixed in water is all AdBlue is. As it is water-based, it will not ignite and won't blend with diesel; damage only comes when the pump starts drawing it. A drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Pennycross, is usually what AdBlue in a diesel tank needs — if it's caught before your motor has run. Before you do anything else, phone 0333 366 0103.
Those opening minutes: AdBlue in the diesel tank around Pennycross
To do:
- Pull your keys out, and so no one switches your ignition on.
- If you are anywhere close to moving traffic, put the hazards on.
- So you can give us which fluid it was and roughly how much, keep your receipt or the empty bottle.
- The van finds you quickest with a postcode starting PL2 3, or simply the name of a street close by, so call from the car.
Things not to do:
- Not even briefly, and not to roll the car: your motor remains off.
- Switching the key to ignition alone sets your pump going on many diesels. Skip it.
- Do not top up with diesel to thin it. AdBlue doesn't dilute in diesel; it separates out.
- Don't drive it anywhere, not even a short distance up Honicknowle Lane.
- Do not try to drain the car yourself by the kerbside.
The staff on duty at any Pennycross forecourt — the Esso among them — will normally lend a hand rolling it aside if you ask. On the drive, the vehicle remains just where it is.
What AdBlue does in a diesel tank
AdBlue is made for your exhaust, not your motor. From a dedicated tank it goes straight to the exhaust, treating what the engine emits. Not one side fits the other: urea does not belong in an injection pump, and an injection pump can't take urea.
Inside a diesel tank it acts really differently from fuel. It does not mix in. The pickup takes fuel from the deepest part of that tank, and that's just where AdBlue settles: being denser than diesel, it sinks. Easiest of all: one that had AdBlue in Honicknowle last night and has not been started since. The liquid waits at the base of that tank, untouched — but it will be first through if the motor runs, before any diesel at all.
From there it does two kinds of damage. What is left when the water evaporates is urea, which turns into crystals: they lodge in tiny channels and clog filters. On top of that, it attacks some metals in the fuel system, and carries on till it is cleared out. A motor left standing around Pennycross with AdBlue already in its lines is worse by the morning; one with AdBlue only in its tank isn't. Diesel protects the injection pump and every injector as it passes; water gives no lubrication, which is a second kind of damage.
AdBlue in a diesel: why it is often worse than petrol
Petrol pumped into a diesel on Tesco's forecourt leaves your fuel thin — that's the whole problem. It mixes with your diesel, and while it's inside the tank it does no damage; the harm comes from running your engine on it.
With AdBlue in a diesel, the fluid as such is simply the wrong one. It cannot simply be run through, since it does not burn. It doesn't stay mixed, and so it can't be weakened. And crystals and corrosion do not wash out with the next tank of fuel. That is why the flush matters more with AdBlue than with petrol, and why starting your engine "to see" costs more here than nearly anywhere else, whether the vehicle is in Hartley or the middle of Pennycross.
The same good news applies as with petrol. Never run? Then the AdBlue waits only in the tank, the simplest bit of the whole system to empty, wherever your car has come to rest in Devon.
AdBlue in a diesel tank around Pennycross: how it ends up there
Nobody means to do it. The AdBlue filler on many vehicles waits right next to the diesel filler, occasionally under the same flap, and the two caps can look alike in poor light. It usually takes place outside the house, from a container grabbed en route home, rather than at the filling station.
The ways it happens are few and familiar. Halfway through the morning drop-off, the dashboard flags it up, and outside Pennycross Primary School the top-up is rushed. In the evening, a bottle is tipped in on a drive close to Calstock Close. Or the vehicle is topped up in the car park at Pennycross Social Club, in poor light, by a person who has never opened that flap before.
Rented vehicles, new motors, company vehicles, or the second vehicle in a home with both fuels: the least familiar cars get it most. Wherever around Devon, Pennycross included, the mistake does not change, and neither does the first response: keep it off.
Pennycross: started the motor with AdBlue in the diesel tank?
In that case, the AdBlue is no longer inside your tank. Given any running, it travels to the high-pressure pump and every injector, after passing through the filter and pipework.
You may notice the engine running unevenly, smoking, losing power, showing warning lights or cutting out, maybe on the way back from Manadon Playing Fields or halfway across Pennycross. No starting it again to test: stop once safe, then switch it off. With each start, more of that is pulled through.
Leave the M5, under 50 miles from Pennycross, by the next junction and stop safely, rather than carrying on.
Distance matters: every mile carries the AdBlue further into your system, and so driving towards Plymouth, under 3 miles away, makes a much larger job than crossing Pennycross to the car park by St Pancras. About how far it had come is worth telling us.
Wherever the car came to a halt is where all of it gets done, even with more to flush after the engine has been started. When it is caught soon, lasting damage is very rare.
Clearing AdBlue in a diesel around Pennycross: what it takes
The car stays put, whether that is a road beside Holy Family, a drive, a layby or a forecourt in Pennycross, and our van comes to it. The work depends on three answers, which our technicians get first — which fluid went in, the amount, and if your motor has run.
Next, emptying your tank on the spot takes out the polluted diesel and the AdBlue in one go. With AdBlue, more so than with petrol, the flush matters: the fuel system is cleaned all the way through because what remains won't flush out by itself. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and your car is tested. If the engine has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once our engineers are there. The pumps are explosion-proof, fine on a busy forecourt and quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Finally, the system is bled with new diesel. You head off as soon as our technicians have started the car, and it makes no difference whether the car is on a drive around Pennycross or in a space by Keyham. It's tested on fresh diesel to confirm it runs correctly before our engineers go. The entire job is done where the vehicle is, so it never has to be taken to a workshop. Afterwards, you are given paperwork for your insurer: a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer.
About Pennycross
Pennycross is a suburban area located on the outskirts of Plymouth in Devon, sitting at an elevation of 76 metres near the coast. Pennycross is characterized by its predominantly terraced housing and is situated close to nearby places such as Manadon, Peverell, and Ham. Pennycross is a relatively small area, with a population of approximately 8060 residents, and is just 2 miles from Plymouth city centre. Pennycross benefits from its proximity to the city while maintaining a distinct local identity.
AdBlue drains across Devon, Pennycross included
Over the PL postcode area, the vans taking AdBlue jobs in Pennycross serve much of Devon too, Manadon, Peverell and Ham among them. Assuming doesn't help close to a border or somewhere hard to describe; ring and ask.
A mobile service suits Pennycross, a residential suburb: you have no need to take your car to us, since our engineers drain it on the spot, on a drive, a residential street, a car park or a forecourt.
What does AdBlue in a diesel tank cost to sort out around Pennycross?
Since the jobs differ, a single price would not be honest. What moves the cost is, first of all, whether the engine has run and for how long; then how much AdBlue got in; and finally where the car is and whether our van can get to it safely, which is simpler on an open drive than in a tight space behind Pennycross Methodist Church.
Which fluid was put in, what quantity, and if it ran: every Pennycross enquiry begins with exactly those, ahead of any quote, never afterwards. Once those are known, a range turns into one fixed number.
The quote is given on the call, before anyone sets off; settling up comes on the day, by card or by phone, with nothing upfront. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
In Pennycross and still beside your car?
Then, the best thing to do with the vehicle is to not touch it. Ignition off, motor off, keys out. Call 0333 366 0103 then tell us it's AdBlue, roughly how much, and whether it has run. Petrol in Diesel takes it from there, in Pennycross or anywhere in Devon.