What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Downton
Has your motor run since the AdBlue went in? This single point decides almost everything about what comes next. Out in Woodfalls or right in Downton, an unstarted engine must remain that way. Normally this means draining and properly flushing it on the spot around Downton — so keep the key and engine off then ring 0333 366 0103. Already started? Pull over once safe, then switch it off. A larger job, yes, but the same opening move.
Wherever around Wiltshire it took place, one of the situations below matches yours.
On a Downton forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
You are at the pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Maybe you are at the Esso, maybe at the Harvest Energy, maybe somewhere else in Downton.
The point: of all places to notice, this is the best. No pump has pulled it in, so the AdBlue sits only in that tank.
Next: resist the urge to start it just to move away from the petrol pump. Phone us from the forecourt after the vehicle sits in a bay — the staff will lend a hand to roll it — and keep the bottle. If it can't be moved, it can be drained at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt.
Downton, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
On your dash, a warning had been lit for days. Picked up a bottle, poured it in outside the house, recycled the empty — and at that point checked the cap again, after the fact. It occurs on drives just off High Street as often as anywhere.
In short: if your car hasn't been driven since, it's nearly equal to finding out at the forecourt. At the floor of your tank is exactly where AdBlue stays, because it won't blend with diesel — and a night going by changes no difference.
Your move: the keys in the house, and so nobody drives your vehicle off at breakfast. Then, phone. Our technicians drain the vehicle on your driveway, whether that's in Downton or out in Wick. Night-time drains beside a house are fine: the pumps are low-noise.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around Downton?
Lumpy running, smoke, falling power or a glowing dashboard arrived a mile or two beyond the top-up. Moot Lane, say, or the route towards Salisbury — a run of under 10 miles.
The upshot: the system has drawn AdBlue in already. Distance decides how deep it gets: filter and lines first, then the high-pressure pump and each injector. More miles, more starts: further it travels.
What to do: pull over where it is safe then switch off. On the M27, under 10 miles from Downton, that means the next junction, not the services further on. Restarting it to check gets nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear on its own. Roughly what distance did it gone? Say so when you phone.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You've had this car hardly a week. Unbeknown to you, the two inlets are side by side here — not like your own car, which has none or keeps it elsewhere. Anywhere you happen to be in Wiltshire, every driver could be caught.
Meaning? Whichever case above counts here — run or unrun — and one extra stage. The owner frequently needs to approve the work, under plenty of hire and company contracts.
Your move: rental firm or fleet manager to begin with, us second, since sorting it beforehand saves time. If you're stranded in the car park outside Dean, or by St Laurence, while you wait for an answer, leave the vehicle off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Downton?
Honestly, the best answer may be that you think so. Which cap came off, you can't recall; but the bottle weighs less than expected, and a whiff of ammonia lingers by the filler. Maybe at a friend's drive in Hatchet Green, or in a rush by Downton CofE VA Primary School on the school run.
Meaning? Drips around the inlet never touch your motor at all. Inside the diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue harms it. Firing up the vehicle won't tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in the tank it will draw it in.
Do this: behave as if it did, and don't start the engine. Inspecting a tank that turns out free of AdBlue beats draining one after it has been run — so ring then describe to us what you noticed.
Downton: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Whatever the situation, one opening applies. Three things come once our engineers reach the car — at a filling station, a drive, a street beside Downton Library or the car park outside The Wooden Spoon: the fluid, the amount, and if the motor has been started. On the phone, ahead of dispatch, you hear the price, and those replies shape the job too.
Emptying your tank comes next, followed by a full flush — more important after urea than after petrol, because crystals and corrosion won't clear by themselves, no matter how long it sits. Clean diesel goes in once the filter is flushed or changed, and your car is then checked. Where your motor has not run, expect roughly half an hour once we arrive, for most cases.
Lastly, our technicians fire it up. With clean diesel in, it runs while our technicians confirm it's running smoothly, and then we head off. Our engineers do the entire job where your car is, and long-term damage is very rare if it has been caught quickly. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money in advance. Plenty of policies cover misfuelling, and so look at yours while the van travels.
About Downton, briefly
Downton is a village in Wiltshire, situated on the banks of the River Avon at an elevation of around 44 metres. Downton lies near the city of Salisbury, with which it has strong transport links, and is also close to smaller settlements like Wick and Morgans Vale. Downton has a population of approximately 888 residents, who mostly live in semi-detached housing. Downton is located about 78 miles west of London, making it a relatively accessible rural community.
AdBlue drains across Wiltshire, Downton included
Throughout SP postcodes, the teams covering Downton — a village — reach surrounding towns as well, Morgans Vale and Redlynch among them. A postcode starting SP5 3 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Stopped heading to Downton Moot, or bang in the centre of Downton, the vehicle remains where it is — there's no need to move it at all. The van drains it in place. Tricky to pin down? Close to The Amphitheatre or a county line? Checking beats guessing, and so phone.
Your scenario, in one line
Engine not started: phone, and leave it switched off. Run by now: pull over, power down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, within Downton or anywhere across Wiltshire.