AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Newnham, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: whether your motor has been run since it got in. Out in Grantchester or right in Newnham, an unstarted motor should remain that way. Leave the motor and your ignition off then call 0333 366 0103; it is usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is around Newnham. Stop the minute it is safe then turn off, if it has been run. It's a larger job, yet stage one doesn't change.
Anywhere in Cambridgeshire it took place, one of the situations below matches yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Newnham forecourt
Just now, nozzle still in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you opened was the wrong one, right at the petrol pump. Anywhere in Newnham, then — Shell, Esso, or anywhere else nearby.
Meaning? Finding out here is the best it can be. Still inside the tank, with no fuel drawn through: that's where the AdBlue sits.
Next: avoid the urge to fire it up only to move away from the petrol pump. A few things: a shove into a bay with the attendants helping, the receipt saved, and a call to us from where you stand. Emptying it there at the pump is possible when it cannot be moved, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in the diesel tank at home in Newnham
The warning light had been on for days. Only at the recycling bin, the empty container in hand, did you glance back at the cap you'd opened at the drive. It happens on drives just off Champneys Walk as often as anywhere.
Put simply: if the vehicle hasn't been driven since, it is almost equal to finding out at the pump. As it is reluctant to mix, AdBlue drops to the base inside the tank and waits. A night parked alters nothing.
Put the keys indoors overnight — or someone might take it away first thing — then call us. Out in Newnham Croft or here around Newnham, the drain is done on your driveway. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
On the road in Newnham with AdBlue in a diesel
Topped up, pulled away, and before long your motor was running roughly, smoking, losing power, or lighting up the dash. Selwyn Gardens, perhaps, or the way towards Cambridge — a run of under a mile.
The point: the system has drawn AdBlue in by now. Mileage sets how deep it goes: filter and lines first, then the high-pressure pump and every injector. More driving, more starts: further it goes.
Next: find a safe spot, stop, then switch the engine off. On the M11, under 3 miles from Newnham, that means the next exit, not the services further on. Restarting it to test achieves nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear on its own. Call, and say how far the vehicle went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company motors
You have had the vehicle barely a week. Unbeknown to you, the two fillers sit side by side here — not like your own vehicle, which has none or keeps it elsewhere. Across Cambridgeshire, no one is safe from it.
Meaning? Whatever case above applies too — run or not — plus one extra step. The owner frequently needs to sign off any work, under many hire and company agreements.
Next: phone the hire company or the fleet manager first, then us — settling it before we arrive is faster. Leave it switched off as the answer comes, whether you're parked outside Cambridge or near Newnham College Library.
Unsure about AdBlue in your diesel tank around Newnham?
Occasionally the fair answer is "I think so". A slight ammonia whiff hangs near the filler, the bottle seems too light, and the cap you took off is hard to recall. Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Newnham Croft Primary School, or on a friend's drive in High Cross.
In short: a spill round the filler does the engine unharmed. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. Any AdBlue in that tank would be drawn in by turning on the vehicle, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Do this: act as if it got in, and never start the engine. Ring and give the details: we would sooner find a clean tank than drain one once your engine has been run.
The common ground in each Newnham AdBlue drain
No matter the case, a single opening applies. Wherever your vehicle is — The Red Bull's car park, a street beside Selwyn College Chapel, a driveway, a forecourt — our van gets there and we ask for the liquid, the quantity, plus whether the engine has turned over. Those answers settle the work, and you hear the price on the phone, before anybody heads out.
Then the tank is emptied and the system rinsed thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it doesn't rinse out on its own. Finally are the filter, cleaned or replaced if necessary; clean diesel; and a check of the vehicle. Never started? In that case about half an hour once we are there is most jobs.
Starting the engine comes at the end. Our test that it runs correctly on clean diesel comes before we head off. When it is spotted quickly, the car very seldom has lasting damage, and the whole job happens where it is. Nothing is taken upfront, settlement happens on the day, and you receive what the insurer asks for: an engineer report plus a VAT invoice. Dig out your insurance before we're en route: cover for misfuelling is included in plenty of policies.
About Newnham and where it is
Newnham is a suburban area located on the outskirts of Cambridge, sitting alongside the River Cam at an elevation of around 15 metres. Newnham occupies a lakeside setting, with the nearby countryside and water features contributing to its character. Newnham is predominantly composed of terraced housing and is situated close to the city centre, approximately 0.8 miles from Cambridge. Newnham is also within commuting distance of London, being around 48.8 miles from the capital.
Newnham and Cambridgeshire: AdBlue drains across the area
Newnham is a residential suburb, and the same teams that cover it work the towns near it too, Cambridge and Newtown among them, across the CB postcode area. Quickest of all: a CB3 9 postcode for where you stand.
Centre of Newnham or a layby near The Mound: wherever it is, the vehicle doesn't need to move at all for us. Our van drains it where it stands. Ring and check instead of guessing when you are by beyond thinking, on a boundary, or somewhere tricky to explain.
Your situation, in one line
Unstarted? Keep the car off and phone. Run by now? Pull over, turn off, phone. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest whatever it is, in Newnham and Cambridgeshire, on 0333 366 0103.