AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Ailsworth: What Now?
Everything hinges on a single detail: whether your motor has been run since the AdBlue went in — more than anything else. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether the car is around Ailsworth itself or out in Sutton. Usually this is draining and properly flushing it right there in Ailsworth — and so keep the ignition and motor off and ring 0333 366 0103. Where your motor has run, pull in safely straight away, then switch the car off. A larger job, then, yet the same opening step.
Below: the situations our technicians meet, anywhere in Cambridgeshire. Choose yours.
At the pump in Ailsworth: AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you just spot it as you're stood at the petrol pump, bottle or nozzle in your hand. It could be the BP, or the Welcome Break, or a different forecourt in Ailsworth.
The point: of every spot to notice, this is the best. Still inside the tank, and no fuel pulled through: that's where the AdBlue sits.
Your move: stay out of the driver's seat, however much the pump wants freeing. Ask the attendants to help you push your car into a parking space, keep the receipt or the bottle, then phone us from the forecourt. Emptying it right at the pump is fine when it can't be shifted, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home around Ailsworth with AdBlue in your diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. Only at the recycling bin, the empty bottle in hand, did you glance back at the cap you had opened at the driveway. Just off Main Street is not less likely from anywhere.
The point: no driving since leaves this almost as good to finding it at the petrol pump. Diesel and AdBlue stay apart: the AdBlue settles to the base of your tank and remains there, however long the night.
Next: keys indoors, so nobody drives the vehicle off first thing. Then, phone. Out in Castor or here around Ailsworth, the draining happens on your driveway. Even at night, the pumps are quiet enough for a residential street.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel in Ailsworth?
A short way after topping up, the engine began playing up: roughness, smoke, less power, warnings on the dash. Helpston Road, perhaps, or the route to Peterborough — a trip of under 5 miles.
Meaning? Your fuel pump has sucked the AdBlue in. Distance sets how deep it goes: filter and pipework first, then the high-pressure pump and every injector. Each restart, like each mile, pushes it deeper.
What to do: pull over where it is safe then switch off. On the Great North Road, under 3 miles from Ailsworth, that means the next exit, not the services further on. Starting it again to test achieves nothing — AdBlue never clears itself. About what distance had it gone? Say so when you phone.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You've had this car barely a week. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is missing or elsewhere. On this one, its cap is right next to your diesel cap — a surprise to you. Wherever you are across Cambridgeshire, every driver can be caught.
The upshot: exactly as above, divided by if it ran, but with one added step. Work on your vehicle often requires the owner's go-ahead under hire or company agreements.
Settling it before the van turn up is quicker, and so phone the rental company or your fleet manager, and then us. If you're stranded in the car park outside Peterborough, or by Castor Village Hall, whilst you wait for an answer, leave the vehicle off.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank in Ailsworth?
"I think so" is sometimes the most honest as it gets. A faint ammonia-like smell hangs around the filler, the bottle feels too light, and which cap came off is a blur. A hurried stop by the gates of Castor CofE Primary School, or a visit to a friend in Sibson: either fits.
The point: the motor is not hurt by a little AdBlue spilled on the filler. Inside your diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue harms it. If there is AdBlue in the tank, turning on your car will pull it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Next: assume it got in, and leave your motor off. Tell us what you noticed on the phone. A clean tank looked at counts as a happier outcome than a run one emptied.
Ailsworth: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Whatever the situation, one start applies. Three things come when we arrive — on a forecourt, a drive, a road beside St Kyneburgha, Castor or the car park outside The Royal Oak: the fluid, the amount, and if the motor has run. Over the phone, ahead of dispatch, you hear the price, and those replies shape the job too.
AdBlue forms crystals and eats at some metals in fuel systems, so it does not rinse out on its own; that is why a full flush, after this drain, counts much more with AdBlue than with petrol. Last come your filter, cleaned or replaced as needed; fresh diesel; and a test of your car. Where your motor has not been started, allow about half an hour on site, in most cases.
The final step is firing it up. Before we head off, it is tested to be sure it runs smoothly on fresh diesel. Permanent damage is very unusual when it's spotted quickly, and the whole job is done where the car is. Payment comes that day, never upfront. For your insurer, you get a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. Worth remembering: lots of insurers offer misfuelling cover, and so a check of your policy while we travel pays.
About Ailsworth, briefly
Ailsworth is a small village in Cambridgeshire, situated near the city of Peterborough and surrounded by other villages such as Castor and Water Newton. Ailsworth sits in a low-lying area at an elevation of around 15 metres, with detached housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Ailsworth is located approximately 4.6 miles from Peterborough and about 74.4 miles from London, making it a commuter-friendly location. Ailsworth has a population of around 871 residents.
AdBlue drains in Ailsworth, and across Cambridgeshire too
As a rural village, Ailsworth has the same vans as the nearby towns — Upton, Water Newton — all the way across PE postcodes. A postcode starting PE5 7 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No moving is required, whether stopped in the centre of Ailsworth or on a layby en route to Queen Elizabeth Field, so keep it where it is. Wherever it stands, that is where it is emptied. Ring and ask instead of guessing when you are by Sutton Cross (site of), on a border, or somewhere tricky to explain.
The one-line version
If it has not run, ring and leave it off. Run by now? Stop, turn off, phone. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest whichever case, in Ailsworth and Cambridgeshire, on 0333 366 0103.