AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Westwells, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: whether your engine has been run since it was put in. Out in Wadswick or right around Westwells, an unrun engine must remain that way. Keep nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, and expect a thorough flush after a drain, carried out just where your vehicle sits around Westwells. Stop the moment it is safe and switch off, if it has already run. The job is bigger, but the first stage is the same.
Compare what happened to one of the ones below, wherever in Wiltshire you happen to be.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Westwells forecourt
Picture it: standing by the pump, holding the nozzle, you realise the cap you opened wasn't the correct one. Perhaps you are at the Texaco, perhaps at the Shell, possibly somewhere else in Westwells.
The point: of all places to notice, the forecourt is the best. Only the tank has AdBlue; no component past it has taken it in.
Your move: keep out of the car, even if the queue wants clearing. Have the attendants to lend a hand pushing it into a bay, hold on to the bottle, then ring us from there. Stuck by the pump? Explosion-proof kit makes a busy forecourt safe, and so it can be drained where it is.
Westwells, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. Picked up a container, tipped it in outside the house, recycled the empty — and at that point looked at the cap a second time, too late. Houses just off Moor Green get hit as often as everywhere else.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. As it is reluctant to blend, AdBlue drops to the base inside your tank and stays. A night parked changes none of that.
Your move: keys indoors, so no one drives your vehicle anywhere first thing. Then, phone. Greenhill or Westwells: whichever your drive is, that is where it is drained. Even at night, our pumps stay quiet enough for a residential street.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around Westwells?
A mile or two after filling up, the engine started misbehaving: rough running, smoke, lost power, warnings on your dash. Anywhere on Westwells or else heading to Bath — under 10 miles away.
Meaning? The fuel pump has sucked the AdBlue up. Distance decides how deep it gets: filter and pipework to begin with, then the injection pump and every injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Next: pick a safe place, pull in, then switch your engine off. Leave by the next junction — not the services beyond — if you are on the M4, under 10 miles from Westwells. Don't restart the car to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Roughly how far did it go? Tell us as you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You have just driven the vehicle for days. Unknown to you, the two fillers sit side by side here — not like your own vehicle, which has none or stores it elsewhere. Throughout Wiltshire, no one is immune.
The upshot: just as above, divided by whether it ran, only with an added step. Many rental and company agreements require the owner's approval for work.
Sorting it before the van turn up is quicker, and so phone the rental company or your fleet manager, then us. Stranded near MOD Corsham Gymnasium or outside Melksham until the firm replies, your car stays switched off the whole time.
Westwells: unsure if it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
"I think so" is often the most honest as it gets. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia around the filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. A rushed top-up by the gates of Neston Primary School, or a visit to a friend in Rudloe: both fits.
What it means: a little spilled round the filler does no harm to the motor. Once it is inside the diesel tank, though, that changes. If there is AdBlue in your tank, turning on the car will draw it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Do this: behave as if it got in, and don't start the motor. Describe what you saw on the phone. A clear tank checked counts as a happier outcome than an already-run one drained.
Westwells: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Every situation gets the same start to the work. Our engineers come to the car, whether it is at a forecourt, a driveway, the car park at Neston Country Inn or a side street close to Neston Community Centre, and ask three things: what went in, roughly how much, and if the motor has been run. Replies set the work; the quote comes by phone whilst nobody has left yet.
Then that tank is emptied 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, so it does not rinse out on its own. Next is your filter — cleaned, or replaced when needed — then clean diesel, and a test of your car. Where the engine hasn't been started, expect roughly half an hour once we arrive, for most cases.
Starting it comes last. Before our technicians go, it is checked to make sure it runs properly on new diesel. If it is noticed quickly, the vehicle very rarely has permanent damage, and the entire job takes place where it is. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, nothing upfront. Plenty of insurance policies cover misfuelling, so check yours as we head over.
About Westwells
Westwells is a suburban area in Wiltshire, situated inland at an elevation of 106 metres, approximately 6.8 miles from the city of Bath. Westwells is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock, with nearby places including Greenhill, Neston, and Hudswell. Westwells is located in the South West region of England, about 89.9 miles from London.
AdBlue drains across Wiltshire, Westwells included
Westwells is a residential suburb, and the same vans that cover it work the places around it too, Neston and Hudswell among them, across the SN postcode area. Your whereabouts is clearest from a postcode that starts SN13 9.
No towing is needed, whether parked in the centre of Westwells or on a layby en route to Round Wood, so leave it put. The van empties it where it stands. Tricky to explain? By St Philip & St James or a county line? Asking is better than guessing, and so ring.
The one-line version
Not run yet: keep the car off and call. Run already: pull over, power down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, in Westwells or anywhere in Wiltshire.