What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Meldreth
Has the motor run since the AdBlue got in? That one question settles nearly everything else from here. Over in Dyers Green or here in Meldreth, an unrun engine must remain that way. Keep nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, then count on a proper flush plus a drain, carried out right where the vehicle sits around Meldreth. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. It is a bigger job, though stage one doesn't change.
Match your case to a situation from the ones below, anywhere across Cambridgeshire you happen to be.
On a Meldreth forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you just spot it as you are stood at the petrol pump, bottle or the nozzle in your hand. It could be the Thames Petrol, or the Wilshers Garage, or another forecourt around Meldreth.
Put simply: no better spot to be to discover it. Still inside that tank, and nothing drawn onwards: that's where the AdBlue is.
Do this: stay out of the car, even if the queue needs freeing. Ring us from the forecourt once your vehicle sits in a space — the attendants will lend a hand to push it — then save the receipt. If it cannot be shifted, it can be drained at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a working forecourt.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Meldreth drive?
For days the dashboard had been warning you. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look again at the cap. Just off High Street is not different from any other place.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of the tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
Put the keys indoors overnight — or a person may drive it away at breakfast — and call us. Chiswick End or Meldreth: wherever your drive is, that's where it gets emptied. Even at night, the pumps are quiet enough for a driveway.
On the road in Meldreth with AdBlue in a diesel
Topped up, pulled away, and before long your motor was turning roughly, smoking, losing power, or flashing up the dash. Maybe it was on North End, maybe on the way out towards Cambridge, under 10 miles away.
Meaning? The fuel pump has taken the AdBlue in. The injection pump and every injector see it as well on a bigger trip, once the fuel filter and lines have had it. Each restart, like every mile, pushes it on.
Next: find a safe place, pull in, then switch your motor off. Exit at the next junction — not the services beyond — if you are on the M11, under 10 miles from Meldreth. It won't have cleared, so there's no point restarting to check. Phone, saying how far your vehicle went.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
It's a car you have had for a week. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is absent or somewhere else. On this one, the cap is just next to your diesel cap — news to you. Any driver, wherever around Cambridgeshire, could make the same.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it has run, with one more step. The owner frequently has to approve the work, under plenty of rental and fleet contracts.
Sorting it before the van turn up is faster, so phone the hire company or your fleet manager, then us. Keep the car off while the answer arrives, whether you're waiting outside the nearest station or near the centre.
AdBlue in your diesel tank? Not sure, in Meldreth
Occasionally the fair answer is "I think so". What cap came off, you cannot say; meanwhile the bottle feels lighter than expected, and ammonia hangs by the filler. It might have been at a friend's driveway in Whaddon, or in a rush outside Meldreth Primary School on the school run.
In short: a spill near your filler does the motor no harm. If it is inside the diesel tank, though, it does. Firing up the vehicle cannot tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in your tank it would pull it in.
Take it that it went in, and never start your key. Tell us what you saw on the phone. A clean tank looked at is a better result than a run one drained.
The common ground in each Meldreth AdBlue drain
Whichever scenario you are in, this job starts the same way. Three things are asked once we arrive — on a forecourt, a driveway, a street by Holy Trinity (Meldreth Parish Church) or the car park at British Queen: the fluid, the amount, and if it has been started. Those answers determine this work, and you get our price on the phone, before anybody heads out.
Then the tank is drained and the system purged thoroughly, which matters 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. Clean diesel is put in after the filter has been flushed or changed, and your car is finally checked. Never started? In that case about half an hour on site covers most jobs.
Our engineers start it at the end. Before we leave, it is checked to confirm it runs correctly on clean diesel. Our technicians do the entire job where the vehicle is, and long-term damage is very uncommon when it has been caught soon. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. It is worth remembering: many insurers offer misfuelling cover, so a quick look at your documents while you wait pays.
About Meldreth and where it is
Meldreth is a small village in Cambridgeshire, situated on the banks of the River Mel, with an elevation of around 26 metres. Meldreth lies approximately 8.7 miles south of Cambridge and 41.3 miles north of London, making it a rural outpost within commuting distance of both cities. Meldreth has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are particularly prevalent in the village. Meldreth is surrounded by other small settlements, including Chiswick End, Melbourn, and Shepreth.
AdBlue drains about Meldreth and across Cambridgeshire
Throughout SG postcodes, the vans serving Meldreth — a village — work nearby towns as well, Melbourn and Shepreth included. Quickest of all: a SG8 6 postcode for your location.
Parked en route to Melwood, or right in the heart of Meldreth, your car remains put — there is no need to move it at all. Wherever it sits, that is where it gets cleared. Ring and ask rather than guess when you are by Meldreth Village Hall, near a border, or somewhere tricky to pin down.
Your scenario, in one line
Still unrun? Keep the car off then phone. Run already? Stop, turn off, ring. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder whichever case, in Meldreth and Cambridgeshire, on 0333 366 0103.