Southway: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Find Your Situation
One fact matters most when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is whether your motor has run since. Anywhere the vehicle is — Woolwell, Southway — never start an engine that has not been started yet. Usually this is emptying and properly rinsing it on the spot around Southway — so leave the ignition and engine off then ring 0333 366 0103. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. A bigger job, then, but the identical opening step.
Anywhere around Devon it took place, one of the cases below fits yours.
Southway forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you only notice it as you're standing at the petrol pump, bottle or the nozzle in your hand. Whether Tesco, Texaco or anywhere else in Southway, the case is identical.
What it means: this is the best place to find out. Still inside your tank, and no fuel drawn through: that's where the AdBlue is.
Clearing the petrol pump is no excuse to start it — so don't get back in. Ask the staff to help you roll the car into a parking bay, keep your receipt or the bottle, then ring us from the forecourt. Draining it there at the petrol pump is fine when it can't be moved, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Southway drive?
Days had gone by with the warning light on. Only at the recycling bin, the empty bottle in hand, did you glance back at the cap you had opened at the drive. Driveways near Southway Drive see it as much as anywhere.
Meaning? Provided your car has not moved since, it is close to the forecourt case. As it is unable to blend, AdBlue drops to the base in your tank and stays. One night parked alters nothing.
Your move: keys indoors, so no one takes your vehicle anywhere at breakfast. After that, phone. Our technicians drain the car on your drive, whether that is around Southway or out in Derriford. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in Southway?
Filled up, drove away, and soon your motor was running unevenly, blowing smoke, losing power, or flashing up the dash. Rockfield Avenue, perhaps, or the route to Plymouth — a run of under 5 miles.
What it means: your fuel system has sucked the AdBlue in. Distance sets how far it goes: filter and lines first, then the high-pressure pump and every injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
What to do: pull over where it's safe then switch off. Leave at the first junction — not the services further along — if you're on the M5, under 50 miles from Southway. It will not have cleared, so there's no point restarting to check. About what distance had it go? Tell us as you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company motors
A week ago, the car was new to you. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is absent or elsewhere. On this one, the inlet is just next to your diesel inlet — a surprise to you. Wherever you happen to be in Devon, every driver can be caught.
The upshot: just as above, split by if it ran, but with an added step. Many hire and fleet contracts require the owner's approval before repairs.
Your move: hire firm or your fleet manager first, us second, because settling it early cuts time. If you're stranded in the car park at Bere Ferrers, or by Church of the Holy Spirit, whilst you wait for an answer, leave the car off.
Southway: unsure if it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
At times, "I think so" is the most you can honestly say. A slight ammonia-like whiff lingers near your filler, the bottle seems too light, and the cap you took off is a blur. Maybe at a friend's drive in Widewell, or in a rush by Beechwood Primary Academy on the school run.
What it means: a little spilled round your filler does no damage to your engine. Once it's inside your diesel tank, though, it does. If there is AdBlue in the tank, turning on the vehicle would draw it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Do this: act as if it got in, and don't start the engine. Phone with what you saw: we would rather confirm a clean tank than drain one once your motor has been run.
Southway: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Each case has the same opening to the job. Filling station, driveway, The Falstaff Inn's car park or a road by St Thomas More — our van reaches the car, and three questions come next: which liquid, what amount, and whether it has run. The price is given on the call, before a van leaves, and the replies shape the work.
Draining the tank comes next, followed by a careful flush — more vital after urea than after petrol, because crystals and corrosion will not clear on their own, no matter how long it sits. Finally are the fuel filter, flushed or renewed as needed; fresh diesel; and a check of the vehicle. Not started? Then roughly half an hour once we are there covers most jobs.
The final step is starting it. Our check that it runs properly on fresh diesel comes before we go. The whole job is done where the vehicle is, and if it is noticed soon, long-term damage is very rare. Paying comes that day, never in advance. For the insurer, you get a VAT invoice and a written report from the engineer. Worth remembering: many insurers include misfuelling cover, so a check of your policy while we travel pays.
About Southway and where it is
Southway is a suburban area located on the outskirts of Plymouth in Devon, sitting at an elevation of 108 metres. Southway is characterized by its predominantly terraced housing and is situated near the nearby places of Derriford, Glenholt, and Belliver. Southway is close to the coast and is approximately 4.1 miles from Plymouth, making it a residential community with access to the city's amenities. Southway has a population of around 5355 residents.
AdBlue drains round Southway and across Devon
As a residential suburb, Southway shares its vans with the nearby places — Belliver, Glenholt — right through PL postcodes. Your whereabouts comes quickest from a postcode that starts PL6 6.
Centre of Southway or a lay-by near Southway Valley Nature Reserve: wherever it sits, the car never needs to shift an inch for the drain. Our technicians drain the vehicle where it stands. Awkward to explain? Close to Derriford Church or a county line? Checking beats assuming, so ring.
Your scenario, in one line
Where it hasn't started, ring then keep it off. Run by now? Pull over, turn off, ring. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder whichever case, in Southway and Devon, on 0333 366 0103.