AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in The Oval? Keep It Switched Off
Engine off, ignition off: that's where you begin if AdBlue has got into your diesel tank. Water with urea dissolved in it: that's AdBlue. Unlike fuel, it neither burns nor mixes, and no harm starts till the engine sucks it through. If the engine has not run yet, AdBlue in a diesel tank is usually emptied and thoroughly flushed where the car sits in The Oval. No step comes before ringing 0333 366 0103.
Your next steps right now, The Oval: AdBlue in the diesel tank
To do:
- Keys out — then no one can switch anything on.
- If you're anywhere near moving traffic, put the hazards on.
- So you can tell us which fluid it was and roughly what quantity, keep your receipt or the empty bottle.
- Call just where you are. Quote a BA2 2 postcode or the nearest street name, and no one has to hunt for you.
Things not to do:
- Not even for a second, and not to shift the car: your engine stays off.
- Turning the key to ignition alone starts your pump running on plenty of diesels. Avoid it.
- Adding more diesel does not help: AdBlue separates out rather than blending.
- Don't drive it anywhere, not even a short stretch up The Oval.
- Beside the road, don't attempt emptying it on your own.
Moving the vehicle away from the pumps is a job for staff to help with, whichever The Oval forecourt you're on, the Sainsbury's included. If you are on your own drive, leave the vehicle exactly where it is.
AdBlue in a diesel tank, and what it does there
The engine isn't what AdBlue is made for; the exhaust is. It goes into its own tank and is sprayed into your exhaust gas to clean it. Not one side suits the other: urea does not belong in a pump, and a pump can't take urea.
Inside a diesel tank it acts very differently from fuel. It does not mix in. It is heavier than diesel, and so it sinks and gathers at the bottom of the tank, which is where the pickup pulls fuel from. Easiest of all: one that had AdBlue in Moorlands last night and hasn't been started since. The liquid sits at the foot of your tank, undrawn — though it would be first through once your motor runs, before any diesel at all.
From there it does two kinds of damage. What remains when the water evaporates is urea, which forms crystals: they lodge in tiny channels and block filters. On top of that, it eats at some metals in a fuel system, and carries on until it is flushed out. If the AdBlue has reached the pipework, leaving it overnight around The Oval leaves it worse. Inside the tank only, waiting does nothing. And there is the water: it brings no lubrication to the parts that need it most — the high-pressure pump and every injector.
Petrol or AdBlue in a diesel: why AdBlue is commonly worse
Put petrol in a diesel at the Esso and you have a problem of thin fuel. Blended into the diesel and left still, it's no threat for now; using your engine is the damage.
With AdBlue in a diesel, the fluid as such is plainly the wrong one. It doesn't burn, and so it can't just be run through. Crystals and corrosion remain through the following fill, and AdBlue splits back out of the diesel, so watering it won't help. That is why the flush counts so much, and turning your key "to see" does more harm with AdBlue than almost any other slip — in Oldfield Park or the heart of The Oval alike.
The same good news applies as with petrol. Wherever across Somerset your vehicle has stopped, an unstarted engine means the AdBlue still in the tank: the simplest part of any fuel system to empty.
How AdBlue ends up in a diesel tank in The Oval
Nobody means to do it. The AdBlue filler on many cars rests right next to your diesel filler, occasionally under the same flap, and the two caps can look alike in poor light. A bottle picked up when driving home and tipped in at home, rather than at the forecourt, is the usual route.
Usually, it happens in one of a couple of familiar ways. The refill gets rushed outside Oldfield Park Junior School, because the dash flashed with a warning while the children were dropped off. In the evening, a bottle is tipped in on a driveway near Ash Grove. Otherwise, after dark by Trowbridge House, your car gets refilled by a driver opening that flap for the first time.
It crops up most in a rental, a new car, a company motor, or the other car of a home with both fuel types — the vehicles drivers know the least. An identical slip, same first response — leave it switched off — anywhere you are in The Oval or the rest of Somerset.
AdBlue in the diesel tank around The Oval, and the motor started?
The AdBlue has left your tank, then. It's been drawn through your filter and the fuel lines, and if your motor ran for any time, it has reached your high-pressure pump and the injectors.
Expect rough running, smoke, falling power, warnings on your dash, or a cut-out — coming back from Hillcrest Park, perhaps, or part way across The Oval. When you safely can, stop and turn it off — without turning it on again to see. More of that is pulled through with each start.
If you were on the M4, under 10 miles from The Oval, come off at the next exit and stop somewhere sensible instead of pressing on.
Every mile pushes the AdBlue deeper in. That is why crossing The Oval to park beside Church of the Ascension and a drive of under 3 miles for Bath are such distinct jobs. Tell us about how far it had come.
Our engineers do all of the cleaning where the vehicle has ended up, and once the engine has been run there is more of it. Permanent damage is very rare when it is noticed early.
Clearing AdBlue in a diesel in The Oval: what it takes
Our technicians come to your car, wherever it has stopped in The Oval: a side street close to Hillside Hall, a drive, a lay-by or a forecourt. The work depends on three answers, and our engineers ask for first — which fluid was put in, the quantity, and if your motor has run.
Next, draining the tank on the spot removes the polluted diesel along with the AdBlue in one go. The system is rinsed thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol, since what it leaves behind doesn't rinse out on its own. Your filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and your car is tested. About half an hour once we arrive is typical for most jobs when the engine has not run. Our equipment is explosion-proof, so a live filling station is no problem, and it's quiet enough for a residential street late at night.
Fresh diesel goes in to bleed the fuel system, and that's the last step. You set off as soon as our technicians have started it, and it makes no difference whether the vehicle is on a driveway around The Oval or in a bay at Oldfield Park. Our engineers check it runs properly on clean diesel before we go. The entire job is done where the car is, so it never has to be taken to a garage. At the end, there is the paperwork for the insurer: a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer.
About The Oval itself
The Oval is a suburban area located near the city of Bath in Somerset, sitting at an elevation of around 80 metres above sea level. The Oval is characterized by its predominantly terraced housing and is situated close to nearby places such as Kingsway and South Twerton. The Oval is a relatively small area, with a population of approximately 8486 residents, and is within walking distance of Bath city centre. The Oval benefits from its proximity to local amenities and transport links, being just 1.4 miles from Bath and 97.7 miles from London.
AdBlue drains across Somerset, The Oval included
Our vans that answer AdBlue call-outs in The Oval also cover the spots around it, Kingsway, South Twerton and Southdown among them, and most of Somerset beyond, across the BA postcode area. Ring and ask instead of guessing if you're close to a county line, or anywhere tricky to pin down.
Wherever your car sits — your drive at home, a residential street, a car park, a forecourt — we drain it on the spot, and there's no need to bring it to us; which suits The Oval, a residential suburb, well.
What does AdBlue in a diesel tank cost to sort out around The Oval?
Not one flat figure could be honest, since each job is different. Three things move the price: whether your engine has been running and for how long, how much AdBlue went in, and where the vehicle is. That last one turns on whether our van can get to it safely, and an open driveway is easier than a tight spot behind Sladebrook Evangelical Church.
That's why each call from The Oval starts with the same three queries, asked before giving a figure, not after: what was put in, how much, and if it has run. Given them, a range shrinks to a single firm number.
You get that quote on the phone, before anybody heads out, and you pay on the day, by card or by phone, with nothing upfront. Check your insurance while we are on the way: plenty carry misfuelling cover.
Beside the car in The Oval, still?
Then, do nothing — that's the most helpful step there is. Motor off, keys out, ignition off. Call 0333 366 0103: AdBlue, the amount, and whether it ran are everything our engineers need. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder across Somerset, The Oval included.