What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Huntingdon
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: if your engine has been run since it was put in. Not run so far? Then leave it like that, whether the car sits — Huntingdon or Godmanchester. Leave the motor and your ignition off and phone 0333 366 0103; it is usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Huntingdon. When your motor has run, pull in somewhere safe straight away, then switch the vehicle off. Stage one stays unchanged, even if the work is bigger.
Below: the situations we meet, wherever around Cambridgeshire. Choose the one that fits.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Huntingdon forecourt
Just now, bottle still in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you opened was the wrong one, right at the petrol pump. Be it Sainsbury's, another forecourt nearby or anywhere else around Huntingdon, the situation is the same.
What it means: this is the best location to find out. The AdBlue is inside that tank and nowhere else. Nothing has drawn it in.
Clearing the petrol pump is no reason to run it — and so don't get back in. Get the staff to help rolling it to a space, save the bottle, then phone us right there. The equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt, so a car that cannot be pushed away gets emptied right at the pump.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home in Huntingdon
The warning light had been on for days. Picked up a container, poured it in at home, binned the empty — and at that point looked at the cap again, too late. Driveways close to High Street get it as much as anywhere.
Meaning? Provided the car hasn't moved since, it's close to the forecourt case. As it is unable to blend, AdBlue drops low in your tank and waits. A night parked alters none of that.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so nobody moves the car in the morning. Then ring. Your driveway is where it gets emptied, be it in Huntingdon or Newtown. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel around Huntingdon?
Filled up, pulled away, and soon your engine was running unevenly, smoking, losing power, or flashing up your dash. Somewhere on Raitts Passage or on the road towards Cambridge — under 25 miles away.
The point: your system has drawn AdBlue through by now. The injection pump and every injector see it too on a bigger run, once the fuel filter and lines have had it. Every restart, like every mile, carries it deeper.
What to do: pull over where it is safe and switch off. On the A1(M), under 5 miles from Huntingdon, that means the next junction, not the services further on. Starting it again to test achieves nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear on its own. Call us and say how far you drove.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You've had the vehicle hardly a week. Unbeknown to you, the two inlets sit next to each other here — unlike your own vehicle, which has no AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere. It can happen to anyone, anywhere around Cambridgeshire.
The point: exactly as above, divided by whether it ran, only with one added stage. The owner frequently has to approve any work, under plenty of rental and fleet contracts.
Your move: rental firm or your fleet manager to begin with, us next, since settling it early cuts time. If you're stuck in the car park outside the nearest station, or by Market Square, whilst you wait for an answer, leave the car off.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank in Huntingdon?
At times, "I think so" is all you can truthfully say. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia round your filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. The gates of Huntingdon Primary School in a hurry, perhaps, or someone's driveway out in Hartford.
The point: your motor isn't harmed by a little AdBlue spilled on the filler. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. Firing up your car cannot tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in the tank it will draw it in.
Assume it was put in, and never start the key. Checking a tank that proves free of AdBlue beats draining one once it's been run — so ring then describe to us what you saw.
Every AdBlue drain around Huntingdon shares these steps
Whichever scenario you are in, this job starts the same way. Our engineers come to your car, whether it's on a forecourt, a driveway, the car park at Market Inn or a side street close to The Thinking Soldier, and ask three things: what got in, about how much, and whether the motor has run. Over the phone, before dispatch, you are told the price, and those replies decide the work too.
Then your tank is cleared and the system flushed thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not rinse out on its own. Then is your filter — cleaned, or swapped where needed — then clean diesel, and a test of your car. The majority of unrun vehicles are a half-hour job after the moment our engineers turn up.
Last, our technicians start it. Our engineers confirm it runs properly on new diesel before we leave. Our engineers do the whole job where the vehicle is, and long-term damage is very rare when it has been spotted soon. Payment comes on the day, never upfront. For your insurer, you get a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. It is worth remembering: lots of insurers offer misfuelling cover, and so a check of your policy while you wait pays.
About Huntingdon
Huntingdon is a town situated on the banks of the Great Ouse river in Cambridgeshire, with a low elevation of around 18 metres. Huntingdon lies approximately 56.9 miles north of London and 15.5 miles west of Cambridge, near the villages of Newtown and Hinchingbrooke. Huntingdon has a mix of housing types, but terraced houses are predominant in the town. Huntingdon is connected to the surrounding area by road and river, with nearby Stukeley also part of the local community.
AdBlue drains across Cambridgeshire, Huntingdon included
Throughout PE postcodes, the vans serving Huntingdon — a riverside town — reach surrounding towns as well, Hinchingbrooke and Stukeley among them. Your location comes quickest from a postcode beginning PE29 3.
No towing is required, whether stopped in the centre of Huntingdon or on a lay-by heading to Bloomfield Park, and so leave it put. We drain it where it is. Ring and check rather than guess if you're close to The Cromwell Museum, near a boundary, or somewhere tricky to explain.
In one line: your scenario
Not run yet: keep the vehicle off then ring. Run already: pull over, switch down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, within Huntingdon or anywhere in Cambridgeshire.