AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Kidlington, and What to Do Next
One fact counts most when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is if the engine has run since. Out in Yarnton or here around Kidlington, an unstarted engine should stay that way. Keep nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, and count on a thorough flush plus a drain, carried out right where your car stands around Kidlington. Already started? Pull over when safe, then turn it off. The job is bigger, yet the first stage is the same.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever across Oxfordshire it happened.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Kidlington forecourt
Just at this point, bottle yet in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you took off was the wrong one, there at the pump. Perhaps you are at the Sainsbury's, possibly at the Shell, possibly somewhere else in Kidlington.
The upshot: of all places to find out, this is the best. Still inside your tank, and no fuel pulled through: that is where the AdBlue is.
Your move: keep out of the driver's seat, even if the pump needs clearing. A few things: a shove into a space with the staff assisting, the receipt kept, and a call to us from where you stand. Stuck beside the pump? Our explosion-proof equipment makes a busy forecourt safe, and so we can drain the car in place.
Kidlington, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
On the dash, a warning 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. Homes just off Sterling Road Approach are hit as much as everywhere else.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of the tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Next: keys indoors, and so nobody drives the vehicle anywhere first thing. Then, ring. In Garden City or right here in Kidlington, the draining is done at your drive. Even at night, the pumps are quiet enough for a residential street.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in Kidlington?
A short way after topping up, your engine began misbehaving: rough running, smoke, lost power, warnings on the dash. Sterling Road, perhaps, or the route towards Oxford — a trip of under 10 miles.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been sucked through the fuel system. Distance sets how deep it gets: filter and pipework first, then the injection pump and every injector. It travels further with every mile covered and each restart.
Next: find a safe place, stop, then turn the engine off. Service stations further along can wait: on the M40, under 5 miles out of Kidlington, use the first junction. Restarting it to test achieves nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear itself. Phone, and say how far your car went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company motors
You've only driven this vehicle a week. Your own car either does without AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere, and so nothing told you the AdBlue inlet sits right beside the diesel. It can happen to anyone, anywhere around Oxfordshire.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it has run, with one more stage. Plenty of hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on your car.
Sorting it before we arrives is faster, and so ring the rental company or your fleet manager, then us. Waiting for a reply at the car park at Oxford Parkway, or beside Exeter Hall? Keep your car off meanwhile.
AdBlue in your diesel tank? Not sure, in Kidlington
Honestly, the only answer might be that you think it did. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia around your filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at North Kidlington Primary School, or on a friend's drive in Hampton Poyle.
The point: your engine is not hurt by a little AdBlue spilled on the outside. In your diesel tank, however, AdBlue harms it. Any AdBlue in that tank will be sucked in by turning on the vehicle, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
What to do: treat it as if it was put in. Do not fire it up. Call us and explain what you saw; we would rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
The common ground in every Kidlington AdBlue drain
The work opens identically, whichever the situation. Our engineers come to the vehicle, whether it is on a forecourt, a drive, the car park outside The Red Lion or a side street near County Library, and ask three things: what got in, about how much, and whether your engine has been run. The price comes on the call, before a van leaves, and those replies shape the work.
AdBlue forms crystals and eats at some metals used in fuel systems, and so it won't rinse out on its own; that is why the flush, after the drain, matters much more here than with petrol. Last are your filter, cleaned or renewed if necessary; clean diesel; and a test of your car. Never started? Then about half an hour on site covers most jobs.
The final step is firing it up. Our engineers check it runs smoothly on clean diesel before we leave. When it's spotted quickly, the vehicle very rarely has long-term damage, and the entire job happens where it is. Payment is on the day, never in advance. For the insurer, there is a VAT invoice plus a written report from the engineer. Dig out your insurance while we're en route: misfuelling cover comes built into plenty of policies.
About Kidlington
Kidlington is a town situated on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, with a population of around 14887 people. Kidlington lies approximately 5 miles north of Oxford and 54 miles west of London, making it a commuter town for both cities. Kidlington is characterized by its semi-detached housing and riverside setting, with nearby places including Garden City and Gosford. Kidlington has a relatively low elevation of 64 metres above sea level.
AdBlue drains across Oxfordshire, Kidlington included
Throughout OX postcodes, the teams serving Kidlington — a riverside town — reach nearby towns too, Gosford and Oxford Spires Park included. A postcode starting OX5 2 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No towing is required, whether parked in the centre of Kidlington or in a lay-by en route to Exeter Close Park, so keep it where it is. The van drains it in place. Ring and check instead of guessing when you are close to Kidlington Methodist Church, near a border, or anywhere tricky to explain.
Your scenario, summed up
Not run yet: keep the vehicle off then call. Run by now? Stop, switch off, phone. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder whatever case, in Kidlington and Oxfordshire, on 0333 366 0103.