The Point: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Find Your Situation
Has your engine turned over since the AdBlue went in? This single point settles nearly everything else from here. If it has not, keep it that way, whether the vehicle is around The Point itself or out in Withycombe Raleigh. Usually this is draining and properly flushing it right there around The Point — and so keep the key and motor off then ring 0333 366 0103. Pull over the minute you safely can and switch off, if it has been run. Step one stays the same, even though the job grows.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever in Devon it happened.
AdBlue in a diesel on a The Point forecourt
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you only notice it while you are standing at the pump, bottle or the nozzle in your hand. Maybe you're at the Shell, perhaps at the Esso, maybe somewhere else around The Point.
Put simply: no better place to be to spot it. No pump has pulled it through, so the AdBlue sits only inside your tank.
Freeing the petrol pump is no reason to start it — so do not get back in. Have the attendants to lend a hand pushing it into a bay, hold on to the bottle, then ring us right there. Can't move the vehicle by the pump? Explosion-proof kit makes a live forecourt sensible, so we can drain the vehicle in place.
The Point, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
For days the dash had been nagging you. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look again at the cap. Drives close to Langerwehe Way see it as much as anywhere.
Put simply: if your vehicle hasn't been driven since, it is nearly equal to finding out at the pump. Being reluctant to mix, AdBlue settles to the base in that tank and waits. A night parked changes nothing.
Keep your keys indoors tonight — otherwise someone might take it away first thing — then phone us. Our technicians drain the vehicle on your drive, whether that's around The Point or out in Exmouth. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel in The Point?
Lumpy running, smoke, falling power or a lit dashboard arrived a short way after the top-up. Anywhere along Shelly Reach or else heading towards Exeter — under 10 miles away.
Meaning? The pump has taken the AdBlue up. Through the filter, through the pipework, and — the further the mileage — deeper into the injection pump and each injector. More miles, more starts: deeper it travels.
Your move: stop somewhere sensible, then switch your motor off. Service stations further on can wait: from the M5, under 10 miles out of The Point, take the next junction. Do not restart the vehicle to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Call us and say how far you went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
It's a vehicle you have had for a week. The AdBlue filler sits right next to the diesel one, which you did not know, because your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Wherever you are in Devon, every driver can be caught.
The upshot: just as above, split by whether it ran, but with an added step. Work on your vehicle frequently needs the owner's go-ahead under hire or fleet terms.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is quicker settled before we turn up than after. Keep it switched off as the answer comes, whether you are waiting at Exmouth or near Dolphin Hotel.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, The Point?
At times, "I think so" is the most anyone can truthfully say. Lighter, the bottle; a trace of ammonia near the filler; no clear recollection of which cap. Sound familiar? The gates of The Beacon Church of England (VA) Primary School in a rush, perhaps, or a friend's drive out in Middlewood.
The upshot: the motor isn't harmed by a little AdBlue spilled on the filler. A diesel tank with AdBlue in it is another matter. If there is AdBlue in that tank, firing up the car would draw it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
What to do: treat it as if it was put in. Don't fire it up. Checking a tank that turns out clean is better than emptying one after it has been run — so ring and describe to us what you noticed.
The Point: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Whichever scenario you are in, the job starts the same way. Three questions come when our technicians reach your car — at a forecourt, a drive, a road beside Exmouth Rugby Club or the car park outside The Grove: the fluid, the quantity, and whether the motor has run. On the phone, ahead of anything else, you hear the price, and those replies decide the work too.
AdBlue crystallises and eats at certain metals used in fuel systems, so it won't wash out unaided; that is why a full flush, after this drain, matters far more here than with petrol. Clean diesel goes in after your filter has been flushed or replaced, and your car is then tested. Most unrun vehicles are a half-hour job after the moment we get there.
The final step is starting it. Before we leave, it is checked to make sure it runs correctly on clean diesel. The entire job is done where the vehicle is, and when it's noticed quickly, long-term damage is very uncommon. Paying comes on the day, never in advance. For your insurer, there is a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About The Point and where it is
The Point is a coastal suburban area in Devon, situated near the mouth of the Exe Estuary, with Exmouth and Cockwood to the south. The Point has a low elevation of around 4 metres, reflecting its coastal setting. The Point is characterized by its terraced housing and is located close to the city of Exeter, approximately 8.7 miles away.
AdBlue drains about The Point and across Devon
Being a residential suburb, The Point shares its vans with the surrounding places — Starcross, Cockwood — all the way across EX postcodes. A postcode starting EX8 1 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Whether the vehicle is on a lay-by on the way to Imperial Recreation Ground or in a car park in the middle of The Point, it does not need to move. Our engineers drain the car where it stands. Phone and check rather than guess when you're close to Exmouth Sea Wall, on a border, or somewhere awkward to explain.
Your situation, in one line
Motor not started: ring, and leave it switched off. Run by now: pull over, power down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest, within The Point or wherever in Devon.