What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Shadwell
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if your engine has run since it went in. Over in Riding Gate or right in Shadwell, an unstarted engine should stay that way. Usually this is draining and properly flushing it right there around Shadwell — and so keep your key and engine off then ring 0333 366 0103. Stop the minute you safely can and turn off, if it has already run. Stage one stays the same, even though the job is bigger.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever across Somerset it happened.
At the petrol pump in Shadwell: AdBlue in a diesel
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. Maybe you are at the Morrisons, perhaps at the Shell, maybe somewhere else around Shadwell.
The point: of all places to find out, this is the best. Still in that tank, with nothing drawn through: that's where the AdBlue sits.
Freeing the pump is no reason to run it — so do not get back in. Have the attendants to help pushing it to a space, hold on to the bottle, then phone us from there. If it can't be shifted, it can be emptied at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Shadwell drive?
Several days had gone by 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 a second time at the cap. Just off Waterside Road is no less likely from anywhere.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of the tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Next: keys indoors, and so no one drives your car off first thing. After that, phone. Wincanton or Shadwell: wherever your driveway is, that is where it is cleared. Our pumping kit runs quietly enough that it won't wake the neighbours at night.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in Shadwell?
A short way after filling up, your motor began misbehaving: rough running, smoke, lost power, lights on your dash. B3081, say, or the way to Wells — a run of under 15 miles.
Meaning? Your fuel pump has sucked the AdBlue in. It's been through the filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and your injectors. It goes further with every mile covered and every restart.
Next: find a safe spot, stop, and switch the motor off. On the M5, under 25 miles from Shadwell, that means the next junction, not the services further on. Don't restart it to see if it has cleared; it will not have. About what distance did it gone? Tell us as you phone.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company vehicles
Seven days back, the car was unknown to you. Unbeknown to you, the AdBlue and diesel inlets are next to each other here — unlike your own car, which has none or keeps it in another spot. Wherever you happen to be in Somerset, every driver could slip up.
The upshot: just as above, divided by whether it ran, but with one added step. The owner often has to approve any work, under plenty of rental and fleet contracts.
Your move: hire firm or your fleet manager first, us second, because settling it beforehand saves time. If you're stuck in the car park at Templecombe, or by St Peter & St Paul, whilst you wait for an answer, leave the vehicle off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Shadwell?
At times, "I think so" is all you can honestly say. Too light, that bottle; a hint of ammonia round your filler; a hazy memory of which cap. Look familiar? It might have been on a friend's drive in Lattiford, or in a rush outside Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary at the school run.
The upshot: your engine is not hurt by a little AdBlue splashed around the filler. If it is inside the diesel tank, though, it does. Any AdBlue in the tank would be drawn in by turning on the vehicle, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
What to do: treat it as if it was put in. Don't start it. Checking a tank that turns out clean is better than draining one after it has been run — so ring then describe to us what you saw.
Every AdBlue drain around Shadwell shares these stages
The job opens identically, whichever the situation. Three things come once our engineers reach your car — on a forecourt, a driveway, a road beside The Plaza Cinema or the car park outside The Bear Inn: the liquid, the amount, and if the motor has run. Those answers decide this work, and you hear the quote by phone, before anyone sets off.
Then the tank is cleared and your system purged thoroughly, which counts 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. Last are the fuel filter, cleaned or renewed if necessary; fresh diesel; and a test of the car. Not started? Then about half an hour on site covers most jobs.
Firing it up comes at the end. Our test that it runs correctly on clean diesel comes before our technicians leave. When it's noticed quickly, the vehicle very seldom has long-term damage, and the whole job happens where it is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling, so look at yours while the van travels.
About Shadwell, briefly
Shadwell is a suburban area in Somerset, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 94 metres, with semi-detached housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Shadwell lies near the cities of Wells and the smaller towns of Wincanton and Verrington, and is home to a population of approximately 3075 residents. Shadwell is located in the South West region of England, about 103.5 miles west of London. Shadwell has a mix of local amenities and rural surroundings, including nearby Bayford.
AdBlue drains across Somerset, Shadwell included
Over BA postcodes, the teams covering Shadwell — a residential suburb — reach surrounding places as well, Verrington and Bayford among them. Your whereabouts comes quickest from a postcode that starts BA9 9.
Whether the vehicle is on a lay-by on the way to Wincanton Racecourse Golf or in a car park in the middle of Shadwell, it does not need to shift. The drain happens on the spot. If you are somewhere hard to describe, near The Balsam Center or close to a boundary, ring and ask instead of assuming.
Your scenario, summed up
Engine never started: ring, and leave it alone. Already run: stop, switch off then ring. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there around Shadwell and anywhere across Somerset on 0333 366 0103.