AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Wigmore? Don't Start It
Motor off, ignition off: that is where you start if AdBlue has got into the diesel tank. Water with urea mixed in it: that's AdBlue. As it is water-based, it will not burn and won't blend with diesel; damage just starts when your pump starts pulling it. In Wigmore, AdBlue in a diesel tank found before the engine runs usually means a drain and a thorough flush, right where the vehicle is. Call 0333 366 0103 before you do anything else.
Those opening minutes: AdBlue in the diesel tank around Wigmore
Things to do:
- Keys out — then nobody can switch anything on.
- Put your hazards on if you're at all near moving traffic.
- Which fluid, and about what amount? Hang on to the bottle or your receipt, and we can know.
- Tell us a postcode starting HR6 9, or whichever street is closest, and the van finds you directly — so call from wherever you stand.
Do not do these:
- Moving the car just a few yards is no reason to fire up the engine.
- The ignition stays off: on lots of diesels, switching it on is enough to run the fuel pump.
- Do not top up with diesel to thin it. AdBlue does not dilute in diesel; it separates out.
- Even a short distance up Bury Court Park is too far to drive the car.
- Don't try to drain the car yourself by the kerbside.
Ask the people behind the counter to help you roll the car off the island if you're on a forecourt around Wigmore, whether it is the Essar or somewhere else. Parked on your own driveway? Then it remains just as it is.
What does AdBlue do in a diesel tank?
Made for your exhaust, AdBlue has no place in your motor. Stored in a dedicated tank, it's squirted into the exhaust stream to clean the gases. Nothing inside a fuel pump is made for this fluid — and no part of that was intended to travel that way.
Inside a diesel tank it behaves really differently from fuel. It does not mix in. It drops, since it's denser than diesel, and settles down where the pickup draws its supply from. Simplest of all: one that got AdBlue in Ballsgate Common last night and hasn't been started since. The AdBlue waits at the foot of the tank, undrawn — though it would be the first thing through once the engine runs, ahead of any diesel at all.
It does two kinds of harm from there. Crystals and corrosion. As the water evaporates, it strands urea that crystallises in filter elements and narrow passages; and, because it attacks certain metals, every part it reaches suffers for as long as it remains in there. Lines carrying AdBlue spell damage overnight for a vehicle sitting around Wigmore. Only in that tank, it stays the same. The water in it causes harm of its own: your high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors rely on diesel to lubricate them, and water gives them nothing.
Why AdBlue in a diesel is commonly more serious than petrol
A problem of thin fuel is what you end up with from filling a diesel with petrol from the another forecourt nearby. It mixes with your diesel, and whilst it's in your tank it causes no harm; the harm comes from running your motor on it.
With AdBlue in a diesel, the liquid as such is plainly the wrong one. It doesn't burn, so it cannot simply be run through. Whether the vehicle sits in Ongar Street or the centre of Wigmore, firing it up "to see" costs more in this case than nearly any other slip, and the flush counts more. The reasons: it will not stay blended, and so watering it down is impossible; and crystals and corrosion survive the following fill.
The good news is the same as with petrol. Clearing a tank is the simplest job on any fuel system, and without running, the AdBlue remains in it — anywhere in Herefordshire the vehicle sits.
Wigmore: how AdBlue ends up in a diesel tank
No one means to do it. The AdBlue filler on plenty of motors waits right next to your diesel filler, at times under the same flap, and the two caps can look alike in poor light. A bottle bought when heading home and poured in at home, rather than at the filling station, is the typical story.
A couple of familiar ways cover most cases. A warning light comes on during the school run, and the top-up occurs in a hurry outside Wigmore Primary School. A bottle is poured in at the end of the day on a drive just off Ford Street. Otherwise, after dark outside The Castle, your car gets refilled by someone opening that flap for the first time.
The least familiar vehicles see it most — hire cars, brand-new ones, company ones, and the spare car of a family with one of each fuels. Same mistake, same first response — keep it switched off — wherever you happen to be around Wigmore or the rest of Herefordshire.
Wigmore: started your engine with AdBlue in the diesel tank?
The AdBlue has left that tank, then. With any running, it travels to the injection pump and each injector, having passed through the fuel filter and pipework.
Watch for lumpy running, exhaust smoke, lost power, lights on your dash, or a stall — returning from Paysure Wood, say, or midway across Wigmore. Stop as soon as it is safe, switch off, and do not restart the vehicle to check. Each start pulls more of it through.
On the M54, under 50 miles from Wigmore, the next junction is where to exit, and somewhere safe is where to park — not carrying on.
Hopping across Wigmore to the car park by Wigmore Village Hall is one thing; heading for Hereford, under 25 miles away, is something else, since each mile carries the AdBlue further in. So distance counts. Let us know roughly how far it had come.
Wherever the car came to a halt is where all of it gets done, even with more to rinse out once the engine has been started. Lasting damage is very rare if it is noticed early.
What does an AdBlue drain on a diesel involve in Wigmore?
Our engineers come to the car, wherever it has stopped around Wigmore: a side street close to St James, a drive, a lay-by or a forecourt. Before anything else our technicians ask what went in, about how much, and whether your motor has been run, since those replies settle the work.
Next, draining that tank right there removes the polluted diesel along with the AdBlue in one go. With AdBlue, more so than with petrol, flushing matters: the whole system is cleaned right through because what remains won't wash away by itself. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Engine not run? In that case expect about half an hour on site for most jobs. Quiet enough for use outside a house at night, and safe on a working forecourt, the pumps are explosion-proof.
Lastly, the fuel system is bled with clean diesel. Whether it is a parking bay by Bucknell or a drive around Wigmore, that is where we fire it up and you drive off. The test before we leave is that it runs smoothly on clean diesel. We do it all wherever your car has ended up, and it never needs to be taken to a garage. The insurer will want an engineer's report and your VAT invoice — both yours once this job is done.
About Wigmore, for a moment
Wigmore is a village in north Herefordshire, situated on the banks of the River Lugg at an elevation of around 129 metres. Wigmore lies approximately 18 miles northwest of Hereford and some 129 miles west of London, within a rural area that includes nearby settlements like Leinthall Starkes and Yatton. Wigmore has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are particularly prevalent in the village. Wigmore remains a small, close-knit community with a population of around 527 residents.
AdBlue drains across Herefordshire, Wigmore included
Leinthall Starkes, Yatton and Lower Lye are among the places around Wigmore that the same teams reach, together with much of Herefordshire beyond, over the HR postcode area. Assuming won't help by a county line or somewhere tricky to describe; ring and ask.
A mobile service fits Wigmore, a village: you have no need to bring your vehicle to us, because our technicians empty it there, on a driveway, a side street, a parking area or a filling station.
What does AdBlue in a diesel tank cost to sort out in Wigmore?
Since each callouts vary, a single figure would not be fair. The price shifts first with how long, if at all, your engine has been running, and next with the quantity of AdBlue that got in. After that it depends on where the vehicle is and whether our van can reach it safely, which is easier on an open driveway than in a tight spot behind Wigmore Cemetery Chapel.
What went in, what quantity, plus whether it ran: every Wigmore enquiry begins with precisely those, ahead of a quote, never after. Their replies narrow a range down to one figure.
You get that quote on the phone, before anybody heads out, and you pay on the day, by card or over the phone, with nothing upfront. While the van is on the way, check your policy: many cover misfuelling.
Still alongside your car around Wigmore?
Then, the most helpful thing to do with your car is to not touch it. Ignition off, motor off, keys out. Phone 0333 366 0103: AdBlue, roughly how much, plus if it ran are all our technicians need. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest across Herefordshire, Wigmore included.