What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Springbank
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: if your motor has been run since it was put in. Not run yet? Then keep it like that, wherever the car sits — Springbank or Arle. Usually this means draining and thoroughly cleaning it right there in Springbank — so keep your ignition and engine off and phone 0333 366 0103. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. The job is bigger, but the first stage is the same.
Anywhere across Gloucestershire it happened, one of the cases below fits yours.
Springbank 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 pump, bottle or nozzle in hand. Somewhere around Springbank, then — EG On the Move, Shell, or anywhere else close by.
In short: no better spot exists to discover it. The AdBlue is inside your tank and nowhere else. Nothing has drawn it in.
Do this: stay out of the driver's seat, however much the queue wants clearing. Phone us from the forecourt once the vehicle is in a bay — the attendants will help roll it — and keep the receipt. The equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a live forecourt, so a car that can't be pushed clear is cleared right at the petrol pump.
Springbank, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
For days the dash had been warning you. A bottle bought at the shop, tipped in at the driveway — and it was only at the recycling that the cap caught your eye. Houses just off Springbank Road are caught out as often as everywhere else.
In short: if your vehicle hasn't been driven since, it is nearly equal to spotting it at the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue keep separate: the AdBlue drops to the floor of the tank and remains there, no matter how long it waits.
Your move: keys in the house, and so nobody drives the vehicle off at breakfast. Then, ring. In Hesters Way or right here around Springbank, the draining happens on your drive. Late-night clears beside a house are no problem: the pumps are low-noise.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving in Springbank?
A short way beyond filling up, your motor started playing up: roughness, smoke, less power, warnings on your dash. It might have been heading for Gloucester, under 10 miles away, or just along Triscombe Way.
In short: the AdBlue has been pulled through your fuel system. It's been through the fuel filter and the lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and the fuel injectors. Every restart, like every mile, pushes it on.
Next: find a safe place, stop, then turn your motor off. Exit at the first junction — not the services beyond — if you're on the M5, under 3 miles from Springbank. It won't have cleared, so there is no point restarting to find out. Call, and say how far your vehicle was driven.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You've had this vehicle hardly a week. On your own car, AdBlue is missing or elsewhere. On this one, the inlet is just next to the diesel cap — a surprise to you. Across Gloucestershire, no one is safe from it.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it's run, with one more step. Many rental and company agreements need the owner's approval for work.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's quicker settled before we turn up than after. Stranded near Hesters Way Baptist Church or outside Cheltenham Spa until someone replies, the vehicle stays turned off throughout.
Springbank: unsure if it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Now and then, "I think so" is all anyone can truthfully say. What cap came off, you can't recall; but the bottle feels lighter than it ought to, and a whiff of ammonia lingers by your filler. The gates of Springbank Primary Academy in a hurry, say, or someone's driveway over in Benhall.
What it means: a little spilled round your filler does no harm to the motor. A diesel tank with AdBlue inside is another story. Turning on the car cannot tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in the tank it would suck it in.
Assume it went in, and don't turn your key. Phone and give what you saw: we would sooner find a clean tank than empty one after the engine has been run.
The common ground in each Springbank AdBlue drain
The work begins the same way, whichever the situation. Three questions come when our technicians reach the car — at a filling station, a driveway, a street by Lost In Translation or the car park outside The Umbrella: the liquid, the amount, and whether it has been started. Over the phone, before anything else, you hear our price, and those answers shape the job too.
AdBlue crystallises and eats at some metals used in fuel systems, and so it won't rinse out on its own; that is why a full flush, after this drain, counts much more here than with petrol. Last are the fuel filter, cleaned or replaced as needed; clean diesel; and a check of your vehicle. Never started? Then roughly half an hour on site covers most jobs.
Starting the car comes at the end. Our check that it runs properly on fresh diesel comes before our engineers leave. Our technicians do the whole job where the vehicle is, and lasting damage is very uncommon when it has been caught quickly. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Dig out your insurance while we're en route: misfuelling cover is built into many policies.
About Springbank itself
Springbank is a suburban area located on the riverside in Gloucestershire, with an elevation of 48 metres. Springbank sits near the city of Gloucester, approximately 6.1 miles away, and is close to other nearby places such as Hesters Way and Fiddlers Green. Springbank has a population of around 5260 people and is characterised by predominantly semi-detached housing. Springbank is situated in the South West region of England, about 89.8 miles from London.
AdBlue drains across Gloucestershire, Springbank included
Throughout GL postcodes, the teams covering Springbank — a residential suburb — work surrounding towns too, Fiddlers Green and Hayden among them. A postcode starting GL51 0 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No moving is needed, be it stopped in the centre of Springbank or on a layby heading to Henley Road Open Space, and so leave it put. The van empties it in place. Phone and check rather than guess when you're by YMCA, on a border, or somewhere tricky to explain.
Your situation, in one line
Unstarted? Leave the car that way then phone. Run by now? Stop, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest whatever it is, in Springbank and Gloucestershire, on 0333 366 0103.