AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Hartford: What Now?
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if your engine has run since it got in. If it has not, keep it that way, whether the car is around Hartford itself or out in Stukeley. Call 0333 366 0103 with your key and engine both off. Across Hartford, that is generally emptied and flushed where it stands. Pull over the minute you safely can then turn off, if it has already run. A bigger job, yes, yet the same opening move.
Anywhere across Cambridgeshire it happened, one of the situations below fits yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Hartford forecourt
Picture it: stood by the pump, holding the bottle, you realise the filler you took off wasn't the right one. Perhaps you're at the BP, perhaps at the another forecourt nearby, perhaps somewhere else around Hartford.
What it means: this is the best location to find out. No pump has pulled it in, and so the AdBlue stays just in the tank.
Next: resist the urge to fire it up just to free up the petrol pump. Have the attendants to lend a hand pushing it to a space, hold on to the receipt, then ring us right there. Can't move the vehicle beside the pump? Our explosion-proof equipment keeps a busy forecourt sensible, so we can drain the car in place.
At home around Hartford with AdBlue in your diesel tank
On your dash, a reminder had been lit for days. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look once more at the cap. Drives close to Charles Drive get it as much as anywhere.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. Being reluctant to mix, AdBlue drops low in your tank and stays. A night parked alters nothing.
Put the keys indoors tonight — or a person may take it off at breakfast — then phone us. Out in Newtown or here around Hartford, the draining happens at your drive. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Hartford: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
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. Anywhere on Arundel Road or on the road towards Cambridge — under 25 miles away.
The point: the system has drawn AdBlue through already. Past your filter, along the pipework, and — the further the mileage — on into the high-pressure pump and every injector. Every restart, like each mile, pushes it on.
Do this: pull up anywhere sensible, then turn the motor off. On the A1(M), under 5 miles from Hartford, that means the next exit, not the services further on. It won't have cleared, and so there is no point restarting to find out. Call, and say what distance your vehicle was driven.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
Seven days back, the car was new to you. The AdBlue filler is right next to the diesel one, which you didn't know, since your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Throughout Cambridgeshire, nobody is safe from it.
Meaning? Whichever case above applies here — run or not — and one extra step. Plenty of hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on the vehicle.
Next: phone the rental company or the fleet manager first, and then us — settling it before we arrive is quicker. Hanging on for a reply in the car park outside Huntingdon, or near Trinity Free Church? Leave your car off throughout.
Hartford: unsure if it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
"I think so" is sometimes the most honest answer there is. Too light, the bottle; a trace of ammonia round the filler; a hazy memory of which cap. Sound familiar? The gates of Hartford Infant and Preschool in a hurry, perhaps, or a friend's driveway out in Wyton.
What it means: a little spilled around the filler does no harm to your motor. If it is inside the diesel tank, though, that changes. Any AdBlue in your tank would be drawn in by starting your car, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Take it that it was put in, and never start the key. Ring with the details: we would sooner find a tank free of AdBlue than empty one once your engine has run.
The common ground in each Hartford AdBlue drain
Every case gets the same start to the job. Wherever the vehicle stands — King Of The Belgians's car park, a street beside All Saint's Church Room, a driveway, a forecourt — the van gets there and we ask about the liquid, the amount, plus if the motor has been run. Replies set the work; the price follows on the call while nobody has left yet.
Draining that tank comes next, followed by a full flush — more vital after urea than after petrol, because crystals and corrosion will not clear on their own, no matter how long you wait. Finally are the filter, flushed or replaced if necessary; fresh diesel; and a test of your vehicle. Never started? In that case roughly half an hour on site covers most jobs.
Lastly, our engineers fire it up. Our engineers confirm it runs correctly on clean diesel before we go. Permanent damage is very rare when it's caught soon, and the entire job is done where your car is. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, no money in advance. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About Hartford itself
Hartford is a suburban area in Cambridgeshire, situated on the banks of the River Great Ouse at an elevation of 19 metres. Hartford lies approximately 15 miles north of Cambridge and 57 miles north of London, with nearby settlements including Newtown and Sapley. Hartford has a population of around 6329 people and is characterised by predominantly detached housing.
AdBlue drains around Hartford, and across Cambridgeshire too
Sapley and Huntingdon have the same teams as Hartford, a residential suburb, along with other places throughout PE postcodes. Your whereabouts is quickest from a postcode beginning PE29 1.
Centre of Hartford or a lay-by towards King George_V Playing Field (The Pits): wherever it is, the vehicle never needs to move an inch for us. Our van empties it in place. If you're somewhere hard to describe, close to All Saints (Hartford Parish Church) or close to a border, ring and ask instead of assuming.
In one line: your scenario
Engine never started: phone, leaving it switched off. Started by now? Stop, switch off, phone. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest whichever it is, in Hartford and Cambridgeshire, on 0333 366 0103.