AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Farndon, and What to Do Next
One thing matters above all when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is whether the engine has been started since. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether your car is in Farndon itself or out in Caldecott Green. Switch nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, then expect a thorough flush plus a drain, carried out right where the car stands in Farndon. Where the engine has run, pull in somewhere safe straight away, then turn it off. It is a larger job, yet stage one doesn't change.
Compare your case to a situation from the ones below, wherever around Cheshire you are.
On a Farndon forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you just notice it while you're standing at the petrol pump, bottle or nozzle in hand. Whether the nearest petrol station, Shell or anywhere else in Farndon, the case is the same.
What it means: this is the best place to find out. Still inside that tank, and no fuel pulled through: that's where the AdBlue sits.
What to do: don't get back in and start the car to clear the petrol pump. Get the attendants to help pushing it into a space, hold on to the receipt, then ring us right there. Stuck by the petrol pump? Our explosion-proof kit makes a live forecourt sensible, so it can be drained in place.
At home around Farndon with AdBlue in the diesel tank
For days the dash had been nagging you. Picked up a container, poured it in outside the house, recycled the empty — and only then checked the cap a second time, too late. Driveways close to Churton Road see it as much as any other street.
In short: if the vehicle has not moved since, it's nearly as good as finding out at the forecourt. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of that tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
Put your keys in the house overnight — or a person might take it away first thing — then call us. Your driveway is where it gets emptied, be it in Farndon or Holt. Even at night, the pumps are quiet enough for a driveway.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around Farndon?
Lumpy running, smoke, falling power or a lit dashboard started a mile or two beyond the top-up. It might have been heading to Wrexham, under 10 miles away, or just down Church Street.
Meaning? Your pump has sucked the AdBlue in. The high-pressure pump and every injector see it as well on a longer trip, after your filter and pipework have had it. It travels further with each mile driven and every restart.
What to do: pull over where it is safe and switch off. Services further on are too far: from the M53, under 10 miles out of Farndon, use the next junction. Don't restart it to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Call, and say how far your car was driven.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
Seven days ago, the car was new to you. On your own car, AdBlue is absent or somewhere else. On this one, the cap is just next to the diesel inlet — news to you. Across Cheshire, no one is immune.
In short: an extra step on top of the situations above, which turn on whether it's run. Plenty of hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on the vehicle.
Next: phone the hire company or your fleet manager first, then us — settling it before our arrival is quicker. Waiting for an answer in the car park outside Wrexham Central, or beside St Chad's, Farndon? Keep the engine off throughout.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Farndon?
"I think so" is sometimes as honest as it gets. Too light, that bottle; a hint of ammonia near the filler; a hazy memory of the cap. Look familiar? Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Farndon Primary School, or on a friend's drive in Ridleywood.
The point: the motor isn't hurt by some AdBlue spilled on the outside. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. Any AdBlue in your tank would be drawn in by starting your car, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
Next: act as though it got in, then keep your engine off. Ring us and describe what you saw; we'd rather check a tank that turns out free of AdBlue than drain one that has already been run.
Farndon: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Whatever the situation, a single opening is used. Three questions are asked when our technicians reach the car — on a forecourt, a drive, a road by Coronation Meadow or the car park at Peal O'Bells: the liquid, the amount, and if it has been started. Your price comes over the phone, ahead of anyone setting off, and those answers set the work.
AdBlue crystallises and eats at certain metals in fuel systems, so it won't rinse out on its own; that is why a full flush, after the drain, counts far more with AdBlue than with petrol. Last are your filter, cleaned or replaced if necessary; fresh diesel; and a test of your vehicle. Not started? Then roughly half an hour on site is most jobs.
Our technicians fire it up at the end. Our test that it runs smoothly on fresh diesel comes before our technicians leave. Lasting damage is very rare when it's spotted soon, and the whole job is done where the car is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Dig out your insurance before we're en route: cover for misfuelling comes included in plenty of policies.
About Farndon and where it is
Farndon is a village situated on the banks of the River Dee in Cheshire, with a low elevation of around 28 metres. Farndon lies near the Welsh border, approximately 5.5 miles from Wrexham and within a short distance of nearby villages such as Holt and Churton. Farndon has a population of around 1717 people, predominantly living in detached houses. Farndon is located in the North West region of England, about 159 miles from London.
AdBlue drains around Farndon, and across Cheshire too
Being a village, Farndon has the same vans as the surrounding places — Churton, Crewe-by-Farndon — right across CH postcodes. Fastest of all: a CH3 6 postcode for your location.
Whether the car is on a lay-by on the way to Wellington Green Play Area or in a car park in the middle of Farndon, it doesn't need to move. Our van empties it in place. Awkward to pin down? Close to St. Chad's Church or a county line? Checking beats assuming, so ring.
Your scenario, in one line
Motor not started: ring, leaving it switched off. Run already: pull over, power down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, in Farndon or wherever across Cheshire.