What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Rainbow Hill
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: whether the motor has been run since it was put in. Over in Ronkswood or here in Rainbow Hill, an unrun engine should remain unrun. Ring 0333 366 0103 with the key and engine both off. In Rainbow Hill, that is typically drained and cleaned on the spot. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. A bigger job, then, yet the same first move.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever across Worcestershire it happened.
On a Rainbow Hill forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you only notice it while you're standing at the petrol pump, bottle or the nozzle in hand. Be it Esso, Texaco or anywhere else around Rainbow Hill, the case is identical.
In short: no better spot to be to spot it. The AdBlue is inside that tank and nowhere else. Nothing has sucked it in.
Your move: stay out of the driver's seat, even if the queue needs clearing. Three jobs: a push into a bay with the attendants assisting, the receipt kept, and a call to us from the forecourt. If it can't be moved, it can be emptied at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a working forecourt.
Rainbow Hill, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
Days had passed with the warning light on. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the driveway, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look once more at the cap. Houses just off Belmont Street get hit as much as anywhere else.
The point: zero miles since leaves it almost equal to spotting it at the petrol pump. On the floor of the tank sits exactly where AdBlue stays, since it will not mix with diesel — and a night going by makes no difference.
Next: stop an early-morning move by putting your keys indoors, then ring us. In Tolladine or right here in Rainbow Hill, the drain is done at your driveway. Even at night, our pumps stay quiet enough for a residential street.
On the road in Rainbow Hill with AdBlue in a diesel
Topped up, drove away, and soon the motor was turning roughly, smoking, down on power, or flashing up your dash. Possibly it was on Vicar Street, perhaps on the way out towards Worcester, under a mile away.
Meaning? Your fuel pump has sucked the AdBlue in. Through the filter, along the pipework, and — the further the distance — deeper into the injection pump and every injector. More driving, more restarts: further it travels.
What to do: pull over where it's safe then switch off. Exit by the next junction — not the services beyond — if you are on the M5, under 3 miles from Rainbow Hill. Do not restart the car to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Ring us and say how far you went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company cars
You've had this vehicle hardly a week. Your own motor either has no AdBlue or puts it elsewhere, so nothing told you the AdBlue inlet was just next to your diesel. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in Worcestershire.
The upshot: just as above, divided by whether it ran, but with an added stage. Plenty of rental and company contracts need the owner's approval before work.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is quicker settled before we arrive than after. Stranded near Rainbow Hill Community Hub or outside Worcester Shrub Hill until someone replies, the vehicle remains turned off throughout.
Rainbow Hill: unsure whether it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Truthfully, the only answer might be that you think it did. Which cap was taken off, you can't recall; meanwhile the bottle weighs less than it ought to, and a whiff of ammonia lingers by your filler. The gates of St Barnabas CofE Primary School in a hurry, say, or a friend's driveway over in Worcester.
Put simply: spillage round your filler leaves the motor unharmed. In the diesel tank, however, AdBlue harms it. If there is AdBlue in the tank, starting the car would suck it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Next: assume it got in, and leave your engine off. Inspecting a tank that turns out free of AdBlue beats emptying one after it's been run — so phone then describe to us what you noticed.
Every AdBlue drain in Rainbow Hill shares these stages
Every case has the same start to the work. We come to the vehicle, whether it is at a forecourt, a drive, the car park at The Goodrest or a side street near St Barnabas, and ask three things: what got in, roughly how much, and whether your engine has run. Replies shape the work; the quote comes by phone whilst nobody has left yet.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to some metals in fuel systems, so it won't rinse out unaided; that is why the flush, after this drain, matters much more with AdBlue than with petrol. Fresh diesel is put in once the fuel filter is cleaned or replaced, and your car is then checked. If your motor hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
Our engineers start the engine at the end. With fresh diesel in, it runs while our engineers confirm it is running correctly, and then we head off. Permanent damage is very uncommon if it is noticed early, and the whole job is done where the vehicle is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. It is worth remembering: many insurers offer misfuelling cover, so a quick look at your policy while you wait pays.
About Rainbow Hill
Rainbow Hill is a suburban area located on the riverside in Worcestershire, with a mix of semi-detached housing and other residential properties. Rainbow Hill sits near the city of Worcester, at an elevation of around 54 metres, and is close to nearby places such as Tolladine and Brickfields. Rainbow Hill is situated within the West Midlands region, approximately 101 miles from London. Rainbow Hill has a population of around 6303 people, living in a variety of housing types, predominantly semi-detached homes.
AdBlue drains around Rainbow Hill, and across Worcestershire too
Being a residential suburb, Rainbow Hill has the same vans as the surrounding places — Astwood, Brickfields — right across WR postcodes. A postcode starting WR3 8 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Stopped heading to King George's Field, or bang in the heart of Rainbow Hill, your vehicle stays where it is — there's no need to shift it anywhere. Our van empties it in place. Phone and check rather than guess when you are close to Worcestershire Masonic Library and Museum, near a border, or anywhere awkward to explain.
In one line: your situation
Unstarted? Keep the car off then phone. Already run: stop, switch off and call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there around Rainbow Hill and anywhere around Worcestershire on 0333 366 0103.