AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Sprigs Alley: What Now?
Has your engine run since the AdBlue went in? That one question decides almost everything about what comes next. Anywhere the vehicle stands — Radnage, Sprigs Alley — never run an engine that hasn't been started yet. Leave the motor and your ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103; it is usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is around Sprigs Alley. Stop the minute you safely can then turn off, if it has already run. Stage one stays unchanged, even if the work is bigger.
Below: the cases we see, wherever across Buckinghamshire. Pick the one that fits.
On a Sprigs Alley 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. Whether Shell, The Co-operative or anywhere else around Sprigs Alley, the situation is identical.
Meaning? Finding out here is as good as it can be. No pump has drawn it through, so the AdBlue sits only inside your tank.
What to do: do not get back in and fire it up to clear the petrol pump. Ask the staff to help you push the vehicle into a parking space, keep the till receipt or the bottle, then call us from the forecourt. Our equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a live forecourt, and so a car that can't be pushed clear is drained where it is at the pump.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Sprigs Alley drive?
Several days had passed with the warning light on. Only at the recycling bin, the empty container in your hand, did you look back at the cap you'd used at the drive. Right off Sprigs Holly Lane is no different from any other place.
Put simply: if your vehicle hasn't been driven since, it is nearly as good as finding out at the pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
Next: the keys indoors, so nobody drives your car off at breakfast. After that, phone. Out in Crowell Hill or here around Sprigs Alley, the drain is done on your drive. Our pumping kit works quiet enough not to disturb the neighbours at night.
Sprigs Alley: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later your motor began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Maybe heading to Oxford, under 25 miles away, or simply along Sprigs Holly.
What it means: your fuel system has drawn the AdBlue in. The injection pump and each injector get it too on a bigger trip, after the filter and lines have it. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Next: find a safe place, pull in, and switch your engine off. Sprigs Alley sits under 3 miles from the M40; on it, come off at the next junction instead of pushing on for the services. It won't have cleared, so there's no sense restarting to check. Phone, and say what distance your vehicle went.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
A week back, the car was unknown to you. On your own car, AdBlue is missing or somewhere else. On this one, its inlet is just by the diesel cap — a surprise to you. Anywhere you are in Buckinghamshire, any motorist could be caught.
Put simply: one extra step on top of the situations above, and those turn on if it's run. The owner frequently needs to approve the work, under plenty of rental and fleet agreements.
Settling it before we turn up is faster, so phone the hire company or your fleet manager, then us. If you're stuck in the car park outside Saunderton, or by Longburrow Hall, while you wait for an answer, leave your car off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Sprigs Alley?
"I think so" is often the most honest answer there is. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia around the filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. The gates of Stokenchurch Primary School in a hurry, perhaps, or a friend's drive out in Crowell.
Put simply: a spill round your filler leaves your motor no harm. If it's inside your diesel tank, though, it does. Firing up your car will not tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in the tank it would suck it in.
Your move: act as if it did, and never start the motor. Ring and give what you saw: we would sooner confirm a tank free of AdBlue than drain one after your engine has run.
Each AdBlue drain in Sprigs Alley shares these stages
Whichever situation you are in, the job starts the same way. We come to the vehicle, whether it is on a forecourt, a drive, the car park at Sir Charles Napier or a side street near St. Peter & St Paul, and ask three things: what got in, roughly how much, and whether your engine has run. Those replies settle this work, and you get our price on the phone, before anybody heads out.
Then that tank is drained and the fuel system rinsed thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't rinse out on its own. Finally are the filter, cleaned or replaced if necessary; fresh diesel; and a test of the vehicle. If the engine has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
Firing it up comes last. Before our technicians leave, it is tested to confirm it runs properly on fresh diesel. Long-term damage is very uncommon when it is caught early, and the whole job is done where the car is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours while we're on the way.
About Sprigs Alley, briefly
Sprigs Alley is a small hamlet in Buckinghamshire, situated in the Chiltern Hills at an elevation of 233 metres. Sprigs Alley lies near the villages of Crowell Hill and Stokenchurch, and is approximately 16 miles from Oxford. Sprigs Alley is characterized by its detached housing and rural setting, with the larger city of London around 35 miles to the southeast. Sprigs Alley remains a quiet and secluded community within the Buckinghamshire countryside.
AdBlue drains across Buckinghamshire, Sprigs Alley included
Stokenchurch and Routs Green have the identical vans as Sprigs Alley, a rural hamlet, along with other towns throughout OX postcodes. Giving us your OX39 4 postcode finds you fastest of all.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to Scrapelor's Wood or in a car park in the middle of Sprigs Alley, it doesn't need to shift. Our van drains it in place. Guessing won't help near Stokenchurch Community Library, on a county line or somewhere awkward to describe; phone and ask.
Your scenario, in one line
Not run yet: keep the vehicle off and call. Started by now? Pull over, switch off, phone. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder whatever case, in Sprigs Alley and Buckinghamshire, on 0333 366 0103.