AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Bourn, and What to Do Next
All of that turns on one fact: whether the motor has been run after the AdBlue was added — more than anything else. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether the vehicle is around Bourn itself or out in Kingston. Switch nothing on, phone 0333 366 0103, then expect a proper flush after a drain, done just where your vehicle sits around Bourn. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. Step one remains the same, even though the work is bigger.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever in Cambridgeshire it happened.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Bourn forecourt
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you only notice it as you're stood at the petrol pump, bottle or the nozzle in your hand. Anywhere in Bourn, then — Morrisons, BP, or somewhere else close by.
Put simply: there is no better place exists to discover it. The AdBlue is in your tank and nowhere else. Nothing has pulled it in.
What to do: don't get back in and crank it to clear the petrol pump. Ask the attendants to help you roll the vehicle into a parking spot, keep your receipt or the bottle, and phone us from the forecourt. The equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt, and so a car that can't be pushed away is cleared where it is at the pump.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Bourn drive?
For days the dashboard had been warning you. Only by the recycling, the empty container in hand, did you look back at the cap you had used at the driveway. Homes just off Short Street get hit as much as anywhere else.
The point: zero miles since leaves it almost as good to spotting it at the pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so no one moves your car in the morning. Then ring. We drain it on your driveway, whether that's in Bourn or out in Crow End. Even at night, the pumps stay quiet enough for a residential street.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around Bourn?
Rough running, smoke, falling power or a glowing dashboard started a short way after the fill. Perhaps it was on Baldwins Close, perhaps on the way out towards Cambridge, under 10 miles away.
In short: the AdBlue has been sucked into your fuel system. The injection pump and each injector see it too on a bigger run, after your filter and lines have it. Each restart, like each mile, pushes it on.
Stop somewhere safe — that's the next job — then turn it off. Exit at the next junction — not the services further along — if you're on the M11, under 10 miles from Bourn. Restarting it to test achieves nothing — AdBlue never clears itself. Tell us hear the distance driven as you ring.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You have had the vehicle barely a week. Your own motor either does without AdBlue or keeps it somewhere different, so no one told you the AdBlue cap sits just next to the diesel. Wherever you are in Cambridgeshire, every driver could be caught.
Meaning? Whatever applies above applies too — run or not — plus one extra stage. The owner frequently has to approve any work, under plenty of rental and company contracts.
Settling it before the van turn up is faster, so phone the hire company or your fleet manager, then us. Hanging on for a reply at the car park outside Shepreth, or near Bourn Village Hall? Leave the engine off throughout.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank around Bourn?
At times, "I think so" is all you can truthfully say. A slight ammonia-like smell lingers around the filler, the bottle feels too light, and which cap came off is a blur. The gates of Bourn CofE Primary Academy in a hurry, perhaps, or someone's driveway out in Caxton.
Meaning? Spills outside the inlet never reach the motor at all. The diesel tank with AdBlue in it is another matter. Any AdBlue in your tank will be drawn in by turning on the vehicle, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Next: assume it went in, and leave your motor off. Tell us what you noticed on the phone. A clear tank looked at counts as a better result than a run one drained.
Bourn: what every AdBlue drain has in common
No matter the case, a single start is used. Anywhere the car stands — the pub in the village's car park, a street beside St Helena & St Mary (Bourn Parish Church), a driveway, a filling station — our van arrives and asks about the fluid, the amount, and if your engine has been run. On the phone, ahead of anything else, you are told the price, and those replies shape the job too.
Emptying your tank comes next, then a full flush — more vital after urea than with petrol, since crystals and corrosion will not clear on their own, however long you wait. Next is your filter — flushed, or swapped where necessary — then clean diesel, and a test of the vehicle. Where the engine has not run, allow about half an hour on site, for most cases.
The last step is starting it. With fresh diesel in, it runs while our technicians make sure it is running smoothly, and then we leave. Our technicians do the entire job where the car is, and lasting damage is very uncommon when it has been noticed soon. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, nothing in advance. Worth knowing: many insurers offer misfuelling cover, so a check of your policy while we travel pays.
About Bourn and where it is
Bourn is a village situated in the Cambridgeshire countryside, near the River Cam, with an elevation of around 48 metres. Bourn lies approximately 7.8 miles west of Cambridge and 47.3 miles north of London, making it a commuter village with a mix of old and new housing, predominantly detached homes. Bourn is surrounded by other small villages, including Crow End, Longstowe, and Caldecote, and has a population of around 1325 residents.
AdBlue drains across Cambridgeshire, Bourn included
Throughout CB postcodes, the vans serving Bourn — a village — work nearby places as well, Longstowe and Caldecote among them. A postcode starting CB23 2 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to Bourn Jubilee Playing Fields or in a car park in the middle of Bourn, it doesn't need to move. Our engineers drain it where it is. Assuming won't help near Cow sculpture, on a county line or somewhere hard to pin down; phone and check.
In one line: your situation
Where it has not started, ring then keep it that way. Started already? Pull over, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder whichever it is, across Bourn and Cambridgeshire, on 0333 366 0103.