Kelvedon: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Find Your Situation
Has the motor run since the AdBlue was put in? This one question decides almost everything else from here. Anywhere the car stands — Feering, Kelvedon — never start a motor that has not been started yet. Call 0333 366 0103 with the key and motor both off. Across Kelvedon, such a case is typically drained and cleaned on the spot. Stop the moment it is safe then turn off, if it has been run. It's a larger job, yet step one doesn't change.
Below: the cases we see, anywhere in Essex. Pick the one that fits.
Kelvedon forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Picture it: standing by the petrol pump, holding the nozzle, you realise the cap you opened was not the correct one. Be it PB, Esso or anywhere else around Kelvedon, the situation is identical.
The upshot: of all places to find out, this is the best. Just that tank holds AdBlue; not one component beyond it has drawn it in.
Do this: stay out of the car, even if the queue wants freeing. Phone us from the forecourt after the vehicle sits in a space — the attendants will help roll it — and keep the receipt. Emptying it there at the pump is fine when it cannot be shifted, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home in Kelvedon with AdBlue in your diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the driveway, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look once more at the cap. It occurs on drives just off Church Street as commonly as anywhere.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue keep apart: the AdBlue drops to the base of your tank and remains put, however long the night.
Your move: keys indoors, so no one drives your vehicle anywhere at breakfast. Then, phone. Newtown or Kelvedon: wherever your drive sits, that is where it is cleared. Even at night, the pumps stay quiet enough for a residential street.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel in Kelvedon?
A mile or two after topping up, the motor started misbehaving: rough running, smoke, less power, warnings on the dash. Maybe driving to Colchester, under 10 miles away, or simply down Grangewood Avenue.
What it means: the system has pulled the AdBlue in. It has been through your filter and the fuel lines and, the further you went, into your high-pressure pump and your injectors. More miles, more starts: further it travels.
Stop safely — that is the next job — then turn it off. Kelvedon lies under 25 miles from the M11; there, come off at the first junction instead of pressing on for the services. No test starts: clearing itself is not something AdBlue does. Phone, and say what distance your car went.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
Seven days back, it was unknown to you. The AdBlue filler sits right beside the diesel filler, which you didn't know, because your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in Essex.
The point: just as above, divided by if it ran, but with an added step. Any work on the car often needs the owner's approval under rental or company agreements.
Sorting it before the van arrives is quicker, so ring the hire company or your fleet manager, then us. Stuck by St Mary Immaculate & The Holy Archangels or at the nearest station until someone replies, your vehicle remains turned off throughout.
Kelvedon: unsure whether it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Sometimes the honest answer is "I think so". Too light, that bottle; a hint of ammonia round your filler; a hazy recollection of the cap. Look familiar? Perhaps it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Kelvedon St Mary's Church of England Primary Academy, or on a friend's drive in Rivenhall End.
Meaning? Spills around the filler don't reach the motor at all. Once it is inside your diesel tank, though, it does. Any AdBlue in the tank would be sucked in by turning on the vehicle, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Your move: behave as if it did, and don't start the motor. Tell us what you noticed on the phone. A clear tank looked at counts as a better result than a run one emptied.
What each AdBlue drain around Kelvedon has in common
Whichever situation you are in, the job starts the same way. Three questions come once our engineers arrive — at a filling station, a drive, a street by Kelvedon Library or the car park at The Angel: the liquid, the quantity, and whether the motor has been started. Over the phone, before dispatch, you are told our quote, and those replies decide the job too.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to certain metals used in fuel systems, and so it does not wash out unaided; that is why a full flush, after the drain, counts far more with AdBlue than with petrol. Fresh diesel is put in after the fuel filter has been cleaned or changed, and your car is then checked. Most unrun cars are a half-hour visit after the moment we get there.
Firing it up comes at the end. With clean diesel in, it runs while we make sure it's running correctly, and then we go. When it is spotted soon, the vehicle very rarely has long-term damage, and the entire job happens where it is. Nothing is paid upfront, payment happens on the day, and you receive what the insurer asks for: an engineer report plus a VAT invoice. It is worth remembering: lots of insurers offer misfuelling cover, and so a check of your policy while we travel is worthwhile.
About Kelvedon, for a moment
Kelvedon is a village situated on the banks of the River Blackwater in Essex, with an elevation of around 30 metres. Kelvedon lies near the towns of Colchester and Witham, and is surrounded by smaller settlements such as Newtown and Inworth. Kelvedon has a mix of housing types, but is predominantly characterised by detached homes. Kelvedon is located approximately 41.9 miles from London, making it a commuter village for some residents.
Kelvedon and Essex: AdBlue drains across the area
Throughout CO postcodes, the teams serving Kelvedon — a village — work surrounding towns as well, Gore Pit and Inworth included. Giving us your CO5 9 postcode pins you quickest of all.
Whether the car is on a lay-by on the way to The Recreation Ground or in a car park in the middle of Kelvedon, it doesn't need to move. We drain it where it sits. Awkward to explain? By St Mary the Virgin, Kelvedon or a border? Checking is better than assuming, and so ring.
The one-line version
If it has not run, ring then leave it off. Run by now? Pull over, switch off, phone. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest whatever case, in Kelvedon and Essex, on 0333 366 0103.