What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in St George
Everything turns on one fact: if your engine has started since the AdBlue went in — far more than anything else. Anywhere the car stands — Lower Easton, St George — don't run an engine that hasn't run yet. Normally that is emptying and thoroughly rinsing it right there in St George — and so leave the key and engine off and phone 0333 366 0103. Pull over the minute you safely can then switch off, if it has already run. A larger job, yes, but the identical first move.
Wherever across Bristol it took place, one of the situations below matches yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a St George forecourt
You're at the pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. It could be the Esso, or the Texaco, or a different station around St George.
Put simply: no better spot exists to spot it. Still inside the tank, and no fuel drawn onwards: that's where the AdBlue is.
Next: resist the urge to fire it up only to free up the pump. Phone us from the forecourt once the vehicle is in a bay — the attendants will help push it — then keep the bottle. If it can't be shifted, it can be cleared at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt.
St George, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. Picked up a container, tipped it in at home, recycled the empty — and only then checked the cap a second time, too late. Driveways close to Derby Street get it as much as any other street.
The point: zero miles since makes this nearly as good to spotting it at the petrol pump. On the floor of your tank sits where AdBlue stays, because it won't mix with diesel — and a night going by changes nothing of the difference.
Your move: the keys indoors, so nobody takes the car off first thing. Then, ring. Your drive is where it gets emptied, be it in St George or Redfield. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around St George?
A mile or two after filling up, the motor started misbehaving: rough running, smoke, lost power, lights on your dash. It might have been heading to Bristol, under 3 miles away, or simply along Wicket Lane.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been pulled through the system. It has been through the filter and the lines and, the further you went, into your high-pressure pump and your injectors. Each restart, like every mile, carries it on.
Your move: stop somewhere sensible, then turn the engine off. Services further along can wait: from the M32, under a mile out of St George, take the next junction. Do not restart the car to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Ring us and say how far you drove.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company vehicles
You've had the vehicle hardly a week. On your own car, AdBlue is absent or somewhere else. On this one, the cap is just by your diesel cap — a surprise to you. It can happen to anyone, anywhere across Bristol.
Meaning? Whatever case above applies too — run or not — plus one further stage. Many rental and company agreements require the owner's approval for work.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is quicker settled before our technicians arrive than after. If you're stranded in the car park outside Lawrence Hill, or by Saint Marina Coptic Orthodox Church, whilst you wait for an answer, leave your car off.
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Not sure, around St George
Now and then, "I think so" is the most you can truthfully say. What cap was taken off, you cannot recall; but the bottle weighs less than expected, and a whiff of ammonia lingers by the filler. Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at St Patrick's Catholic Primary School, or on a friend's drive in Moorfields.
The point: your engine isn't hurt by some AdBlue spilled on the filler. The diesel tank with AdBlue in it is another story. Firing up the vehicle cannot tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in your tank it will suck it in.
Assume it got in, and never turn your key. Ring us and explain what you saw; we'd rather check a tank that turns out free of AdBlue than drain one that has already been run.
St George: what each AdBlue drain has in common
The work begins identically, whichever your situation. Three questions are asked when we arrive — at a filling station, a driveway, a street by Siri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara Bristol or the car park outside The Fire Engine: the fluid, the amount, and if it has been started. Those replies settle this work, and you get our price by phone, before anyone sets off.
Then your tank is drained and the fuel system cleaned thoroughly, which matters more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it doesn't rinse out on its own. Next is the fuel filter — flushed, or swapped where needed — then clean diesel, and a test of the car. Where your motor has not been started, allow about half an hour once we arrive, for most cases.
Lastly, our engineers fire it up. With clean diesel in, it runs while we make sure it's running properly, and then we go. When it's caught early, the vehicle very seldom has long-term damage, and the entire job takes place where it is. Nothing is paid upfront, payment happens on the day, and you receive what the insurer wants: an engineer report plus a VAT invoice. It is worth remembering: many insurers include misfuelling cover, and so a check of your documents as you wait is worthwhile.
About St George, for a moment
St George is a suburban area in Bristol, situated near the lakeside and approximately 2.2 miles from the city centre. St George has a mix of terraced housing and is located at an elevation of around 40 metres, with nearby areas including Redfield, Whitehall, and Netham. St George is part of the larger Bristol urban area, which is about 104 miles west of London.
AdBlue drains across Bristol, St George included
St George is a residential suburb, and the same vans that cover it work the places around it too, Whitehall and Netham among them, across the BS postcode area. Quickest of all: a BS5 8 postcode to show where you stand.
No towing is needed, whether stopped in the centre of St George or on a layby heading to Garden of Remembrance, and so leave it where it is. Our van empties it where it stands. Guessing won't help beside St George Community Centre, close to a county line or anywhere awkward to pin down; ring and ask.
Your situation, summed up
Engine never started: phone, and leave it switched off. Run by now: stop, power down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, in St George or anywhere in Bristol.