What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Harvington
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: whether your motor has been run since it was put in. Not started yet? Then keep the car like that, wherever the vehicle sits — Harvington or Atch Lench. Keep nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, and expect a thorough flush plus a drain, carried out right where your vehicle sits around Harvington. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. A bigger job, then, but the identical opening step.
Anywhere across Worcestershire it happened, one of the situations below fits yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Harvington forecourt
Imagine it: standing by the petrol pump, holding the bottle, you realise the cap you opened wasn't the correct one. Possibly you're at the Texaco, perhaps at the HGV, possibly somewhere else in Harvington.
What it means: this is the ideal location to find out. The AdBlue is inside your tank and nowhere else. Nothing has pulled it in.
Next: resist the temptation to fire it up just to free up the petrol pump. Ring us from the forecourt after the vehicle sits in a bay — the staff will lend a hand to roll it — and keep the bottle. Draining it right at the petrol pump is possible if it cannot be moved, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in the diesel tank at home in Harvington
On your dash, a warning had shown for days. Only by the recycling, the empty container in hand, did you look back at the cap you had used on the driveway. Drives near Village Street see it as much as any other street.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue stay apart: the AdBlue drops to the floor of your tank and remains put, no matter how long it waits.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so nobody moves your car in the morning. Then ring. Your drive is where it gets drained, be it around Harvington or Abbots Salford. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Harvington: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Lumpy running, smoke, falling power or a lit dashboard arrived a mile or two beyond the fill. Hughes Lane, perhaps, or the route to Worcester — a run of under 15 miles.
The upshot: the system has drawn AdBlue in already. Distance sets how far it gets: filter and pipework to begin with, then the injection pump and every injector. More driving, more starts: further it goes.
Next: find a safe spot, stop, and switch the engine off. Harvington sits under 15 miles from the M5; there, pull off at the first junction rather than pushing on for the services. No test starts: clearing itself is not something AdBlue will do. Roughly what distance did it go? Tell us when you call.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
Seven days back, the car was new to you. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is absent or elsewhere. On this one, the cap is just by the diesel inlet — news to you. Anyone, wherever across Worcestershire, could make it.
In short: an extra stage on top of the cases above, and those depend on if it has run. Many hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on your car.
Do this: rental firm or your fleet manager first, us second, because settling it early cuts time. Stuck near Harvington Village Hall or outside Evesham until someone replies, the car stays turned off throughout.
Harvington: unsure whether it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Now and then, "I think so" is all you can honestly say. What cap came off, you can't recall; but the bottle weighs lighter than expected, and a whiff of ammonia hangs by the filler. Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Harvington CofE First School, or on a friend's drive in Lenchwick.
Put simply: a spill round your filler does the motor no harm. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. You can't tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so will draw in any AdBlue that is in that tank.
Do this: act as though it got in, and don't start the engine. Checking a tank that proves free of AdBlue is better than draining one once it has been run — so ring and describe to us what you saw.
Harvington: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Every situation gets the same opening to the job. Wherever the car is — Coach & Horses's car park, a street by Harvington Baptist Church, a driveway, a filling station — the van gets there and asks about the fluid, the amount, and if your engine has been run. Those answers settle this work, and you hear our price on the phone, before anyone heads out.
Draining your tank comes first, followed by a careful flush — more vital after urea than with petrol, because crystals and corrosion won't clear on their own, no matter how long it sits. Last are your filter, cleaned or replaced if necessary; clean diesel; and a test of the car. Where your engine has not run, allow roughly half an hour once we arrive, in most jobs.
Our technicians start the engine at the end. We confirm it runs smoothly on new diesel before leaving. When it's spotted soon, the vehicle very seldom has lasting damage, and the entire job happens where it is. Paying is on the day, never in advance. For the insurer, there is a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours whilst we're on the way.
About Harvington itself
Harvington is a village situated on the banks of the River Avon in Worcestershire, with a mix of rural and riverside landscapes. Harvington has a relatively low elevation of 49 metres above sea level and is located near several other small villages, including Abbots Salford and Norton. Harvington is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock, reflecting its rural setting. Harvington is also within commuting distance of Worcester, the nearest city, which is 13.2 miles away.
Harvington and Worcestershire: AdBlue drains across the area
Throughout WR postcodes, the vans covering Harvington — a village — work nearby places as well, Norton and Rushford among them. A postcode starting WR11 8 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Centre of Harvington or a layby near Windmill Hill Nature Reserve: wherever it is, the vehicle never needs to move an inch for this drain. Where it stands, that is where it is cleared. Assuming doesn't help beside St James the Great, close to a border or anywhere hard to pin down; phone and check.
Your situation, summed up
Where it has not started, ring and leave it off. Already run: stop, switch off then ring. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there around Harvington and anywhere in Worcestershire on 0333 366 0103.