AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Minster Lovell: What Now?
One thing counts most once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is if the motor has been started since. Over in Worsham or here in Minster Lovell, an unstarted engine should stay unrun. Leave your motor and your ignition off and phone 0333 366 0103; it's generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Minster Lovell. Stop the minute you safely can then switch off, if it has already run. Step one remains unchanged, even though the job grows.
Compare your case to one of the list below, anywhere in Oxfordshire you happen to be.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Minster Lovell forecourt
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you just notice it as you are stood at the petrol pump, bottle or the nozzle in hand. Whether BP, Shell or somewhere else around Minster Lovell, the case is the same.
In short: no better place to be to spot it. The AdBlue is in your tank and nowhere else. Nothing has pulled it in.
What to do: do not get back in and start the car to clear the pump. Have the staff to lend a hand rolling it into a bay, save the receipt, then ring us from there. Draining it right at the pump is fine if it can't be shifted, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
Minster Lovell, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. A bottle from the garage, emptied in on the drive — and it was just by the recycling that the cap caught a second look. Homes just off Brize Norton Road are hit as often as everywhere else.
Meaning? Provided your car has not moved since, it is second to the forecourt case. Diesel and AdBlue stay separate: the AdBlue drops to the base of the tank and remains put, however long it waits.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so no one moves the vehicle in the morning. Then ring. Out in Charterville Allotments or right here in Minster Lovell, the drain is done at your drive. Our equipment works quietly enough not to disturb the neighbours at night.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel around Minster Lovell?
A mile or two after filling up, the engine began playing up: roughness, smoke, lost power, lights on the dash. Maybe heading for Oxford, under 15 miles away, or simply down Cotswold Close.
In short: the AdBlue has been sucked through your fuel system. Past the filter, along the lines, and — the more the distance — on into the injection pump and every injector. More miles, more starts: further it travels.
What to do: pull over where it is safe and switch off. Leave at the next junction — not the services further along — if you are on the M40, under 25 miles from Minster Lovell. Don't restart the vehicle to see if it has cleared; it will not have. About what distance had it go? Tell us when you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company vehicles
It's a car you have had for a week. On your own car, AdBlue is missing or somewhere else. On this one, its cap is right next to the diesel cap — a surprise to you. Across Oxfordshire, no one is immune.
In short: an extra step on top of the situations above, which turn on if it's run. Many hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on the vehicle.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's faster settled before we get there than after. Keep it off while the reply arrives, even if you are parked outside Ascott-Under-Wychwood or close to St Kenelm's Hall.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Minster Lovell?
"I think so" is often the most honest as it gets. Too light, the bottle; a hint of ammonia near the filler; no clear memory of which cap. Sound familiar? The gates of St Kenelm's Church of England (VC) School in a rush, say, or someone's driveway out in Asthall Leigh.
The point: the engine isn't harmed by some AdBlue spilled on the outside. A diesel tank with AdBlue in it is a different matter. Any AdBlue in that tank would be sucked in by turning on the car, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
Do this: behave as though it got in, and never start your motor. Tell us what you noticed on the phone. A clean tank looked at is a happier outcome than an already-run one emptied.
Each AdBlue drain in Minster Lovell shares these steps
Every case has the same opening to the work. Our engineers come to the vehicle, whether it is at a forecourt, a drive, the car park at The White Hart or a side street near Minster Lovell Methodist Church, and ask three things: what was put in, about how much, and whether your motor has run. Over the phone, before anything else, you are told the price, and those answers decide the job too.
A thorough flush follows the drain. With petrol it's standard; with AdBlue it is crucial, since deposits form and certain metals corrode, and neither washes out unaided. Fresh diesel is put in after the fuel filter has been cleaned or replaced, and your car is then checked. If the engine has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
The last step is starting the car. Our check that it runs smoothly on clean diesel comes before our engineers leave. Our engineers do the whole job where the car is, and long-term damage is very unusual when it has been noticed quickly. Paying comes that day, never in advance. For the insurer, there is a VAT invoice plus a written report from the engineer. It is worth knowing: many insurers offer misfuelling cover, and so a quick look at your policy while we travel is worthwhile.
About Minster Lovell and where it is
Minster Lovell is a village in Oxfordshire, situated on the banks of the River Windrush at an elevation of around 119 metres. Minster Lovell has a mix of old and new housing, with detached homes being the predominant type, and is located near Charterville Allotments and Little Minster. Minster Lovell is close to the city of Oxford, approximately 12.7 miles away, and is also within commuting distance of London, about 64 miles to the southeast. Minster Lovell remains a small, rural community with a population of around 999 people.
AdBlue drains round Minster Lovell and across Oxfordshire
As a village, Minster Lovell shares its vans with the nearby towns — Bushey Ground, Little Minster — all the way across OX postcodes. A postcode starting OX29 0 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Central Minster Lovell or a lay-by towards Wash Meadow: either way it is, the vehicle doesn't need to move an inch for us. Our engineers drain it where it is. Guessing doesn't help beside Church of St Kenelm, close to a border or anywhere awkward to describe; ring and ask.
In one line: your scenario
Unstarted? Leave it off then phone. Run by now: pull over, switch down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, within Minster Lovell or anywhere across Oxfordshire.