AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Melbourn, and What to Do Next
Has the motor run since the AdBlue got in? This one point decides nearly everything else from here. Out in Bridgefoot or here around Melbourn, an unrun motor must stay unrun. Switch nothing on, phone 0333 366 0103, and expect a thorough flush after a drain, done right where the car sits around Melbourn. Where the motor has run, stop safely first, then switch the vehicle off. It's a larger job, though step one does not change.
Compare what happened to a situation from the ones below, wherever around Cambridgeshire you happen to be.
Melbourn forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Just now, nozzle still in hand, you realise that the cap you opened was the wrong one, right at the pump. It might be the Thames Petrol, or the Esso, or another station in Melbourn.
In short: there is no better place exists to spot it. Nothing has pulled it through, so the AdBlue sits just inside that tank.
Next: resist the temptation to start it only to free up the petrol pump. A few things: a shove into a bay with the attendants assisting, the bottle saved, and a call to us from where you stand. Draining it right at the petrol pump is possible if it cannot be shifted, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home in Melbourn
For days the dash had been warning you. Picked up a bottle, poured it in at home, binned the empty — and only then checked the cap again, too late. Houses just off Cross Lane get caught out as much as everywhere else.
The upshot: zero miles since makes this nearly equal to finding it at the petrol pump. On the floor of the tank sits where AdBlue stays, since it will not blend with diesel — and a night going by changes nothing of the difference.
Keep the keys indoors overnight — or someone might take it off at breakfast — and call us. We drain it on your driveway, whether that is in Melbourn or out in Chiswick End. Our equipment runs quiet enough not to disturb the street at night.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel around Melbourn?
Filled up, pulled away, and soon your engine was running unevenly, smoking, losing power, or lighting up your dash. Orchard Gate, say, or the way to Cambridge — a trip of under 10 miles.
What it means: your fuel system has drawn the AdBlue in. It has been through your filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure pump and your injectors. It travels further with every extra mile driven and each restart.
What to do: pull over where it's safe to do so then switch off. Leave at the first junction — not the services beyond — if you're on the M11, under 10 miles from Melbourn. It won't have cleared, and so there is no sense starting it again to check. Let us hear the mileage driven when you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company motors
It is a car you have had for a week. Unknown to you, the AdBlue and diesel inlets sit next to each other here — unlike your own car, which has no AdBlue or stores it in another spot. It can happen to anyone, anywhere around Cambridgeshire.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it's run, with one more stage. Plenty of hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on the vehicle.
Do this: rental firm or fleet manager first, us second, since sorting it early cuts time. Stuck by Melbourn War Memorial or at Meldreth till the firm answers, your vehicle stays switched off the whole time.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Melbourn?
"I think so" is often as honest as it gets. Too light, that bottle; a hint of ammonia near your filler; a hazy recollection of the cap. Look familiar? Maybe at a friend's driveway in Dyers Green, or in a rush by Melbourn Primary School at the school run.
What it means: a little spilled round your filler does no harm to your motor. Inside your diesel tank, however, AdBlue damages it. Any AdBlue in that tank will be pulled in by starting the vehicle, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
What to do: treat it as if it was put in. Do not crank it. Phone with the details: we would rather find a clean tank than drain one once your engine has been run.
Each AdBlue drain in Melbourn shares these stages
No matter the case, a single start applies. Our technicians come to the vehicle, whether it is at a forecourt, a drive, the car park outside The Dolphin or a side street close to Melbourn United Reform Church, and ask three things: what was put in, roughly how much, and whether your motor has run. Those answers determine the work, and you hear our price by phone, before anybody heads out.
Draining the tank comes first, followed by a careful flush — more vital after urea than with petrol, because crystals and corrosion will not go by themselves, no matter how long it sits. Last are the fuel filter, flushed or replaced if necessary; clean diesel; and a check of the vehicle. Never started? Then about half an hour once we are there covers most jobs.
We start the engine last. We check it runs correctly on new diesel before we leave. If it's spotted early, the vehicle very rarely has lasting damage, and the entire job takes place where it is. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money upfront. It is worth remembering: many insurers include misfuelling cover, so a quick look at your policy while we travel pays.
About Melbourn and where it is
Melbourn is a village in Cambridgeshire, situated on the banks of the River Mel, with an elevation of around 28 metres. Melbourn lies approximately 9.5 miles south of Cambridge and 40.2 miles north of London, making it a commuter village with a mix of old and new housing, predominantly detached homes. Melbourn has a population of around 1488 residents and is surrounded by nearby villages such as Chiswick End and Meldreth.
Melbourn and Cambridgeshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Over SG postcodes, the teams serving Melbourn — a village — reach surrounding places as well, Meldreth and Flint Cross included. A postcode starting SG8 6 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to Stockbridge Meadows Nature Reserve or in a car park in the middle of Melbourn, it doesn't need to move. We drain the car where it stands. If you are somewhere hard to explain, near All Saints (Melbourn Parish Church) or close to a border, ring and ask rather than assuming.
The one-line version
Not run yet: keep the vehicle off then call. Run by now? Stop, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest whichever case, in Melbourn and Cambridgeshire, on 0333 366 0103.