Somersham: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Find Your Situation
Has the motor turned over since the AdBlue went in? This one point decides almost everything else from here. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether the vehicle is around Somersham itself or out in Little Blakenham. Usually that means draining and thoroughly flushing it on the spot in Somersham — and so keep the key and motor off and call 0333 366 0103. Already started? Pull over when safe, then switch it off. The job is bigger, but the first stage is the same.
Below: the situations our engineers see, anywhere around Suffolk. Pick yours.
At the petrol pump around Somersham: AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you just spot it as you're stood at the pump, bottle or nozzle in hand. Somewhere around Somersham, then — Asda, Shell, or somewhere else close by.
The point: of every spot to notice, the forecourt is the best. Just that tank has AdBlue; not one part past it has taken any in.
What to do: do not get back in and crank it to clear the pump. Ask the staff to help you roll your car into a parking bay, keep the receipt or the bottle, then call us from the forecourt. If it cannot be moved, it can be cleared at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Somersham drive?
On the dash, a warning had been lit for days. Bought a bottle, poured it in outside the house, recycled the empty — and only then looked at the cap again, too late. Homes just off Mill Lane get caught out as much as anywhere else.
The upshot: no driving since leaves it nearly as good to spotting it at the petrol pump. At the floor of your tank is where AdBlue stays, since it won't blend with diesel — and a night passing makes no difference.
Next: the keys in the house, so nobody drives the vehicle off at breakfast. After that, ring. Nettlestead or Somersham: wherever your driveway is, that is where it gets cleared. Even at night, our pumps are quiet enough for a driveway.
Somersham: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later the motor began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Maybe driving to Colchester, under 25 miles away, or just along Stocks Hill.
Meaning? Your fuel pump has sucked the AdBlue up. The high-pressure pump and every injector get it as well on a bigger trip, once the fuel filter and lines have it. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Pull in safely — that is the first step — then switch everything off. Services farther on can wait: from the M11, under 50 miles out of Somersham, take the first junction. No trial starts: clearing itself isn't something AdBlue does. Phone, and say what distance your car was driven.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You've only had the car a week. The AdBlue filler is right beside the diesel filler, which you did not know, because your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Wherever you are around Suffolk, every motorist could slip up.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it's run, with one more stage. Many hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on your car.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's faster settled before we turn up than after. If you're stranded in the car park at Needham Market, or by Somersham Village Sign, whilst you wait for an answer, leave your car off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Somersham?
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 on a friend's driveway in Baylham Stone, or rushing by Somersham Primary School on the school run.
In short: spillage round your filler leaves your engine unharmed. If it is inside your diesel tank, though, it does. If there is AdBlue in your tank, firing up the vehicle would pull it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
What to do: treat it as if it got in. Do not fire it up. Ring with the details: we would sooner confirm a tank free of AdBlue than empty one once the motor has run.
Every AdBlue drain in Somersham shares these stages
Whichever scenario you are in, the job starts the same way. Forecourt, driveway, The Duke of Marlborough's car park or a road by Somersham Baptist Church — our van reaches your car, and three questions follow: what liquid, what amount, and whether it ran. Those replies determine this work, and you get our price on the phone, before anybody sets off.
AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some metals in fuel systems, so it does not rinse out on its own; that's why a full flush, after the drain, matters far more with AdBlue than with petrol. Fresh diesel is put in once your filter is cleaned or changed, and the car is then checked. If your engine has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
Finally, we fire it up. We confirm it runs smoothly on clean diesel before leaving. When it is caught soon, the car very seldom has permanent damage, and the whole job happens where it is. Payment comes on the day, never in advance. For the insurer, there is a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer. Plenty of insurance policies cover misfuelling, so look at yours as we head over.
About Somersham itself
Somersham is a small village in Suffolk, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 23 metres, with semi-detached housing being the predominant type. Somersham lies near the villages of Nettlestead, Offton, and Flowton, and is approximately 15.6 miles from Colchester. Somersham is also within commuting distance of London, being around 64.5 miles away. Somersham has a population of around 704 residents.
AdBlue drains about Somersham and across Suffolk
Somersham is a village, and the same vans that cover it work the towns around it too, Offton and Flowton among them, across the IP postcode area. Fastest of all: a IP8 4 postcode to show where you stand.
Central Somersham or a lay-by towards Chaffinch Wood: wherever it is, your car never needs to move at all for this drain. Draining happens right there. Ring and ask rather than guess if you're close to St Mary, near a border, or anywhere awkward to pin down.
The one-line version
Not run yet: keep the car off then call. Run by now: pull over, switch down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder, within Somersham or wherever across Suffolk.