What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Stanford on Avon
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: whether your motor has been run since it was put in. If it has not, keep it that way, whether your car is in Stanford on Avon itself or out in South Kilworth. Leave the engine and the ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103; it is usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Stanford on Avon. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. A larger job, then, but the same first step.
Compare your case to one of the ones below, anywhere in Northamptonshire you are.
On a Stanford on Avon forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you only notice it as you are standing at the petrol pump, bottle or the nozzle in hand. Perhaps you're at the Eddie Stobart Truckstop - Rugby, perhaps at the Gulf, possibly somewhere else around Stanford on Avon.
The point: of every spot to notice, the forecourt is the best. Still inside the tank, with nothing drawn through: that's where the AdBlue is.
What to do: do not get back in and fire it up to clear the petrol pump. Have the staff to help pushing it to a space, hold on to the bottle, then ring us from there. Emptying it there at the petrol pump is possible when it cannot be moved, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home in Stanford on Avon with AdBlue in your diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. A bottle from the garage, emptied in on the driveway — and it's only at the recycling that the cap caught your eye. Houses just off Stanford Road get caught out as much as anywhere else.
Put simply: if the car hasn't been driven since, it is almost equal to finding out at the pump. Being reluctant to mix, AdBlue settles low in the tank and waits. A night parked changes nothing.
Put the keys in the house tonight — otherwise someone might drive it off at breakfast — and phone us. Our engineers drain the vehicle on your driveway, whether that is in Stanford on Avon or out in Clay Coton. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel in Stanford on Avon?
Lumpy running, smoke, falling power or a lit dashboard started a short way beyond the fill. A14, perhaps, or the route towards Coventry — a trip of under 25 miles.
Meaning? The fuel pump has sucked the AdBlue up. It has been through the filter and the fuel lines and, the further you went, into your high-pressure pump and your injectors. Each restart, like every mile, carries it deeper.
Pull in somewhere safe — that's the next job — then turn everything off. Service stations farther on can wait: from the M6, under 3 miles out of Stanford on Avon, take the first junction. Restarting it to test achieves nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear on its own. Ring us and say how far you went.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You've had the vehicle hardly a week. Your own motor either does without AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere, so nothing warned you the AdBlue inlet was just beside your diesel. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in Northamptonshire.
The point: just as above, divided by if it ran, only with an added step. Many rental and company agreements require the owner's approval before repairs.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is quicker settled before our technicians arrive than after. If you're stranded in the car park outside Rugby, or by St Nicholas, whilst you wait for an answer, leave your car off.
Stanford on Avon: unsure if it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Truthfully, the only answer may be that you think so. Which cap came off, you cannot recall; meanwhile the bottle weighs lighter than expected, and a whiff of ammonia hangs by your filler. A hurried stop by the gates of Swinford Church of England Primary School, or a call to a friend in Yelvertoft: either fits.
The point: the engine is not hurt by a little AdBlue splashed on the outside. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. Starting the vehicle will not tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in your tank it would suck it in.
Take it that it got in, and never start your key. 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.
The common ground in every Stanford on Avon AdBlue drain
Each case has the same start to the work. Filling station, drive, the pub in the village's car park or a road by Stanford Hall — the van reaches your vehicle, and three answers follow: what fluid, which amount, and whether it has run. Those replies settle this work, and you get the price on the phone, before anyone heads out.
Then the tank is cleared and the 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 your filter, flushed or renewed as needed; fresh diesel; and a test of your car. Most unstarted vehicles are a half-hour visit from the moment we arrive.
Finally, our engineers fire it up. Our engineers confirm it runs smoothly on clean diesel before we go. If it is noticed soon, the vehicle very seldom has permanent damage, and the whole job takes place where it is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Check your insurance while we arrive: misfuelling cover comes built into many policies.
About Stanford on Avon itself
Stanford on Avon is a small locality in Northamptonshire, situated on the banks of the River Avon at an elevation of around 110 metres. Stanford on Avon lies near several other villages, including Clay Coton, Swinford, and Lilbourne, and is located approximately 15 miles from Coventry. Stanford on Avon has a population of around 524 people and is characterised by predominantly detached housing. Stanford on Avon is also within commuting distance of major cities, being around 75 miles from London.
AdBlue drains across Northamptonshire, Stanford on Avon included
Stanford on Avon is a small village, and the same teams that cover it work the places around it too, Swinford and Lilbourne among them, across the NN postcode area. Telling us a NN6 6 postcode finds you fastest of all.
Stopped en route to South Kilworth Recreation Ground, or bang in the centre of Stanford on Avon, the vehicle remains put — there is no need to move it anywhere. Draining happens on the spot. Assuming doesn't help beside Percy Pilcher Monument, close to a border or somewhere awkward to pin down; ring and ask.
The one-line version
If it hasn't started, ring then keep it off. Started already? Stop, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest whatever case, in Stanford on Avon and Northamptonshire, on 0333 366 0103.