AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Little Thetford: What Now?
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: if the motor has been run since it went in. If it has not, keep it that way, whether the car is in Little Thetford itself or out in Stuntney. Keep nothing on, call 0333 366 0103, and count on a proper flush after a drain, carried out right where your vehicle stands around Little Thetford. When the motor has been run, stop safely first, then switch it off. The job is bigger, yet the first step is the same.
Below: the situations our technicians meet, anywhere across Cambridgeshire. Choose yours.
At the pump in Little Thetford: AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you only notice it as you are stood at the petrol pump, bottle or nozzle in your hand. Possibly you are at the Essar, possibly at the BP, possibly somewhere else around Little Thetford.
The point: of all places to find out, this is the best. Still inside the tank, and no fuel drawn onwards: that's where the AdBlue sits.
Next: avoid the urge to fire it up only to free up the petrol pump. Ask the staff to help you roll your car into a parking spot, keep the till receipt or the bottle, then phone us from the forecourt. Emptying it right at the petrol pump is fine when it can't be shifted, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home around Little Thetford with AdBlue in your diesel tank
On the dash, a reminder had shown all week. Only at the recycling bin, the empty container in your hand, did you look back at the cap you had used at the driveway. Driveways near Green Hill get it as much as any other street.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. As it is unable to blend, AdBlue drops to the base inside that tank and stays. A night parked alters nothing.
Keep the keys in the house overnight — or a person may drive it away at breakfast — then call us. In Barway or here in Little Thetford, the drain is done at your driveway. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in Little Thetford?
Filled up, pulled away, and before long the motor was running unevenly, blowing smoke, losing power, or flashing up the dash. Maybe driving to Ely, under 3 miles away, or just down Taylor Close.
The upshot: your system has drawn AdBlue through by now. Mileage decides how far it gets: filter and pipework to begin with, then the high-pressure pump and every injector. More miles, more restarts: deeper it goes.
Stop somewhere safe — that's the next step — then switch it off. Little Thetford lies under 15 miles from the M11; there, come off at the first junction rather than pressing on to the services. Do not restart the car to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Call us and say how far you travelled.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company motors
You've had this car barely a week. Your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or puts it elsewhere, so no one warned you the AdBlue inlet was just next to the diesel. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in Cambridgeshire.
Meaning? Whatever applies above applies too — run or unrun — plus one extra stage. The owner frequently needs to approve any work, under many hire and company contracts.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is faster settled before our engineers get there than after. Waiting for an answer at the car park outside Ely, or near Little Thetford Village Sign? Leave your engine off meanwhile.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank around Little Thetford?
At times the fair answer is "I think so". The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia about your filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. Possibly it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Little Thetford CofE Primary School, or on a friend's drive in White Cross Hill.
Meaning? Spills outside the inlet don't reach the motor at all. A diesel tank with AdBlue in it is another matter. Any AdBlue in your tank would be sucked in by starting your car, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
Next: act as though it went in, and keep your engine off. Phone with what you saw: we'd sooner confirm a tank free of AdBlue than drain one after the engine has run.
Little Thetford: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Every situation has the same start to the job. Three things are asked when our technicians arrive — on a forecourt, a drive, a street beside St George (Little Thetford Parish Church) or the car park at the pub in the village: the liquid, the quantity, and whether it has been started. Those answers settle this work, and you get our quote on the phone, before anybody sets off.
AdBlue crystallises and eats at certain metals in fuel systems, so it does not wash out unaided; that's why a full flush, after this drain, matters far more with AdBlue than with petrol. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the car is tested. If the motor has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
Our engineers fire it up last. Before our engineers head off, it's checked to be sure it runs properly on fresh diesel. If it is caught early, the car very seldom has permanent damage, and the entire job takes place where it is. Payment is that day, never upfront. For your insurer, there is a VAT invoice and a written report from the engineer. It is worth knowing: many insurers offer misfuelling cover, and so a check of your policy while you wait is worthwhile.
About Little Thetford, for a moment
Little Thetford is a village situated on the River Great Ouse in Cambridgeshire, with a low elevation of around 9 metres above sea level. Little Thetford lies near the city of Ely, which is approximately 2.6 miles away, and is close to other nearby places such as Barway and Stretham. Little Thetford has a population of around 744 people and predominantly consists of detached housing.
AdBlue drains around Little Thetford and across Cambridgeshire
Little Thetford is a village, and the same vans that cover it work the places around it too, Padney and Stretham among them, across the CB postcode area. Telling us your CB6 3 postcode finds you fastest of all.
Central Little Thetford or a lay-by towards Jubilee Gardens: either way it is, your vehicle doesn't need to shift an inch for the drain. Wherever it sits, that is where it gets drained. Ring and check rather than guess when you are close to Little Thetford Baptist Chapel, near a border, or anywhere awkward to explain.
Your situation, in one line
Still unrun? Leave it that way then phone. Whatever case fits, Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest on 0333 366 0103, throughout Cambridgeshire and within Little Thetford — once you pull over, switch off then ring, if it has run.