AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in West Bay: What Now?
Has your engine turned over since the AdBlue got in? That one question settles nearly everything else from here. Wherever your car stands — Skilling, West Bay — don't start an engine that has not been started yet. Call 0333 366 0103 with your ignition and motor both off. Across West Bay, such a case is generally emptied and cleaned on the spot. Where your motor has run, stop somewhere safe straight away, then switch it off. Stage one remains the same, even if the job is bigger.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever around Dorset it happened.
On a West Bay forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you just spot it while you're standing at the petrol pump, bottle or nozzle in hand. Perhaps you are at the Morrisons, maybe at the Esso, possibly somewhere else around West Bay.
What it means: this is the best place to find out. The AdBlue is in that tank and nowhere else. Nothing has sucked it in.
Freeing the pump is no excuse to start it — so don't get back in. Ask the staff to help you roll the car into a parking space, keep the till receipt or the bottle, and call us from the forecourt. Emptying it there at the pump is possible when it cannot be moved, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
West Bay, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
On your dash, a warning had shown all week. Only by the recycling, the empty bottle in your hand, did you glance back at the cap you had opened at the drive. It occurs on drives just off George Street as often as anywhere.
Put simply: if your car hasn't been driven since, it's nearly as good as finding out at the forecourt. At the floor of the tank sits exactly where AdBlue waits, because it will not mix with diesel — and a night passing makes no difference.
Keep your keys in the house tonight — otherwise a person may take it off at breakfast — and phone us. Out in Wych or here around West Bay, the draining happens on your drive. Late-night clears beside a house are no problem: the pumps are quiet.
West Bay: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Lumpy running, smoke, lost power or a glowing dashboard started a short way after the top-up. West Bay Road, say, or the route towards Exeter — a run of under 50 miles.
What it means: your fuel system has drawn the AdBlue in. Distance decides how far it gets: filter and pipework to begin with, then the high-pressure pump and every injector. It travels further with each extra mile driven and every restart.
Do this: pull up somewhere safe, then turn your motor off. West Bay lies under 25 miles from the M5; there, pull off at the next junction rather than pushing on to the services. Don't restart the car to see if it has cleared; it will not have. About how far had it gone? Tell us when you phone.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
It's a motor you have had for a week. Unbeknown to you, the AdBlue and diesel fillers are side by side here — not like your own vehicle, which has no AdBlue or stores it in another spot. Anyone, wherever in Dorset, might make it.
Put simply: an extra stage on top of the cases above, which turn on whether it has run. The owner often needs to approve the work, under many hire and company contracts.
Your move: rental firm or fleet manager first, us second, because settling it early cuts time. Stuck near St John's Church or outside Maiden Newton until someone replies, your car stays switched off throughout.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank around West Bay?
Now and then, "I think so" is the most anyone can honestly say. Lighter, the bottle; a trace of ammonia round your filler; a hazy memory of the cap. Sound familiar? The gates of Bridport, St Mary's Church of England Primary School in a hurry, say, or someone's drive over in Lower Eype.
What it means: a little spilled about your filler does no damage to your engine. Inside the diesel tank, however, AdBlue harms it. If there is AdBlue in the tank, firing up the vehicle would suck it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
What to do: treat it as if it got in. Do not crank it. Ring with what you saw: we'd rather confirm a tank free of AdBlue than empty one after the motor has run.
Every AdBlue drain around West Bay shares these stages
The work opens the same way, whatever the case. Three things are asked once our technicians reach your car — on a filling station, a drive, a road beside The Customs House or the car park at Quarterdeck Tavern: the fluid, the amount, and whether the motor has run. The price is given on the call, before a van leaves, and the answers set the work.
A thorough flush follows the drain. With petrol it's standard; with AdBlue it is essential, since crystals build up and some metals corrode, and neither rinses out unaided. The fuel filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Never started? In that case roughly half an hour on site covers most jobs.
Finally, our technicians start the car. We make sure it runs properly on clean diesel before we go. When it is spotted early, the vehicle very seldom has lasting damage, and the entire job happens where it is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About West Bay, for a moment
West Bay is a small coastal suburban area in Dorset, situated near the mouth of the River Brit, with Wych and Bothenhampton to the north and Watton to the east. West Bay sits at a low elevation of around 2 metres, looking out over the English Channel. West Bay has a population of approximately 695 residents, living in predominantly detached housing.
AdBlue drains across Dorset, West Bay included
Over DT postcodes, the teams serving West Bay — a residential suburb — reach surrounding places too, Bothenhampton and Watton included. A postcode starting DT6 4 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Parked en route to The Station Gardens, or right in the centre of West Bay, your vehicle remains put — there's no need to move it anywhere. The van empties it in place. Tricky to pin down? Close to The Salt House or a county line? Asking is better than guessing, and so phone.
The one-line version
Engine not started: ring, leaving it alone. Whatever case fits, Petrol in Diesel takes over from there on 0333 366 0103, across Dorset and in West Bay — after you pull over, turn off and ring, if it's run.