What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Elder Street
All of that hinges on a single detail: whether the motor has started after the AdBlue was added — far more than anything else. Anywhere your car stands — Tye Green, Elder Street — don't start a motor that hasn't run yet. Leave the motor and the ignition off and ring 0333 366 0103; it is normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is in Elder Street. When your motor has run, pull in safely first, then switch the car off. The job is bigger, yet the first step is the same.
Compare your case to one of the ones below, anywhere in Essex you are.
Elder Street forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Imagine it: stood by the pump, gripping the bottle, you spot the filler you took off wasn't the correct one. It might be the Tesco, or the Gulf, or another forecourt around Elder Street.
What it means: this is the best spot to find out. Just that tank holds AdBlue; no part past it has taken any in.
Clearing the pump is no reason to run it — so don't get back in. Ring us from the forecourt once the car is in a space — the staff will lend a hand to push it — and save the receipt. Emptying it there at the petrol pump is possible if it cannot be moved, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Elder Street drive?
Several days had passed with the warning light on. A bottle from the garage, tipped in at the drive — and it was only at the recycling that the cap got a second look. Homes just off Water Lane get hit as much as everywhere else.
The upshot: no miles since leaves it almost equal to finding it at the pump. Diesel and AdBlue stay apart: the AdBlue settles to the base of that tank and stays put, however long the night.
Next: prevent an early-morning move by keeping the keys indoors, then phone us. Your drive is where it is drained, be it in Elder Street or Rowney Corner. Our pumping kit works quiet enough not to disturb the street at night.
Elder Street: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Filled up, drove away, and soon your motor was turning roughly, blowing smoke, down on power, or lighting up your dash. Parsonage Lane, perhaps, or the way towards Cambridge — a run of under 25 miles.
The upshot: your system has drawn AdBlue in by now. Through the fuel filter, through the pipework, and — the more the mileage — on into the injection pump and each injector. Each restart, like every mile, carries it deeper.
Next: find a safe spot, pull in, then switch the engine off. Elder Street sits under 5 miles from the M11; on it, come off at the next junction instead of pressing on to the services. It will not have cleared, and so there's no point starting it again to find out. Let us know the distance covered when you ring.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You've had the car hardly a week. The AdBlue filler is right beside the diesel one, which you didn't know, because your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. It can happen to anyone, anywhere across Essex.
Put simply: an extra stage on top of the cases above, which depend on if it has run. The owner frequently has to approve the work, under plenty of rental and fleet agreements.
Sorting it before we turn up is faster, so phone the rental company or your fleet manager, then us. Keep the car switched off as the answer arrives, even if you are parked at Newport (Essex) or close to Debden Penticostal Church.
Elder Street: unsure if it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Honestly, the best answer might be that you think so. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia around your filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. Perhaps it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Debden Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary Academy, or on a friend's drive in Cole End.
Meaning? Drips outside the inlet don't touch the motor at all. In the diesel tank, however, AdBlue harms it. Any AdBlue in the tank would be pulled in by starting the vehicle, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
Your move: act as if it got in, and never start your engine. Inspecting a tank that turns out clean beats emptying one after it has been run — so ring then tell us what you saw.
Elder Street: what each AdBlue drain has in common
No matter the case, one start applies. Three things come once our technicians arrive — at a filling station, a driveway, a street by Wimbish Village Hall or the car park outside The White Hart: the liquid, the quantity, and if the motor has been started. Those replies decide the work, and you get our price by phone, before anybody heads out.
A thorough flush follows this drain. With petrol it is standard; with AdBlue it is essential, since crystals build up and certain metals corrode, and none of that rinses out unaided. Next comes the fuel filter — cleaned, or replaced when necessary — followed by fresh diesel, and a test of your vehicle. Not started? In that case roughly half an hour once we are there covers most jobs.
Our technicians fire it up last. Our test that it runs correctly on clean diesel comes before we go. The entire job is done where your car is, and if it is spotted soon, long-term damage is very uncommon. Payment is on the day, never in advance. For the insurer, there is a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling, and so check yours while the van travels.
About Elder Street, briefly
Elder Street is a small village in Essex, situated inland at an elevation of 111 metres, and is located near the villages of Rowney Corner, Howlett End, and Debden. Elder Street has a population of approximately 541 residents and features predominantly terraced housing. Elder Street is within commuting distance of major cities, including Cambridge, which is 16.7 miles away, and London, which is 37.7 miles away. Elder Street remains a quiet residential community with a rural character.
Elder Street and Essex: AdBlue drains across the area
Howlett End and Debden have the same teams as Elder Street, a rural village, plus other towns throughout CB postcodes. A postcode starting CB10 2 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Whether the car is on a lay-by on the way to Rowney Wood or in a car park in the middle of Elder Street, it does not need to shift. The van empties it where it stands. If you're somewhere hard to describe, near Debden or close to a boundary, ring and ask rather than assuming.
The one-line version
Engine not started: ring, leaving it alone. Whichever line fits, Petrol in Diesel takes over from there on 0333 366 0103, across Essex and within Elder Street — once you pull over, switch off then phone, if it's run.