AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Mistley, and What to Do Next
One thing matters above all once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is if your motor has run since. Out in Cattawade or here in Mistley, an unrun motor should stay unrun. Keep nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, and expect a proper flush plus a drain, carried out just where your vehicle stands around Mistley. Where the motor has been run, stop somewhere safe first, then turn the vehicle off. It is a bigger job, though step one does not change.
Match your case to one of the list below, wherever across Essex you are.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Mistley forecourt
Picture it: standing by the petrol pump, gripping the bottle, you realise the cap you took off wasn't the right one. Be it TotalEnergies, Esso Fuel or anywhere else in Mistley, the case is the same.
The point: of all places to find out, this is the best. Still in that tank, and no fuel pulled through: that's where the AdBlue sits.
Next: avoid the temptation to start it just to move away from the pump. Ask the attendants to help you push the car into a parking spot, keep the till receipt or the bottle, then phone us from the forecourt. If it can't be moved, it can be drained at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt.
Mistley, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
Several days had passed with the warning light on. Bought a bottle, tipped it in outside the house, recycled the empty — and at that point looked at the cap a second time, after the fact. Just off The Green is no less likely from any other place.
Meaning? Provided your vehicle hasn't been driven since, it's close to the pump case. At the floor of the tank sits where AdBlue stays, because it won't mix with diesel — and a night going by changes nothing of the difference.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so no one moves the vehicle in the morning. Then call. We drain the car on your drive, whether that's in Mistley or out in Manningtree. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel in Mistley?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later the engine began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Anywhere along High Street or heading towards Colchester — under 10 miles away.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been pulled through the system. The high-pressure pump and every injector get it too on a bigger run, after your filter and pipework have had it. Every restart, like every mile, pushes it deeper.
What to do: pull over where it is safe to do so and switch off. Mistley lies under 50 miles from the M11; there, pull off at the first junction rather than pressing on for the services. It will not have cleared, and so there's no point restarting to check. Phone us and say how far you went.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You've only driven the car a week. Unknown to you, the two fillers are next to each other here — unlike your own car, which has none or keeps it elsewhere. Throughout Essex, nobody is immune.
Meaning? Whichever applies above counts here — run or unrun — and one further step. Any work on your car often needs the owner's approval under hire or fleet agreements.
Settling it before we turn up is quicker, and so ring the hire company or your fleet manager, then us. If you are stranded in the car park outside the nearest station, or by Mistley Village Sign, while you wait for an answer, leave the car off.
Mistley: unsure whether it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
"I think so" is sometimes as honest answer there is. Too light, that bottle; a trace of ammonia round your filler; no clear memory of the cap. Sound familiar? A hurried stop by the gates of Stourview Church of England Primary Academy, or a visit to a friend in Lawford: either fits.
What it means: a little spilled about the filler does no harm to your motor. The diesel tank with AdBlue in it is a different story. You cannot tell which by turning the key, and doing so will draw in any AdBlue that is in that tank.
What to do: treat it as if it got in. Don't crank it. Inspecting a tank that turns out clean is better than draining one once it has been run — so phone then tell us what you saw.
Every AdBlue drain in Mistley shares these steps
Each situation has the same opening to the job. Three questions are asked when we reach the car — on a filling station, a drive, a street beside Mistley Towers or the car park outside The Anchor Inn: the fluid, the amount, and whether the motor has run. The price is given over the phone, before a van leaves, and the replies set the job.
AdBlue crystallises and eats at certain metals in fuel systems, and so it won't rinse out unaided; that is why the flush, after this drain, counts far more here than with petrol. Last come your filter, flushed or renewed if necessary; fresh diesel; and a test of your vehicle. Never started? Then roughly half an hour once we are there covers most jobs.
Last, our technicians fire it up. Our test that it runs smoothly on fresh diesel comes before we head off. When it's spotted early, the vehicle very rarely has long-term damage, and the whole job happens where it is. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money upfront. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Mistley and where it is
Mistley is a small coastal village in Essex, situated near the River Stour and close to the town of Manningtree. Mistley has a low elevation of around 7 metres above sea level and is located near the larger town of Colchester. Mistley remains a quiet residential community with a mix of housing types, including terraced homes. Mistley is also near to the nearby heathland area of Mistley Heath.
AdBlue drains across Essex, Mistley included
Over CO postcodes, the vans serving Mistley — a coastal village — work nearby towns too, New Mistley and Mistley Heath included. Quickest of all: a CO11 1 postcode to show your location.
Stopped heading to The Green, or right in the centre of Mistley, your car remains where it is — there is no need to move it anywhere. Draining is done on the spot. Awkward to explain? Close to St Mary and St Michael or a border? Asking is better than guessing, so phone.
Your situation, in one line
Engine not started: phone, leaving it alone. Run by now: stop, switch down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, within Mistley or wherever in Essex.