AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in New Headington, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: if the motor has been run since it was put in. Out in Risinghurst or here in New Headington, an unstarted motor should remain that way. Leave your engine and the ignition off then call 0333 366 0103; it is usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around New Headington. Already started? Stop when safe, then turn it off. The job is bigger, yet the first stage is the same.
Match your case to a situation from the ones below, anywhere across Oxfordshire you are.
At the petrol pump around New Headington: AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you only notice it as you are standing at the petrol pump, bottle or nozzle in your hand. Possibly you are at the Shell, maybe at the BP, perhaps somewhere else around New Headington.
The upshot: of every spot to find out, this is the best. No pump has drawn it in, and so the AdBlue stays only in the tank.
Freeing the pump is no reason to run it — and so don't get back in. Have the staff to lend a hand rolling it into a bay, hold on to the receipt, then phone us from there. If it can't be moved, it can be emptied at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a working forecourt.
At home in New Headington with AdBlue in your diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. Only by the recycling, the empty container in your hand, did you glance back at the cap you had opened at the driveway. Drives close to Old Road see it as much as any other street.
Put simply: if your car has not moved since, it's almost equal to spotting it at the forecourt. At the floor of that tank sits exactly where AdBlue waits, because it won't blend with diesel — and a night going by changes no difference.
Keep your keys in the house tonight — or someone might drive it off first thing — and call us. Our technicians drain it on your driveway, whether that is in New Headington or out in Headington Quarry. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
New Headington: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
A mile or two after topping up, your motor started playing up: roughness, smoke, lost power, lights on your dash. Girdlestone Close, perhaps, or the way towards Oxford — a run of under 3 miles.
The point: the system has drawn AdBlue in already. It has been through the filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and the injectors. More miles, more starts: further it travels.
Stop somewhere safe — that is the first job — then turn it off. On the Wheatley Spur, under 5 miles from New Headington, that means the next exit, not the services further on. Do not restart it to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Call, saying how far your car was driven.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You have had the car barely a week. Your own car either has no AdBlue or puts it elsewhere, so no one warned you the AdBlue inlet sits just next to your diesel. Any driver, anywhere across Oxfordshire, might do it.
In short: an extra step on top of the cases above, which depend on whether it has run. The owner often has to approve the work, under plenty of rental and fleet contracts.
Settling it before the van turn up is quicker, and so phone the hire company or your fleet manager, and then us. Keep the car switched off as the reply comes, whether you are parked at Oxford or close to Professor Gathorne Robert Girdlestone "GRG".
New Headington: unsure if it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Now and then, "I think so" is all anyone can truthfully say. What cap came off, you cannot recall; but the bottle feels lighter than it ought to, and ammonia hangs by the filler. A hurried top-up by the gates of Windmill Primary School, or a call to a friend in Sandhills: either fits.
In short: spillage round your filler leaves your motor unharmed. In the diesel tank, however, AdBlue harms it. Starting your car won't tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in that tank it will suck it in.
Assume it was put in, and never start your key. Checking a tank that proves free of AdBlue beats emptying one after it has been run — so phone then describe to us what you saw.
The common ground in each New Headington AdBlue drain
The work begins the same way, whatever the case. Wherever the car is — The Butchers Arms's car park, a road by Girdlestone Memorial Library, a driveway, a forecourt — the van arrives and we ask for the liquid, the quantity, and if the engine has been run. Answers set the job; the quote follows on the call while no one has set off yet.
Then the tank is drained and your system flushed thoroughly, which matters more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not rinse out on its own. Fresh diesel is put in after your filter has been cleaned or changed, and the car is then checked. Most unstarted vehicles are a half-hour visit after the moment we turn up.
Starting it comes last. Our test that it runs properly on clean diesel comes before our technicians head off. If it is caught quickly, the vehicle very rarely has permanent damage, and the whole job takes place where it is. Nothing is taken upfront, payment happens on the day, and you get what the insurer wants: an engineer report plus a VAT invoice. It is worth remembering: lots of insurers offer misfuelling cover, so a quick look at your documents while we travel pays.
About New Headington
New Headington is a suburban area situated on the outskirts of Oxford, with the River Cherwell running nearby. New Headington sits at an elevation of around 102 metres, close to the city centre and other local neighbourhoods like Headington Quarry. New Headington has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are particularly prevalent in the area. New Headington is located about 2 miles from Oxford city centre, making it a convenient residential option.
AdBlue drains around New Headington, and across Oxfordshire too
Being a residential suburb, New Headington has the same vans as the surrounding towns — Headington, Shotover Hill — right across OX postcodes. The whereabouts comes quickest from a postcode that starts OX3 7.
Whether the car is on a lay-by on the way to Rock Edge Local Nature Reserve or in a car park in the middle of New Headington, it does not need to shift. The van empties it where it stands. Guessing doesn't help near Botnar Sunflowers, on a border or anywhere hard to pin down; phone and ask.
The one-line version
Engine never started: phone, and leave it alone. Run by now: stop, switch down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest, within New Headington or wherever in Oxfordshire.