Harpole: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Find Your Situation
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if the motor has run since it went in. Anywhere your car is — Duston, Harpole — never start a motor that hasn't been started yet. Normally that means draining and properly cleaning it on the spot around Harpole — so keep your ignition and motor off and call 0333 366 0103. Pull over the minute it is safe then turn off, if it has been run. It is a bigger job, yet step one does not change.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever across Northamptonshire it happened.
Harpole forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Just at this point, nozzle still in your hand, it dawns on you that the cap you took off was the wrong one, right at the pump. Maybe you're at the Shell, possibly at the Red Lion Truck Stop, maybe somewhere else around Harpole.
Put simply: there is no better place to be to spot it. The AdBlue is inside your tank and nowhere else. Nothing has pulled it in.
Do this: stay out of the car, even if the queue needs clearing. Ring us from the forecourt after your car sits in a bay — the staff will help push it — then keep the receipt. Emptying it there at the petrol pump is fine if it can't be moved, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Harpole drive?
On the dash, a reminder had shown for days. A bottle bought at the shop, emptied in at the drive — and it was just at the bin that the cap got a second look. Houses just off High Street get hit as often as anywhere else.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Next: stop an early drive by putting your keys indoors, then phone us. Kislingbury or Harpole: wherever your drive is, that's where it is drained. Even at night, the pumps are quiet enough for a residential street.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel around Harpole?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later your motor began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Somewhere on Duck Lane or else heading to Milton Keynes — under 25 miles away.
Meaning? The pump has sucked the AdBlue up. Distance sets how far it goes: filter and pipework first, then the injection pump and each injector. Each restart, like each mile, pushes it on.
What to do: pull over where it's safe and switch off. Harpole sits under 3 miles from the M1; there, pull off at the next junction instead of pushing on to the services. Don't restart the vehicle to see if it has cleared; it will not have. About how far had it go? Tell us when you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company cars
Seven days back, it was new to you. Unknown to you, the two inlets are side by side here — not like your own car, which has none or keeps it elsewhere. Any driver, anywhere around Northamptonshire, could do it.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it has run, with one more step. The owner often needs to sign off any work, under many rental and company agreements.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is quicker settled before our technicians arrive than after. If you are stranded in the car park outside Northampton, or by Harpole Methodist Chapel, while you wait for an answer, leave the car off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Harpole?
At times, "I think so" is the most anyone can truthfully say. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia about your filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. Perhaps it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Harpole Primary School, or on a friend's drive in New Duston.
Meaning? Spills outside the inlet never touch your motor at all. Once it is inside the diesel tank, though, that changes. Firing up the car cannot tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in that tank it will draw it in.
What to do: treat it as if it got in. Do not fire it up. Checking a tank that proves clean is better than draining one after it has been run — so phone then describe to us what you noticed.
Harpole: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Whichever scenario you are in, this job starts the same way. Forecourt, driveway, The Live And Let Live's car park or a road by Parish Church of All Saints — the van reaches your car, and three questions come next: which liquid, which quantity, and whether it has run. Those replies decide the work, and you hear our price by phone, before anyone heads out.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to some metals used in fuel systems, and so it does not wash out on its own; that's why a full flush, after this drain, counts much more here than with petrol. Your filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and your car is tested. Most unstarted cars are a half-hour job after the moment our engineers arrive.
We start it at the end. Our engineers check it runs properly on new diesel before we leave. We do the entire job where your car is, and permanent damage is very unusual when it has been caught early. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Many policies cover misfuelling, and so check yours while the van travels.
About Harpole itself
Harpole is a small village in Northamptonshire, situated in the East Midlands region of England, with an elevation of around 83 metres above sea level. Harpole lies approximately 17 miles from Milton Keynes and 62.6 miles northwest of London, surrounded by nearby villages such as Kislingbury and Nobottle. Harpole has a population of around 1349 residents, predominantly living in semi-detached housing. Harpole is characterized by its inland setting and relatively flat landscape.
AdBlue drains across Northamptonshire, Harpole included
Nobottle and Upper Heyford get the same vans as Harpole, a rural village, along with other towns throughout NN postcodes. Quickest of all: a NN7 4 postcode to show your location.
Stopped en route to Harpole Playing Fields, or bang in the heart of Harpole, your car stays put — there is no need to shift it at all. Draining is done right there. If you're somewhere hard to describe, close to Forefront Church or close to a border, ring and ask rather than guessing.
In one line: your scenario
Engine not started: phone, leaving it switched off. Already run: stop, switch off then call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there in Harpole and anywhere in Northamptonshire on 0333 366 0103.