Don't Start It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Semington
If AdBlue has got into the diesel tank, leave your motor off then leave the ignition off. AdBlue is urea mixed in water. It does not burn, it doesn't mix with diesel, and the damage it does starts when the fuel system pulls it in. In Semington, AdBlue in a diesel tank found before the motor runs normally comes down to a drain and a thorough flush, just where the car is. Nothing comes before ringing 0333 366 0103.
Semington, AdBlue in the diesel tank: what to do right away
Do these:
- Pull your keys out, so no one switches the ignition on.
- Close to moving traffic? So put your hazards on.
- Which fluid, and roughly what quantity? Hang on to the bottle or your receipt, and our technicians can know.
- Call right where you are. Say a BA14 6 postcode or the nearest street sign, and nobody has to hunt for you.
Do not:
- No starting your motor — not for a second, not to shift your vehicle.
- Switching the key to ignition alone starts the pump running on plenty of diesels. Avoid it.
- No extra fuel added. The AdBlue will not blend, and so it's wasted.
- Leave the vehicle where it is instead of driving it anywhere, even a short way along Highfield Close.
- No emptying it yourself, either, on the verge.
Ask the people behind the counter to help you roll the car away from the island if you are at a forecourt around Semington, whether it is the Esso or somewhere else. If you're on your own drive, leave the car exactly where it sits.
AdBlue in a diesel tank, and what it does there
Meant for the exhaust, AdBlue has no place in the engine. Its own reservoir holds it, and from there it is sprayed into your exhaust, and there it cleans the gas. Not one side fits the other: urea does not belong in a pump, and an injection pump cannot deal with urea.
Inside a diesel tank it acts really differently from fuel. It doesn't mix in. It drops, because it's denser than diesel, and pools low where the intake draws its fuel from. The first thing the system pulls through, once it runs, is the AdBlue. So a car that had AdBlue poured in on a drive in Berryfield last night, and hasn't been started since, is still the easy case: the AdBlue is lying at the bottom of that tank, and nothing has sucked it in.
Two kinds of damage come from there. Crystals and corrosion. As the water dries, it strands urea that crystallises in filters and tiny channels; and, because it eats at some metals, each part it reaches keeps suffering for as long as it stays inside. Pipes holding AdBlue mean damage overnight for a car parked around Semington. Only inside your tank, it stays the same. Then there is the water: it brings no lubrication to the parts that rely on it most — the injection pump and every injector.
Why is AdBlue in a diesel commonly the bigger issue?
Put petrol in a diesel at the Texaco and you have a fault of thin fuel. No harm comes as long as it sits unused, blended into your diesel — only once the motor works on it.
The issue with AdBlue in a diesel is a totally wrong liquid. It does not burn, and so it can't simply be run through. It doesn't stay mixed, so it can't be thinned. And crystals and corrosion do not wash out with the next tank of fuel. That is why the flush counts more with AdBlue than with petrol, and why starting the motor "to see" costs more here than nearly anywhere else, whether the car is in Cold Harbour or the middle of Semington.
The same good news holds as with petrol. Clearing a tank is the easiest job on a fuel system, and with no start-up, the AdBlue remains in it — wherever across Wiltshire your vehicle sits.
How AdBlue ends up in a diesel tank in Semington
In dim light, two caps side by side — the AdBlue one and the diesel one, now and then under one flap — can look the same. No one means it; plenty of designs allow it. A container picked up when heading home and poured in outside the house, instead of at the forecourt, is the usual story.
The ways it takes place are few and familiar. Halfway through the morning drop-off, the dashboard flags it up, and outside St George's Church of England Primary School, Semington the refill is hurried. In the evening, a container is tipped in on a driveway near The Knapps. Otherwise, after dark by The Milk Churn, the vehicle is topped up by someone using that flap for the first time.
The least familiar cars get it the most — rentals, brand-new cars, fleet cars, and the spare motor in a family with both fuel types. Wherever in Wiltshire, Semington included, the slip does not change, and nor does the first step: keep it off.
Already started the motor with AdBlue in your diesel tank in Semington?
Then the AdBlue has left your tank. Through the filter, through the lines, and — given any running time — into the high-pressure pump and each injector: that is where it travels.
Rough running, smoke from the exhaust, dropping power, dashboard lights or cutting out: each may show up, perhaps midway across Semington or returning from Wessex Close Play Area. Pull over when it is safe. Turn off. Leave the car off instead of restarting it to check. Each start pulls more of that through.
Semington sits under 15 miles from the M4; if you were on it, leave at the next junction and pull up safely rather than driving on.
Hopping across Semington to the car park by Semington Village Hall is one thing; driving for Bath, under 10 miles away, is another, since each mile carries the AdBlue deeper in. So mileage matters. Tell us about how far it had come.
Wherever your car came to a halt is where all of it gets done, even with more to flush after your engine has been run. Spotted early, it very seldom leaves lasting damage.
What does an AdBlue drain on a diesel involve around Semington?
Our technicians come to your car, wherever it has stopped in Semington: a side street close to St George, a drive, a lay-by or a forecourt. What got in, roughly how much, plus if your motor has turned over: our engineers ask before all else, since those shape the job.
Right there, your tank is then emptied, and both the polluted diesel and the urea come out at once. The system is cleaned thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol, because what it leaves behind doesn't rinse out on its own. A test of the car comes last, once fresh diesel goes in and the filter is cleaned or, where necessary, swapped. The majority of these jobs are a half-hour job once we get there, if the motor hasn't run. Quiet enough for use outside a house at night, and safe on a working forecourt, our pumps are explosion-proof.
The last step is to bleed your system on fresh diesel. Whether it's a parking bay at Melksham or a drive in Semington, that is where our technicians start it and you set off. Before we leave, our engineers make sure it is running properly with clean diesel in. The whole job is done where the car is, so it never has to be taken to a workshop. Insurers ask for a VAT invoice and an engineer report, and you get both afterwards.
About Semington
Semington is a village in Wiltshire, situated on the banks of the Kennet and Avon Canal, with the River Avon nearby. Semington has a low elevation of around 49 metres above sea level and is located near the cities of Bath and Melksham. Semington is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock and is surrounded by nearby places such as Little Marsh and Littleton. Semington is a relatively small community with a population of approximately 757 residents.
AdBlue drains across Semington and Wiltshire
Throughout the BA postcode area, the teams answering AdBlue jobs around Semington reach much of Wiltshire too, Little Marsh, Littleton and Outmarsh included. Close to a border, or anywhere tricky to explain? Checking beats assuming, so ring.
No moving is needed. In Semington, a village, a mobile service fits: the car is drained where it stands, be it in a drive, a side street, a parking area or a forecourt.
AdBlue in a diesel tank in Semington: the cost of fixing it
Not one single price could be fair, because every job differs. The cost changes first with how long, if at all, the engine has been running, and next with the amount of AdBlue that got in. After that it rests on where your car is and whether a van can reach it safely, which is simpler on an open driveway than in a tight space behind Crematorium Chapel.
Ahead of any figure, never afterwards, each enquiry from Semington opens with three questions: the liquid, the amount, plus if the engine ran. Their replies shrink the range right down to a single figure.
Priced by phone before the engineer heads out, it is settled that day — card or phone, no deposit. While our engineer is on the way, check your insurance: many cover misfuelling.
Next to the car around Semington, still?
Not touching the car is, right now, the best thing you can do. Motor off, keys out, ignition off. Ring 0333 366 0103: AdBlue, the amount, and if it ran are everything we ask. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest across Wiltshire, Semington included.