AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Spondon, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: whether the motor has run since it was put in. Anywhere your vehicle stands — Ockbrook, Spondon — never run a motor that hasn't run yet. Usually this is draining and properly purging it right there in Spondon — and so keep the ignition and motor off and phone 0333 366 0103. Already started? Stop when you safely can, then switch it off. Stage one remains the same, even though the work grows.
Compare what happened to one of the list below, wherever across Derbyshire you happen to be.
On a Spondon forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Just now, bottle yet in hand, you realise that the cap you opened was the wrong one, right at the petrol pump. Anywhere around Spondon, then — Asda, Texaco, or somewhere else close by.
The upshot: of all places to notice, the forecourt is the best. The AdBlue is inside the tank and nowhere else. Nothing has drawn it in.
Freeing the petrol pump is no reason to run it — so do not get back in. A few things: a shove into a bay with the staff helping, the bottle kept, and a ring to us from where you stand. If it can't be moved, it can be cleared at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a working forecourt.
Spondon, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
For days the dashboard had been warning you. A bottle from the shop, tipped in at the drive — and it was only at the bin that the cap got your eye. It takes place on driveways just off Church Street as commonly as anywhere.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of the tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Next: stop an early move by putting your keys in the house, then ring us. Out in Cherrytree Hill or here in Spondon, the draining is done at your drive. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel in Spondon?
Filled up, pulled away, and before long your engine was turning roughly, blowing smoke, down on power, or lighting up the dash. It might have been driving for Derby, under 3 miles away, or just down Potter Street.
What it means: your fuel system has sucked the AdBlue in. The high-pressure pump and every injector see it too on a longer trip, after the fuel filter and pipework have it. More miles, more restarts: deeper it travels.
Do this: pull up anywhere safe, then turn the engine off. Service stations farther on can wait: from the M1, under 5 miles out of Spondon, use the first junction. Do not restart it to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Call us and say how far you went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
It's a car you have had for a week. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is missing or somewhere else. On this one, the cap is right next to your diesel inlet — a surprise to you. Wherever you are around Derbyshire, any driver could be caught.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it's run, with one more stage. Any work on your car frequently requires the owner's approval under hire or fleet agreements.
Next: ring the rental company or the fleet manager first, then us — settling it before our arrival is faster. Leave it off as the answer comes, even if you are waiting outside the nearest station or near Parish Church of St Werburgh.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank around Spondon?
Sometimes the fair answer is "I think so". What cap was taken off, you cannot say; meanwhile the bottle weighs lighter than it ought to, and ammonia hangs by your filler. Perhaps it happened in a hurry at the school gates at St Werburgh's CofE Primary School, or on a friend's drive in Chaddesden.
What it means: a little spilled round the filler does no damage to your engine. A diesel tank with AdBlue inside is another matter. Any AdBlue in the tank will be drawn in by firing up the car, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
What to do: treat it as if it went in. Don't crank it. Tell us what you noticed on your phone. A clean tank looked at is a better outcome than a run one emptied.
The common ground in every Spondon AdBlue drain
Whichever scenario you are in, the job starts the same way. Three questions come once our technicians arrive — on a forecourt, a drive, a road beside Spondon Methodist Church or the car park outside The Malt Shovel: the liquid, the quantity, and whether it has been started. The price comes over the phone, ahead of anyone setting off, and those replies set the job.
A thorough flush follows the drain. With petrol it's routine; with AdBlue it's crucial, because crystals form and certain metals are attacked, and none of that washes away unaided. Your filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Where your motor hasn't run, allow about half an hour on site, in most jobs.
Starting the engine comes at the end. Our test that it runs properly on new diesel comes before our technicians go. Lasting damage is very unusual if it's spotted quickly, and the entire job is done where the vehicle is. Nothing is taken upfront, settlement is made on the day, and you get what your insurer wants: an engineer report plus a VAT invoice. Check your insurance before we arrive: misfuelling cover comes included in many policies.
About Spondon itself
Spondon is a suburban area located near the city of Derby in Derbyshire, sitting at an elevation of 81 metres in the East Midlands region. Spondon is situated close to nearby places such as Cherrytree Hill and Pride Park, and is approximately 2.9 miles from Derby city centre. Spondon has a population of around 5142 people and is characterised by predominantly semi-detached housing. Spondon is also near the village of Borrowash, and is around 111.6 miles from London.
AdBlue drains across Derbyshire, Spondon included
Pride Park and Borrowash have the same vans as Spondon, a residential suburb, along with other towns throughout DE postcodes. Giving us your DE21 7 postcode pins you fastest of all.
Stopped heading to South Ave Recn Ground (War Meml), or right in the centre of Spondon, your vehicle remains where it is — there is no need to move it at all. Our technicians drain the vehicle where it stands. Ring and ask rather than guess if you are by Spondon Village Hall, near a boundary, or somewhere awkward to pin down.
Your situation, summed up
Where it has not run, phone and keep it that way. Already run: stop, switch off then call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there around Spondon and anywhere in Derbyshire on 0333 366 0103.