AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Newtown: What Now?
Has the engine turned over since the AdBlue went in? This one point settles nearly everything else from here. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether the vehicle is in Newtown itself or out in Tilbrook. Keep nothing on, call 0333 366 0103, then expect a thorough flush after a drain, done just where the vehicle sits in Newtown. Already run? Pull over when you safely can, then turn it off. The job is bigger, but the first stage is the same.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever around Cambridgeshire it happened.
On a Newtown forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you only notice it while you're standing at the pump, bottle or nozzle in your hand. Be it the nearest petrol station, Applegreen or anywhere else around Newtown, the case is the same.
The upshot: of all places to notice, the forecourt is the best. Still in that tank, and nothing drawn through: that is where the AdBlue is.
What to do: do not get back in and start the vehicle to clear the pump. Ask the staff to help you roll the car into a parking spot, keep the receipt or the bottle, and ring us from the forecourt. Can't move the vehicle beside the pump? Our explosion-proof kit makes a live forecourt sensible, and so we can drain it in place.
Newtown, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
On your dash, a reminder had shown all week. A bottle bought at the garage, tipped in at the driveway — and it was just by the recycling that the cap got a second look. Houses just off Newtown (The Chestnuts) get caught out as often as everywhere else.
The point: zero driving since makes this almost as good to finding it at the pump. On the floor of that tank sits where AdBlue waits, since it won't mix with diesel — and a night passing changes no difference.
Next: prevent any early move by putting the keys in the house, then ring us. We drain the vehicle on your drive, whether that is around Newtown or out in London End. Night-time clears beside a house are fine: the pumps are low-noise.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel around Newtown?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later the motor began to run unevenly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. It might have been heading to Peterborough, under 25 miles away, or simply along Ashfield.
What it means: the system has sucked the AdBlue in. Past your filter, along the lines, and — the more the distance — deeper into the high-pressure pump and every injector. Each restart, like each mile, carries it deeper.
What to do: pull over where it is safe and switch off. Leave by the next junction — not the services further along — if you're on the A1(M), under 10 miles from Newtown. Restarting it to test achieves nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear itself. Roughly what distance had it go? Tell us as you phone.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You have had the vehicle hardly a week. Your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or puts it somewhere different, and so no one warned you the AdBlue cap was right beside the diesel. Anywhere you are in Cambridgeshire, every motorist could be caught.
Put simply: an extra step on top of the cases above, and those turn on whether it's run. The owner frequently has to approve the work, under many hire and fleet contracts.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is quicker settled before our engineers get there than after. Hanging on for a reply in the car park outside St Neots, or near Mandeville Hall? Leave the engine off meanwhile.
Unsure about AdBlue in your diesel tank in Newtown?
Honestly, the only answer might be that you think so. Which cap was taken off, you cannot say; meanwhile the bottle weighs less than expected, and a whiff of ammonia lingers by the filler. The gates of Kimbolton Primary Academy in a rush, perhaps, or a friend's driveway out in Stow Longa.
Put simply: a spill near your filler leaves your engine unharmed. Once it's inside the diesel tank, though, it does. You cannot tell which by turning the key, and doing so would pull in any AdBlue that is in that tank.
What to do: treat it as if it got in. Do not start it. Checking a tank that proves free of AdBlue beats draining one once it's been run — so phone then tell us what you saw.
The common ground in each Newtown AdBlue drain
Each case has the same start to the job. Forecourt, driveway, New Sun Inn's car park or a road by St Andrew (Kimbolton Parish Church) — the van reaches the car, and three answers follow: which liquid, what amount, and if it ran. Replies set the work; the price follows on the call while no one has left yet.
Emptying that tank comes next, then a careful flush — more vital after urea than after petrol, because crystals and corrosion won't clear on their own, however long you wait. Next comes your filter — flushed, or swapped when necessary — followed by clean diesel, and a test of the vehicle. Where the engine has not been started, expect about half an hour on site, in most cases.
Our engineers start the car last. With fresh diesel in, it runs while our engineers make sure it is running properly, and then we leave. The entire job is done where your car is, and if it is noticed soon, lasting damage is very uncommon. Nothing is paid upfront, settlement happens on the day, and you get what your insurer asks for: an engineer report plus a VAT invoice. Many insurance policies cover misfuelling, so look at yours while the van travels.
About Newtown and where it is
Newtown is a suburban area in Cambridgeshire, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 37 metres. Newtown lies near the villages of London End and Kimbolton, and is approximately 19.7 miles from Peterborough. Newtown has a population of around 1056 people, predominantly living in detached houses. Newtown is also within commuting distance of London, being around 56 miles away.
AdBlue drains around Newtown and across Cambridgeshire
Newtown is a new town, and the same vans that cover it work the towns around it too, Kimbolton and Stonely among them, across the PE postcode area. A postcode starting PE28 0 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to Wrights Farm or in a car park in the middle of Newtown, it does not need to move. The van empties it where it stands. Ring and check instead of guessing when you are by war memorial, near a border, or somewhere awkward to explain.
The one-line version
Motor never started: phone, and leave it switched off. Run by now? Stop, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder whatever case, across Newtown and Cambridgeshire, on 0333 366 0103.