AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Stowupland, and What to Do Next
All of that turns on one detail: if your motor has been run after the AdBlue was added — far more than anything else. Not run so far? Then leave the vehicle like that, wherever the vehicle is — Stowupland or Broad Green. Keep nothing on, call 0333 366 0103, then count on a proper flush after a drain, done right where your vehicle sits around Stowupland. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. A bigger job, yes, yet the identical first step.
Wherever across Suffolk it took place, one of the cases below matches yours.
At the petrol pump around Stowupland: AdBlue in a diesel
Imagine it: standing by the petrol pump, gripping the bottle, you realise the cap you took off was not the correct one. Maybe you're at the The Co-operative, perhaps at the Tesco, perhaps somewhere else in Stowupland.
In short: no better spot to be to discover it. No pump has drawn it in, and so the AdBlue stays just inside that tank.
Your move: stay out of the driver's seat, however much the pump wants clearing. Phone us from the forecourt once the vehicle is in a space — the attendants will help roll it — then keep the bottle. Can't move the vehicle by the pump? Explosion-proof equipment makes a live forecourt safe, and so we can drain the vehicle where it is.
At home in Stowupland with AdBlue in the diesel tank
For days the dash had been nagging you. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look again at the cap. Right off Church Road is no less likely from any other place.
Meaning? As long as the car has not moved since, it is second to the pump case. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of the tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so nobody moves the vehicle in the morning. Then call. Thorney Green or Stowupland: whichever your drive is, that is where it is cleared. Even at night, our pumps stay quiet enough for a driveway.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel around Stowupland?
Filled up, drove away, and before long the engine was running roughly, smoking, down on power, or lighting up the dash. Maple Road, perhaps, or the way towards Colchester — a run of under 25 miles.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been pulled through the system. Mileage sets how far it gets: filter and lines to begin with, then the injection pump and each injector. It travels further with every mile driven and each restart.
Stop somewhere safe — that's the first job — then turn everything off. Exit by the next junction — not the services further along — if you are on the M11, under 50 miles from Stowupland. Starting it again to check gets nothing — AdBlue never clears on its own. Ring us and say how far you went.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
It is a vehicle you have had for a week. The AdBlue filler is right alongside the diesel filler, which you didn't know, because your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Anywhere you are around Suffolk, every driver could slip up.
Meaning? Whatever applies above counts here — run or not — plus one extra stage. Plenty of hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on your car.
Next: ring the rental company or your fleet manager first, then us — settling it before we arrive is quicker. If you are stranded in the car park at Stowmarket, or by Stowupland Village Sign, while you wait for an answer, leave the vehicle off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Stowupland?
Truthfully, the only answer may be that you think so. Which cap was taken off, you can't say; but the bottle weighs lighter than it ought to, and ammonia hangs by the filler. It might have been at a friend's drive in Combs Ford, or rushing outside Freeman Community Primary School on the school run.
Meaning? Spills around the filler never touch the engine at all. If it is inside your diesel tank, though, that changes. Turning on the car will not tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in that tank it will draw it in.
What to do: treat it as if it was put in. Don't crank it. Phone and give what you saw: we would rather confirm a tank free of AdBlue than drain one once the motor has run.
Stowupland: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Whichever situation you are in, this job starts the same way. We come to the vehicle, whether it is on a forecourt, a drive, the car park at The Retreat or a side street close to Stowupland United Reformed Church, and ask three things: what went in, roughly how much, and whether the engine has run. Your price comes over the phone, ahead of anyone setting off, and those replies set the job.
Then your tank is emptied and the system flushed thoroughly, which matters more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not rinse out on its own. Then is the fuel filter — flushed, or replaced where necessary — followed by fresh diesel, and a test of your car. Most unstarted vehicles are a half-hour visit after the moment our engineers turn up.
Lastly, our engineers fire it up. Before our engineers head off, it's tested to make sure it runs correctly on clean diesel. The entire job is done where your car is, and when it's caught early, permanent damage is very rare. Payment comes on the day, never upfront. For your insurer, there is a VAT invoice plus a written report from the engineer. It is worth knowing: lots of insurers offer misfuelling cover, so a quick look at your documents as we travel pays.
About Stowupland
Stowupland is a small village in Suffolk, situated inland at an elevation of 61 metres, and is located near the towns of Stowmarket and Colchester. Stowupland has a population of approximately 992 residents, with a predominance of semi-detached housing. Stowupland is close to the nearby places of Thorney Green and Creeting St Peter, and is about 68 miles from London. Stowupland remains a quiet rural community with a strong sense of local identity.
AdBlue drains across Suffolk, Stowupland included
Creeting St Peter and Stowmarket get the same teams as Stowupland, a rural village, plus other places over IP postcodes. A postcode starting IP14 4 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Central Stowupland or a layby towards Creeting Road Park: either way it is, your car doesn't need to shift an inch for the drain. Where it stands, that's where it gets emptied. If you're somewhere hard to describe, close to Stowupland Beacon and Village Sign or close to a boundary, ring and ask instead of assuming.
Your situation, summed up
Engine not started: phone, and leave it switched off. Started already? Pull over, turn off, ring. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder whatever it is, in Stowupland and Suffolk, on 0333 366 0103.