Collingtree: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Leave It Off
Motor off, ignition off: that's how you begin if AdBlue has gone into your diesel tank. Urea dissolved in water is what AdBlue is. It doesn't burn, it does not mix with diesel, and the harm it does starts when the system pulls it in. A drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is in Collingtree, is normally all AdBlue in a diesel tank needs — if it is caught before your motor has run. Before you do anything else, ring 0333 366 0103.
Collingtree, AdBlue in your diesel tank: what to do right away
Things to do:
- Remove the keys, and that stops someone turning the electrics on.
- If you are at all close to moving traffic, put the hazards on.
- Hold on to the till receipt or the empty bottle, so you can tell us what was put in and roughly how much.
- Call right where you are. Quote a NN4 0 postcode or the nearest street name, and no one has to search for you.
Things not to do:
- No starting your motor — not briefly, not to reposition the car.
- Plenty of diesels power their pump the instant the ignition comes on, so leave the vehicle off.
- AdBlue does not mix in diesel — it separates out — so adding extra diesel will not thin it.
- Even a short stretch down Sargeants Lane is too far to drive it.
- Draining the tank yourself by the road is not worth trying.
Moving the car off the island is a job for attendants to help with, whichever Collingtree forecourt you are on, the BP or any other. Parked on your own driveway? Then it remains just where it is.
What AdBlue does in a diesel tank
Not the motor but the exhaust is where AdBlue belongs. Its own reservoir holds it, and from there it's fed into the exhaust, where it treats the fumes. A fuel pump is not made to cope with it, and AdBlue was never supposed to travel through one.
It does not combine. Once it's poured into the tank, AdBlue behaves nothing like fuel. Heavier than diesel, it sinks and pools below it — the same spot the pickup sucks from. A vehicle filled on a drive in Merefield yesterday evening and left unstarted is the straightforward one. No pump has sucked the AdBlue up so far — but when the motor turns, that is what is pulled first, straight from the bottom of the tank.
From there it causes two kinds of harm. Crystals and corrosion. As the water evaporates, it strands urea that hardens in filter elements and narrow passages; and, since it attacks some metals, every part it touches keeps suffering for as long as it remains inside. A motor left sitting around Collingtree with AdBlue already in its lines is worse by the morning; one with AdBlue only in its tank is not. Diesel lubricates the injection pump and each injector as it flows; water gives none of that, which is a second kind of harm.
Why is AdBlue in a diesel commonly the bigger issue?
Put petrol in a diesel at the Shell and you have a problem of thin fuel. It mixes with the diesel, and while it's inside your tank it causes no harm; the harm comes from running the engine on it.
The issue with AdBlue in a diesel is a totally unsuitable liquid. Because it doesn't burn, running it through is not an option. Crystals and corrosion remain after the next tankful, and AdBlue separates back out of the diesel, and so thinning it can't help. That is why the flush counts more, and turning your key "to see" costs more here than nearly any other slip — in Hardingstone or the centre of Collingtree alike.
The good news is the same as with petrol. Wherever across Northamptonshire the vehicle has come to rest, an unstarted motor leaves the AdBlue still in the tank: the simplest bit of any fuel system to empty.
How AdBlue ends up in a diesel tank around Collingtree
Many cars put the AdBlue cap beside the diesel cap, now and then behind one flap, and in dim light the two can appear identical. Nobody intends it. A container picked up when driving home and tipped in at home, rather than at the forecourt, is the usual route.
It tends to take place in a couple of familiar ways. Halfway through the morning drop-off, the dashboard warns, and outside Collingtree Church of England Primary School the refill is hurried. After work, a container goes in on a driveway near Barn Corner. Otherwise, in dim light outside Wooden Walls of Old England, the car is topped up by a driver using that flap for the first time.
It comes up the most in a hire car, a brand-new car, a company vehicle, or the other car of a family with one of each fuels — the vehicles people know the least. Anywhere across Northamptonshire, Collingtree included, the slip does not change, and neither does the first response: keep it off.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Collingtree, and the motor started?
Then your tank is no longer where the AdBlue is. Via your filter, through the lines, and — with any running — on to the high-pressure pump and each injector: that's where it travels.
Rough running, smoke, lost power, dashboard lights or stalling: any might appear, maybe midway across Collingtree or returning from Collingtree Park Golf Club. No restarting to check: stop once it is safe, then turn everything off. More of it is pulled through with each start.
Collingtree lies under a mile from the M1; if you were on it, leave by the first junction and pull up somewhere safe rather than carrying on.
Mileage counts: each mile pushes the AdBlue further in, so heading towards Milton Keynes, under 15 miles away, makes a much bigger job than crossing Collingtree to the car park by St Columba's. Approximately how far had it come? Tell us.
There is more to rinse out once your engine has been started, and our technicians do all of it where the vehicle has stopped. Very rarely does it leave long-term damage when it is noticed soon.
Collingtree: how AdBlue is drained from a diesel
A road by Collingtree Village Hall, a drive, a layby or a forecourt: anywhere the car has come to rest in Collingtree, our engineers travel to it. Three replies shape the work, so before anything else we ask which fluid was put in, roughly the amount, and if the engine has run.
Next, draining that tank right there removes the polluted diesel and the AdBlue in one go. A careful flush counts far more after AdBlue than with petrol, because residue won't clear away on its own. A test of the car comes last, after fresh diesel is added and the fuel filter is cleaned or, if needed, replaced. The majority of these jobs are a half-hour visit once our technicians get there, provided your engine has not run. Low-noise enough for use outside a house at night, and fine on a working forecourt, our pumps are explosion-proof.
New diesel goes in to prime your system, and that's the final step. You drive off as soon as our technicians have started the engine, and it makes no difference whether your car is on a driveway around Collingtree or in a bay by Northampton. It's checked on clean diesel to be sure it runs properly before our engineers head off. No workshop is needed at any stage, with the whole job done then and there. Afterwards, you are given the paperwork for the insurer: a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer.
About Collingtree and where it is
Collingtree is a village in Northamptonshire, situated on the banks of a river at an elevation of around 86 metres. Collingtree lies near the larger town of Milton Keynes, approximately 12 miles away, and is close to other nearby villages such as Milton Malsor and Wootton. Collingtree has a population of around 1156 people and is characterised by predominantly detached housing.
AdBlue drains across Collingtree and Northamptonshire
The vans that answer AdBlue calls in Collingtree also cover the locations round it, Milton Malsor, Blacky More and Wootton among them, and most of Northamptonshire beyond, across the NN postcode area. Ring and check instead of guessing if you're by a border, or anywhere awkward to explain.
A van that comes to you fits Collingtree, a village: there's no need to bring the vehicle to us, because our technicians empty it there, in a driveway, a residential street, a car park or a forecourt.
What AdBlue in a diesel tank costs to put right around Collingtree
No single figure could be honest, since each job is different. Three things change the price: whether the engine has been running and for how long, how much AdBlue went in, and where the vehicle is. That last one rests on whether our van can reach it safely, and an open drive is simpler than a tight gap behind Clipper Logistics.
That is why each call from Collingtree starts with the same three questions, asked before giving a figure, not after: what got in, how much, and if it's run. When those are known, a range turns into one fixed figure.
You hear that quote by phone, before anyone heads out, and you pay on the day, by card or by phone, with nothing upfront. While the van is on the way, check your policy: many cover misfuelling.
Still alongside your car around Collingtree?
Not touching your car is, right now, the best move you can do. Ignition off, motor off, keys out. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, across Collingtree or wherever in Northamptonshire, after you call 0333 366 0103 saying it was AdBlue, about what quantity, and whether the engine ran.