AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Peldon, and What to Do Next
One thing counts most when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is whether your motor has run since. Not run so far? Then keep the car like that, wherever your car sits — Peldon or Great Wigborough. Call 0333 366 0103 with the key and motor both off. Across Peldon, that is typically drained and flushed on the spot. Pull over the moment you safely can and switch off, if it has already run. It is a larger job, yet stage one does not change.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever in Essex it happened.
At the pump around Peldon: AdBlue in a diesel
Just now, nozzle yet in hand, you realise that the cap you opened was the wrong one, there at the pump. Somewhere around Peldon, then — Old Forge Filling Station, Murco, or somewhere else nearby.
Meaning? Finding out on the forecourt is the best it gets. Only that tank has AdBlue; no part past it has drawn any in.
Clearing the pump is no excuse to run it — and so don't get back in. Phone us from the forecourt once the vehicle sits in a bay — the attendants will help push it — then save the bottle. Can't move the vehicle by the pump? Explosion-proof equipment makes a busy forecourt safe, and so it can be drained in place.
Peldon, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
On your dash, a warning had been lit for days. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look once more at the cap. Houses just off The Glebe get caught out as often as everywhere else.
In short: if your vehicle has not been driven since, it is almost equal to spotting it at the pump. On the bottom of that tank sits exactly where AdBlue stays, because it won't blend with diesel — and a night passing makes no difference.
Next: prevent an early drive by keeping the keys indoors, then phone us. Your drive is where it gets emptied, whether in Peldon or Little Wigborough. Even at night, our pumps stay quiet enough for a driveway.
Peldon: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Filled up, drove away, and soon the motor was running roughly, smoking, losing power, or flashing up your dash. Somewhere along Newpots Close or heading towards Colchester — under 10 miles away.
The upshot: the system has pulled AdBlue in already. Mileage sets how deep it goes: filter and lines first, then the high-pressure pump and each injector. More miles, more starts: further it goes.
Your move: pull up anywhere safe, then turn the engine off. On the M11, under 50 miles from Peldon, that means the next exit, not the services further on. Don't restart the vehicle to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Roughly how far had it gone? Tell us as you call.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
It's a motor you have had for a week. On your own car, AdBlue is missing or elsewhere. On this one, its inlet is just next to your diesel cap — a surprise to you. It can happen to anyone, anywhere across Essex.
In short: one extra stage on top of the situations above, which depend on if it has run. Work on your vehicle frequently needs the owner's approval under hire or fleet terms.
Your move: rental firm or fleet manager first, us next, because settling it early saves time. If you are stranded in the car park outside Wivenhoe, or by St Mary the Virgin, Peldon, while you wait for an answer, leave your car off.
Peldon: unsure if it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Occasionally the honest answer is "I think so". The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia round your filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. A hurried top-up by the gates of Langenhoe Community Primary School, or a visit to a friend in Abberton: either fit.
Put simply: spillage near your filler leaves your motor unharmed. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. Any AdBlue in that tank will be sucked in by starting your car, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Take it that it got in, and never turn your engine. Ring us and explain what you saw; we would rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
Every AdBlue drain in Peldon shares these stages
Each case gets the same opening to the work. Wherever your vehicle is — The Plough's car park, a road beside Peldon Village Hall, a drive, a filling station — our van gets there and we ask about the fluid, the amount, and if your engine has turned over. Answers set the job; the quote follows on the call whilst nobody has set off yet.
AdBlue crystallises and eats at certain metals used in fuel systems, so it won't rinse out on its own; that's why the flush, after the drain, matters much more here than with petrol. The filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and your car is tested. Most unstarted cars are a half-hour job after the moment our engineers arrive.
Our technicians fire it up last. Our check that it runs correctly on fresh diesel comes before our engineers go. The entire job is done where the car is, and if it's caught quickly, lasting damage is very uncommon. Nothing is paid upfront, payment is made on the day, and you receive what your insurer wants: an engineer report plus a VAT invoice. It is worth knowing: many insurers include misfuelling cover, so a check of your documents while you wait is worthwhile.
About Peldon, briefly
Peldon is a small village in Essex, situated near the coast and approximately 5.5 miles from Colchester. Peldon has a low elevation of around 17 metres, and its population of around 567 people live in predominantly detached housing. Peldon is also close to other nearby villages, including Little Wigborough and Langenhoe, and is within commuting distance of London, being around 48 miles from the city.
AdBlue drains in Peldon, and across Essex too
Over CO postcodes, the teams covering Peldon — a coastal village — work surrounding towns too, Langenhoe and Staffords Corner included. Fastest of all: a CO5 7 postcode for your location.
Centre of Peldon or a lay-by towards Copthall Grove: wherever it sits, the car never needs to shift at all for us. Where it stands, that is where it is drained. Phone and ask instead of guessing if you're close to Saint Nicholas, near a boundary, or somewhere tricky to pin down.
The one-line version
Not run yet: keep the vehicle off then ring. Run already: pull over, power down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, in Peldon or anywhere across Essex.