AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Beckhithe, and What to Do Next
All of that turns on a single detail: if the engine has started since the AdBlue was added — more than anything else. Not started yet? Then leave it that way, wherever your vehicle is — Beckhithe or Thickthorn Hall. Leave your motor and the ignition off then ring 0333 366 0103; it's usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Beckhithe. Where the motor has been run, stop safely first, then switch it off. Stage one stays the same, even though the work is bigger.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever in Norfolk it happened.
At the petrol pump in Beckhithe: AdBlue in a diesel
Picture it: stood by the petrol pump, holding the bottle, you spot the cap you opened wasn't the correct one. Perhaps you are at the Shell, perhaps at the Total, perhaps somewhere else in Beckhithe.
Meaning? Finding out here is as good as it gets. The AdBlue is inside that tank and nowhere else. Nothing has drawn it in.
Freeing the petrol pump is no excuse to start it — and so don't get back in. A few things: a push into a bay with the attendants helping, the bottle kept, and a ring to us from the forecourt. Stuck beside the pump? Our explosion-proof equipment makes a live forecourt sensible, so we can drain it where it is.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Beckhithe drive?
Several days had gone by with the warning light on. Only by the recycling, the empty bottle in your hand, did you glance back at the cap you had used on the drive. Drives near Little Melton Road see it as much as any other street.
The upshot: zero driving since makes this almost as good to finding it at the pump. Diesel and AdBlue keep apart: the AdBlue settles to the floor of your tank and stays put, however long it waits.
Keep the keys indoors tonight — otherwise someone might drive it off first thing — then phone us. In Little Melton or here in Beckhithe, the drain is done at your driveway. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
On the road in Beckhithe with AdBlue in a diesel
Topped up, pulled away, and soon your motor was running roughly, blowing smoke, down on power, or lighting up your dash. Somewhere on Great Melton Road or else heading towards Norwich — under 5 miles away.
What it means: your fuel system has sucked the AdBlue in. Distance sets how deep it gets: filter and pipework to begin with, then the high-pressure pump and each injector. It goes further with each extra mile covered and every restart.
Next: find a safe place, pull in, and switch the motor off. Service stations further along are too far: on the M11, over 50 miles out of Beckhithe, use the first junction. Do not restart it to see if it has cleared; it will not have. About what distance did it go? Say so when you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company cars
You have just had the vehicle a week. Your own car either has no AdBlue or puts it somewhere different, and so no one warned you the AdBlue inlet was just beside your diesel. Wherever you happen to be in Norfolk, every driver could be caught.
Put simply: one extra step on top of the cases above, and those turn on if it's run. The owner frequently needs to approve any work, under many hire and fleet agreements.
Your move: hire firm or your fleet manager first, us next, since sorting it beforehand cuts time. Waiting for a reply at the car park outside Wymondham, or beside Crusaders Rugby Club? Leave your engine off throughout.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Beckhithe?
Now and then, "I think so" is all anyone can truthfully say. What cap came off, you can't say; but the bottle weighs lighter than expected, and ammonia hangs by the filler. The gates of Little Melton Primary School in a rush, say, or a friend's drive over in Bawburgh.
In short: a spill round your filler leaves your engine unharmed. In the diesel tank, however, AdBlue harms it. You can't tell which by turning the key, and doing so will draw in any AdBlue that is in the tank.
Next: assume it got in, and keep your engine off. Call us and describe what you saw; we would rather check a tank that turns out free of AdBlue than drain one that has already been run.
What each AdBlue drain around Beckhithe has in common
Whatever the case, one opening is used. Three things are asked when our technicians arrive — at a filling station, a drive, a street by All Saints Church or the car park at The Queen's Head: the liquid, the quantity, and whether the motor has been started. Replies shape the work; the quote follows by phone while nobody has left yet.
Then the tank is emptied and your system cleaned 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. Next is the filter — cleaned, or replaced where necessary — followed by clean diesel, and a test of your vehicle. Where your motor has not run, allow about half an hour once we arrive, in most cases.
Our technicians start the engine last. Our test that it runs smoothly on new diesel comes before our engineers go. When it's caught quickly, the car very rarely has lasting damage, and the entire job takes place where it is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Worth remembering: lots of insurers offer misfuelling cover, so a check of your policy as you wait pays.
About Beckhithe
Beckhithe is a small hamlet in Norfolk, situated inland at an elevation of around 45 metres, and is located approximately 4.8 miles from Norwich. Beckhithe lies near other local places such as Little Melton, Hethersett, and Bawburgh Hill, and is characterized by its predominantly detached housing. Beckhithe is a relatively small community with a population of around 620 people. Beckhithe is also within a reasonable distance from London, being about 94.5 miles away.
AdBlue drains about Beckhithe and across Norfolk
Beckhithe is a rural hamlet, and the same vans that cover it work the towns around it too, Hethersett and Bawburgh Hill among them, across the NR postcode area. Giving us a NR9 3 postcode finds you quickest of all.
No moving is needed, be it stopped centrally in Beckhithe or in a lay-by en route to Little Melton Playing Field, so leave it where it is. Draining is done on the spot. Guessing won't help beside War Memorial, close to a border or anywhere hard to describe; ring and ask.
The one-line version
Where it has not started, phone and keep it off. Whichever line fits, Petrol in Diesel handles the rest on 0333 366 0103, across Norfolk and in Beckhithe — after you stop, switch off and phone, if it has run.