What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Gaydon
All of that hinges on one fact: if your motor has been run since the AdBlue was added — far more than anything else. Not run yet? Then leave it that way, whether your vehicle sits — Gaydon or Lighthorne. Leave the engine and your ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103; it's generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Gaydon. Already started? Pull over when you safely can, then switch everything off. The job is bigger, but the first stage is the same.
Anywhere in Warwickshire it took place, one of the situations below matches yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Gaydon forecourt
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you just notice it while you are standing at the petrol pump, bottle or the nozzle in your hand. Whether Esso, Fuel Farm or anywhere else in Gaydon, the case is the same.
What it means: this is the ideal place to find out. Still inside that tank, with no fuel drawn onwards: that's where the AdBlue sits.
Do this: stay out of the driver's seat, however much the pump needs clearing. Ask the attendants to help you push the vehicle into a parking space, keep your receipt or the bottle, then phone us from the forecourt. Can't move the vehicle by the pump? Explosion-proof kit keeps a busy forecourt safe, and so we can drain the vehicle where it is.
Gaydon, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
Days had gone by with the dash light on. A bottle from the shop, tipped in at the drive — and it was just by the recycling that the cap caught your eye. Drives close to St. Mark's Close see it as much as anywhere.
The upshot: zero driving since makes this nearly as good to spotting it at the petrol pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of the tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Next: prevent an early move by putting your keys in the house, then phone us. Your driveway is where it is drained, be it in Gaydon or Chadshunt. Our pumping kit works quietly enough that it won't wake the street at night.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in Gaydon?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later your motor began to run unevenly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Anywhere on Upper Farm Meadow or on the road to Coventry — under 25 miles away.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been sucked into the system. Through the filter, along the lines, and — the further the mileage — on into the high-pressure pump and each injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
What to do: pull over where it's safe and switch off. Service stations further along are too far: on the M40, under a mile out of Gaydon, use the next junction. It will not have cleared, so there is no point restarting to find out. Phone, saying what distance the vehicle went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You have had the car hardly a week. Unbeknown to you, the two inlets are side by side here — not like your own vehicle, which has none or stores it elsewhere. It can happen to anyone, anywhere around Warwickshire.
Put simply: one extra step on top of the situations above, which turn on whether it has run. The owner often has to approve any work, under plenty of hire and fleet agreements.
Settling it before we turn up is quicker, and so phone the rental company or your fleet manager, and then us. Hanging on for a reply in the car park outside Leamington Spa, or beside Gaydon Village Hall? Keep the engine off throughout.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Gaydon?
At times the fair answer is "I think so". A faint ammonia-like smell hangs near your filler, the bottle seems too light, and the cap you took off is a blur. Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Lighthorne Heath Primary School, or on a friend's drive in Northend.
Put simply: a spill round your filler does your motor no harm. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. If there is AdBlue in the tank, starting the car would pull it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Take it that it was put in, and don't turn your key. Phone and give the details: we'd sooner find a clean tank than drain one once the motor has been run.
Gaydon: what each AdBlue drain has in common
The job begins identically, whatever the case. Anywhere your car stands — The Malt Shovel's car park, a street by St Giles, a driveway, a filling station — our van arrives and asks about the liquid, the amount, plus whether your motor has turned over. Those replies decide this work, and you get our price on the phone, before anybody heads out.
A thorough flush comes after this drain. With petrol it is routine; with AdBlue it's crucial, because deposits build up and some metals are attacked, and none of it washes away unaided. Then is your filter — flushed, or swapped where necessary — then fresh diesel, and a test of the vehicle. Not started? Then about half an hour on site is most jobs.
Our engineers start it at the end. We check it runs correctly on new diesel before we leave. If it is spotted soon, the vehicle very seldom has lasting damage, and the entire job happens where it is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About Gaydon itself
Gaydon is a small village in Warwickshire, situated in the West Midlands region of England, with a population of around 530 people. Gaydon sits at an elevation of 108 metres, approximately 15.6 miles southeast of Coventry and 73.9 miles northwest of London. Gaydon is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock and rural setting, near to the villages of Chadshunt, Lighthorne Heath, and Temple Herdewyke.
AdBlue drains across Warwickshire, Gaydon included
Gaydon is a rural village, and the same vans that cover it work the towns near it too, Lighthorne Heath and Temple Herdewyke among them, across the CV postcode area. Quickest of all: a CV35 0 postcode to show where you stand.
No towing is needed, whether stopped in the centre of Gaydon or in a lay-by heading to Gaydon Coppice, so keep it where it is. Our engineers drain it where it stands. Awkward to pin down? Close to Collections Centre or a county line? Asking is better than guessing, and so ring.
The one-line version
Not run yet: keep the vehicle off then call. Run already: stop, switch down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, within Gaydon or anywhere across Warwickshire.