AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Hook, and What to Do Next
Everything hinges on a single fact: if your engine has started since the AdBlue went in — far more than anything else. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether the vehicle is around Hook itself or out in Knights End. Ring 0333 366 0103 with your ignition and engine still off. Across Hook, that is typically drained and flushed on the spot. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. A larger job, then, but the identical first step.
Compare what happened to one of the ones below, wherever in Cambridgeshire you are.
Hook forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Picture it: stood by the pump, holding the bottle, you realise the filler you took off was not the right one. Be it Jet, Gulf or anywhere else in Hook, the situation is the same.
Meaning? Spotting it on the forecourt is as good as it can be. The AdBlue is in that tank and nowhere else. Nothing has pulled it in.
What to do: don't get back in and fire it up to clear the petrol pump. Ask the attendants to help you roll the vehicle into a parking spot, keep the receipt or the bottle, and call us from the forecourt. If it cannot be shifted, it can be cleared at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home in Hook
On your dash, a reminder had shown all week. Picked up a bottle, poured it in outside the house, recycled the empty — and only then looked at the cap a second time, too late. Just off Hook Road is no different from any other place.
The point: zero miles since makes it almost as good to spotting it at the pump. Being reluctant to blend, AdBlue drops low inside your tank and stays. A night parked alters nothing.
Next: prevent an early-morning move by putting the keys in the house, then phone us. Our technicians drain the vehicle on your driveway, whether that's in Hook or out in Eastwood End. The equipment works quiet enough that it won't wake the neighbours at night.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around Hook?
Filled up, pulled away, and soon your engine was running unevenly, smoking, down on power, or lighting up your dash. Perhaps it was on Hook Drove, perhaps on the way out towards Ely, under 15 miles away.
Meaning? Your pump has taken the AdBlue up. Through the fuel filter, along the pipework, and — the further the distance — deeper into the injection pump and every injector. More miles, more restarts: deeper it travels.
Pull in safely — that is the next job — then turn it off. Hook lies under 25 miles from the A1(M); there, come off at the first junction instead of pushing on for the services. Do not restart it to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Tell us know the mileage covered when you ring.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
It is a car you have had for a week. On your own car, AdBlue is absent or elsewhere. On this one, its inlet is just next to the diesel inlet — news to you. Any driver, anywhere in Cambridgeshire, might make it.
In short: one extra stage on top of the cases above, which depend on whether it's run. Many hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on the car.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's quicker settled before our technicians turn up than after. Waiting for an answer at the car park outside March, or near Wimblington Methodist Church? Leave the car off meanwhile.
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Not sure, around Hook
Sometimes the fair answer is "I think so". A slight ammonia-like smell lingers near your filler, the bottle feels too light, and the cap you took off is a blur. Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Thomas Eaton Primary Academy, or on a friend's drive in Stonea.
Meaning? Spills around the filler don't reach your engine at all. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. Firing up your car will not tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in that tank it would suck it in.
What to do: treat it as if it was put in. Do not crank it. Ring with the details: we'd rather find a tank free of AdBlue than drain one after your motor has been run.
Hook: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Whichever situation you are in, this job starts the same way. Filling station, driveway, the pub in the village's car park or a street by Wimblington and Stonea Village Sign — the van comes to the car, and three answers come next: which fluid, which quantity, and whether it ran. Over the phone, ahead of anything else, you hear our quote, and those replies shape the work too.
A thorough flush comes after the drain. With petrol it's standard; with AdBlue it is crucial, because deposits form and certain metals are attacked, and neither rinses away unaided. The filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the car is tested. Not started? In that case about half an hour once we are there is most jobs.
Starting it comes at the end. With new diesel in, it runs while our technicians make sure it is running smoothly, and then we go. If it's spotted early, the vehicle very rarely has long-term damage, and the whole job takes place where it is. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, nothing in advance. It is worth knowing: lots of insurers include misfuelling cover, so a check of your policy as we travel pays.
About Hook and where it is
Hook is a small hamlet situated on the riverside in Cambridgeshire, with a low elevation of around 5 metres. Hook lies near the city of Ely, and is also close to other nearby places such as Eastwood End and Wimblington. Hook has a population of approximately 563 people, and is characterised by predominantly detached housing. Hook is located about 70 miles from London, making it a relatively rural community.
Hook and Cambridgeshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Hook is a rural hamlet, and the same teams that cover it work the towns near it too, Wimblington and Town End among them, across the PE postcode area. A postcode starting PE15 0 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No towing is needed, whether parked centrally in Hook or on a lay-by heading to Priory Golf & Activity Centre, so keep it put. Wherever it sits, that is where it is cleared. Ring and ask rather than guess if you're close to St Peter (Wimblington Parish Church), on a border, or somewhere tricky to explain.
The one-line version
Engine not started: phone, leaving it switched off. Run by now: stop, power down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder, in Hook or anywhere across Cambridgeshire.