AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Old Stratford, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: whether the motor has run since it went in. Over in Wolverton Mill or right around Old Stratford, an unrun motor must stay unrun. Leave your engine and your ignition off then call 0333 366 0103; it's usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is in Old Stratford. Already started? Stop once you safely can, then turn it off. The job is bigger, but the first step is the same.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever in Northamptonshire it happened.
On a Old Stratford forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
You're at the petrol pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Maybe you are at the Esso, maybe at the BP, possibly somewhere else around Old Stratford.
Meaning? Finding out on the forecourt is the best it gets. The AdBlue is in that tank and nowhere else. Nothing has pulled it in.
Clearing the pump is no excuse to start it — so don't get back in. A few things: a push into a space with the attendants helping, the receipt kept, and a call to us from where you stand. If it can't be shifted, it can be cleared at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt.
At home around Old Stratford with AdBlue in your diesel tank
Several days had passed with the dash light on. Picked up a container, poured it in outside the house, recycled the empty — and at that point checked the cap a second time, too late. Homes just off Towcester Road get caught out as much as everywhere else.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. At the bottom of the tank sits where AdBlue waits, since it won't blend with diesel — and a night going by changes no difference.
Put the keys in the house overnight — otherwise someone might take it away at breakfast — then phone us. In Stony Stratford or here around Old Stratford, the draining happens at your driveway. The equipment works quietly enough not to disturb the neighbours at night.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel around Old Stratford?
Lumpy running, smoke, lost power or a glowing dashboard arrived a short way beyond the fill. Deanshanger Road, perhaps, or the route towards Milton Keynes — a trip of under 5 miles.
The upshot: the system has pulled AdBlue through by now. It's been through the filter and the fuel lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and your injectors. Each restart, like every mile, carries it deeper.
Next: pick a sensible place, pull in, and switch your motor off. Leave by the next junction — not the services beyond — if you are on the M1, under 5 miles from Old Stratford. Starting it again to test gets nothing — AdBlue never clears itself. Phone us and say how far you drove.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You have only driven this car for days. Your own car either has no AdBlue or puts it somewhere different, and so no one told you the AdBlue inlet sits just beside the diesel. It can happen to anyone, anywhere around Northamptonshire.
In short: an extra stage on top of the situations above, and those turn on whether it has run. Plenty of rental and company contracts need the owner's approval for work.
Sorting it before we turn up is quicker, and so ring the hire company or your fleet manager, and then us. Leave the car off as the answer arrives, even if you're waiting at Wolverton or near St Mary Magdalene.
AdBlue in your diesel tank? Not sure, around Old Stratford
Sometimes the honest answer is "I think so". The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia around your filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. A hurried top-up by the gates of Old Stratford Primary School, or a visit to a friend in Deanshanger: either fits.
Meaning? Drips around the inlet never reach your engine at all. Inside your diesel tank, however, AdBlue harms it. If there is AdBlue in that tank, starting your car will suck it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Next: act as though it got in, and keep your motor off. Ring and give what you saw: we would rather find a clean tank than drain one after your engine has been run.
Each AdBlue drain in Old Stratford shares these steps
The work begins identically, whichever the situation. Wherever your vehicle stands — The Swan's car park, a street beside St Mary and St Giles, a drive, a filling station — the van gets there and asks about the liquid, the amount, plus whether the motor has been run. Your price is given over the phone, before a van leaves, and the replies shape the work.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to some metals used in fuel systems, and so it won't wash out unaided; that is why a full flush, after this drain, counts much more with AdBlue than with petrol. Then is the filter — cleaned, or replaced where needed — then fresh diesel, and a test of the car. Where the engine hasn't been started, expect about half an hour on site, in most cases.
Lastly, we start the car. Our engineers confirm it runs properly on fresh diesel before we leave. We do the whole job where your car is, and permanent damage is very unusual when it has been caught early. Paying comes on the day, never upfront. For your insurer, there is a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. Plenty of insurance policies cover misfuelling, so look at yours while the van travels.
About Old Stratford
Old Stratford is a village in Northamptonshire, situated on the banks of the River Great Ouse at an elevation of 76 metres. Old Stratford lies near the border with Buckinghamshire, close to the nearby towns of Stony Stratford and Milton Keynes. Old Stratford has a mix of housing types, with semi-detached homes being particularly prevalent. Old Stratford is located approximately 49.7 miles northwest of London, making it a commuter-friendly location.
AdBlue drains across Northamptonshire, Old Stratford included
Old Stratford is a village, and the same vans that cover it work the places around it too, Passenham and Cosgrove among them, across the MK postcode area. Telling us your MK19 6 postcode finds you quickest of all.
Whether the car is on a lay-by on the way to Queen Eleanor Garden or in a car park in the middle of Old Stratford, it doesn't need to move. Wherever it stands, that is where it is drained. Ring and ask rather than guess when you are by Stony Stratford Library, on a boundary, or somewhere awkward to explain.
Your scenario, in one line
Unstarted? Keep the vehicle off and phone. Run already? Stop, turn off, phone. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest whatever case, in Old Stratford and Northamptonshire, on 0333 366 0103.