AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Stonebridge, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if the engine has run since it went in. If it has not, keep it that way, whether the vehicle is around Stonebridge itself or out in Easthill. Leave the engine and your ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103; it is normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is in Stonebridge. Stop the minute it is safe then turn off, if it has been run. It's a bigger job, yet stage one does not change.
Anywhere across Somerset it happened, one of the situations below fits yours.
At the pump around Stonebridge: 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. Be it Shell, Texaco or somewhere else around Stonebridge, the case is the same.
The upshot: of all places to find out, the forecourt is the best. The AdBlue is in that tank and nowhere else. Nothing has drawn it in.
Next: resist the temptation to start it just to move away from the pump. Ring us from the forecourt after the car sits in a space — the attendants will lend a hand to roll it — and keep the receipt. Stuck by the pump? Our explosion-proof kit keeps a live forecourt sensible, so it can be drained in place.
Stonebridge, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
Several days had gone by with the warning light on. Only by the recycling, the empty bottle in your hand, did you look back at the cap you had opened at the drive. It occurs on driveways just off Maytree Close as regularly as anywhere.
The upshot: no miles since leaves this almost equal to spotting it at the pump. Diesel and AdBlue keep apart: the AdBlue drops to the floor of that tank and remains put, no matter how long it waits.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so nobody moves your car in the morning. Then call. Your drive is where it gets drained, be it in Stonebridge or Fromefield. Even at night, our pumps stay quiet enough for a residential street.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel around Stonebridge?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later the motor began to run unevenly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Perhaps it was on Stonebridge Drive, perhaps on the way out towards Bath, under 15 miles away.
In short: the AdBlue has been pulled through your fuel system. It's been through the fuel filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors. More miles, more starts: further it goes.
Your move: stop somewhere sensible, then turn your engine off. Leave by the first junction — not the services further along — if you're on the M4, under 25 miles from Stonebridge. It will not have cleared, so there is no sense starting it again to check. Phone, and say how far your car was driven.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You have just driven the car a week. Unknown to you, the two fillers are side by side here — unlike your own car, which has no AdBlue or stores it in another spot. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in Somerset.
Put simply: an extra stage on top of the cases above, and those turn on if it has run. Many hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on your car.
Do this: rental firm or your fleet manager first, us second, because settling it beforehand cuts time. Leave the car switched off while the reply comes, whether you're parked outside Frome or close to The Merlin.
AdBlue in your diesel tank? Not sure, around Stonebridge
Now and then, "I think so" is the most anyone can truthfully say. A faint ammonia smell hangs around your filler, the bottle feels too light, and the cap you took off is hard to recall. It might have been at a friend's driveway in Innox Hill, or rushing by Hayesdown First School on the school run.
What it means: a little spilled round the filler does no damage to the engine. If it is inside the diesel tank, though, that changes. If there is AdBlue in your tank, turning on the vehicle will draw it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Your move: behave as though it got in, and don't start the engine. Describe what you saw on the phone. A clear tank checked counts as a happier result than a run one drained.
Every AdBlue drain around Stonebridge shares these stages
Whatever the case, one opening applies. Wherever your vehicle is — The Vine Tree's car park, a road by Frome Leisure Centre, a driveway, a forecourt — our van gets there and asks for the liquid, the quantity, plus if your engine has turned over. On the phone, before anything else, you hear the price, and those answers shape the work too.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to some metals in fuel systems, and so it does not wash out unaided; that is why the flush, after the drain, matters far more with AdBlue than with petrol. Next is your filter — cleaned, or replaced when needed — followed by clean diesel, and a test of the car. Where the engine hasn't been started, expect roughly half an hour once we arrive, in most cases.
We fire it up at the end. With clean diesel in, it runs while we check it is running properly, and then we go. Permanent damage is very uncommon if it's spotted soon, and the whole job is done where your car is. 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 arrive: cover for misfuelling is built into plenty of policies.
About Stonebridge, for a moment
Stonebridge is a suburban area in inland Somerset, situated approximately 10 miles from the city of Bath and 95.7 miles from London. Stonebridge has a population of around 4581 people and is characterised by predominantly detached housing. Stonebridge sits at an elevation of 88 metres, near to other local places such as Fromefield, Berkley Down, and Oldford.
AdBlue drains around Stonebridge, and across Somerset too
Over BA postcodes, the teams covering Stonebridge — a residential suburb — work surrounding towns too, Berkley Down and Oldford among them. Fastest of all: a BA11 2 postcode for where you stand.
Whether the car is on a lay-by on the way to Rodden Meadow or in a car park in the middle of Stonebridge, it does not need to move. Our van drains it in place. Tricky to pin down? Close to St Mary or a county line? Asking beats guessing, and so ring.
Your situation, in one line
Not run yet: keep the car off then ring. Whatever line applies, Petrol in Diesel handles from there on 0333 366 0103, across Somerset and within Stonebridge — once you pull over, turn off and phone, if it's run.