AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Newtown: What Now?
One thing counts most when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is if the engine has been started since. If it has not, keep it that way, whether the vehicle is in Newtown itself or out in Newnham. Ring 0333 366 0103 with your ignition and engine both off. Across Newtown, that is typically emptied and flushed where it stands. Already started? Pull over once safe, then turn everything off. Stage one stays the same, even though the job is bigger.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever across Cambridgeshire it happened.
At the pump in Newtown: AdBlue in a diesel
Imagine it: standing by the petrol pump, gripping the nozzle, you spot the cap you opened was not the right one. It could be the Shell, or perhaps the Sainsbury's, or another station around Newtown.
In short: no better place exists to spot it. No pump has drawn it in, so the AdBlue stays only inside your tank.
Next: resist the urge to start it only to free up the pump. Phone us from the forecourt once your car is in a space — the attendants will lend a hand to push it — and keep the bottle. Can't move the vehicle beside the pump? Our explosion-proof equipment makes a busy forecourt sensible, and so we can drain the vehicle where it is.
At home around Newtown with AdBlue in the diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. A bottle from the garage, tipped in at the driveway — and it's just at the bin that the cap caught a second look. Drives close to Shaftesbury Road see it as much as any other street.
Meaning? As long as your vehicle has not been driven since, it is close to the forecourt case. Diesel and AdBlue stay apart: the AdBlue settles to the floor of the tank and remains put, no matter how long the night.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so nobody moves the car in the morning. Then ring. Our engineers drain the car on your drive, whether that is in Newtown or out in Newnham Croft. Night-time drains outside a house are fine: the pumps are quiet.
Newtown: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Filled up, drove away, and soon your engine was running roughly, smoking, down on power, or lighting up your dash. Possibly it was on Gilmour Road, possibly on the way out towards Cambridge, under 3 miles away.
What it means: the system has drawn the AdBlue in. Past the fuel filter, along the lines, and — the more the distance — on into the injection pump and every injector. Every restart, like every mile, pushes it on.
Next: find a safe place, pull in, and switch the motor off. Service stations farther along can wait: from the M11, under 3 miles out of Newtown, take the first junction. It will not have cleared, so there is no point starting it again to find out. Tell us hear the distance covered as you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company cars
You have had the car barely a week. The AdBlue filler sits right alongside the diesel one, which you did not know, since your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Anywhere you happen to be across Cambridgeshire, any motorist can be caught.
The upshot: exactly as above, divided by if it ran, only with an added stage. Many hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on the car.
Settling it before we turn up is quicker, and so phone the hire company or your fleet manager, and then us. Stranded near Chauvinist or at Cambridge until someone answers, the vehicle remains switched off throughout.
Newtown: unsure whether it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
"I think so" is sometimes the most honest as it gets. What cap was taken off, you can't say; but the bottle feels lighter than it ought to, and a whiff of ammonia hangs by your filler. A rushed stop by the gates of St Pauls CofE VA Primary School, or a visit to a friend in Coldhams Common: both fit.
The upshot: the motor is not hurt by some AdBlue spilled around the filler. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. Any AdBlue in that tank would be drawn in by starting your car, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
What to do: treat it as if it went in. Do not fire it up. Inspecting a tank that proves free of AdBlue is better than emptying one once it's been run — so phone and tell us what you noticed.
What every AdBlue drain around Newtown has in common
Each case has the same start to the work. Filling station, drive, Earl of Derby's car park or a road beside Danse Gwenedour — the van reaches your vehicle, and three answers follow: which fluid, what amount, and if it ran. The price comes over the phone, before a van leaves, and those replies set the job.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to some metals in fuel systems, so it won't rinse out on its own; that's why a full flush, after the drain, counts much more with AdBlue than with petrol. Last come the fuel filter, flushed or replaced if necessary; fresh diesel; and a check of your vehicle. If your motor has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Firing it up comes at the end. Our test that it runs smoothly on fresh diesel comes before our engineers leave. Our technicians do the whole job where the car is, and permanent damage is very unusual when it has been noticed early. Nothing is paid upfront, payment is made on the day, and you receive what the insurer asks for: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it's worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About Newtown itself
Newtown is a suburban area located on the outskirts of Cambridge, situated near the River Cam in Cambridgeshire. Newtown sits at a low elevation of around 20 metres, close to the city centre and nearby neighbourhoods such as Newnham Croft and Romsey Town. Newtown is characterized by its predominantly flat-type housing, which accommodates a population of approximately 7787 residents. Newtown is also conveniently located near the city of Cambridge, just 1 mile away, and about 48.6 miles from London.
AdBlue drains across Cambridgeshire, Newtown included
As a new town, Newtown shares its vans with the surrounding towns — Romsey Town, Cambridge — right across CB postcodes. Telling us a CB2 8 postcode pins you fastest of all.
Whether the vehicle is on a lay-by on the way to Rose Garden or in a car park in the middle of Newtown, it doesn't need to shift. Our technicians drain the car where it stands. Tricky to pin down? Close to The Signal Box Centre or a county line? Asking is better than guessing, so ring.
In one line: your scenario
Motor not started: phone, and leave it switched off. Started by now? Pull over, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder whichever it is, in Newtown and Cambridgeshire, on 0333 366 0103.