What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Astrop
Everything turns on a single detail: if your motor has started after the AdBlue was added — more than anything else. Not run yet? Then leave it that way, whether the vehicle sits — Astrop or Newbottle. Ring 0333 366 0103 with the ignition and motor both off. Across Astrop, such a case is generally drained and cleaned where it stands. Already started? Stop when you safely can, then switch everything off. It is a larger job, though stage one doesn't change.
Anywhere around Northamptonshire it took place, one of the cases below matches yours.
On a Astrop forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you just notice it while you are standing at the pump, bottle or the nozzle in hand. It could be the Esso, or the Sainsbury's, or another forecourt in Astrop.
The point: of every spot to notice, the forecourt is the best. No pump has pulled it in, and so the AdBlue sits only in that tank.
What to do: do not get back in and fire it up to clear the petrol pump. Three jobs: a push into a space with the attendants assisting, the bottle kept, and a ring to us from where you stand. The equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a live forecourt, so a vehicle that can't be pushed clear is cleared where it is at the pump.
At home around Astrop with AdBlue in your diesel tank
For days the dashboard had been nagging you. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the driveway, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look a second time at the cap. Homes just off Upper Astrop Road get caught out as often as everywhere else.
The point: no driving since leaves it almost equal to spotting it at the petrol pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of that tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
Next: prevent an early-morning move by keeping your keys indoors, then phone us. Kings Sutton or Astrop: whichever your driveway sits, that is where it gets emptied. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in Astrop?
Rough running, smoke, falling power or a glowing dashboard started a short way beyond the top-up. Maybe heading for Oxford, under 25 miles away, or just along Astrop Gardens.
What it means: the fuel system has pulled the AdBlue in. The injection pump and every injector see it too on a bigger trip, after your filter and pipework have it. Every restart, like every mile, carries it on.
Your move: pull up anywhere safe, then switch your motor off. On the M40, under a mile from Astrop, that means the next exit, not the services further on. Don't restart it to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Tell us know the distance driven when you call.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
It's a car you have had for a week. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is absent or somewhere else. On this one, its cap is right next to the diesel cap — a surprise to you. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in Northamptonshire.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it has run, with one more stage. Many rental and fleet contracts need the owner's approval before work.
Do this: rental firm or fleet manager to begin with, us next, because settling it early cuts time. Stranded by Millenium Memorial Hall or at Kings Sutton until the firm answers, the car stays turned off the whole time.
Unsure about AdBlue in your diesel tank in Astrop?
Now and then, "I think so" is all you can truthfully say. What cap was taken off, you cannot recall; meanwhile the bottle weighs less than it ought to, and ammonia lingers by the filler. A hurried stop by the gates of Kings Sutton Primary Academy, or a visit to a friend in Charlton: either fits.
The point: your motor isn't hurt by some AdBlue spilled around the outside. The diesel tank with AdBlue in it is a different matter. Any AdBlue in that tank will be pulled in by starting the car, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Next: assume it went in, then leave your engine off. Ring us and explain what you saw; we would rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
What each AdBlue drain around Astrop has in common
Each case has the same start to the work. Three questions come when our technicians reach the car — at a filling station, a drive, a street by St Peter & St Paul or the car park at Butchers Arms: the liquid, the quantity, and whether the motor has been started. Replies shape the job; the quote follows by phone while nobody has set off yet.
Then your tank is drained and your system purged thoroughly, which counts 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. Finally are the fuel filter, flushed or replaced if necessary; fresh diesel; and a check of the vehicle. Never started? In that case about half an hour on site covers most jobs.
Lastly, our engineers fire it up. Our check that it runs smoothly on new diesel comes before we head off. Our technicians do the entire job where the vehicle is, and long-term damage is very unusual when it has been noticed quickly. Nothing is taken upfront, payment is made on the day, and you get what your insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Many policies cover misfuelling, so check yours as we head over.
About Astrop, for a moment
Astrop is a suburban area in Northamptonshire, situated inland at an elevation of around 110 metres, with semi-detached housing being the predominant type. Astrop lies approximately 18.7 miles from Oxford and 60.3 miles from London, placing it within commuting distance of both cities. Astrop is surrounded by nearby places such as Kings Sutton, Upper Astrop, and Walton Grounds, and has a population of around 1815 residents. Astrop forms a small but distinct community within the wider region.
AdBlue drains across Northamptonshire, Astrop included
As a residential suburb, Astrop has the same vans as the nearby places — Walton Grounds, Upper Astrop — right through OX postcodes. A postcode starting OX17 3 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to Cobbler's Pits Spinney or in a car park in the middle of Astrop, it does not need to move. Our technicians drain the car where it stands. Ring and ask instead of guessing if you're close to Baptist Church, on a border, or somewhere tricky to pin down.
The one-line version
Unstarted? Leave the vehicle off then ring. Run by now: pull over, switch down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, within Astrop or anywhere in Northamptonshire.