What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in The Bowl
Has your engine turned over since the AdBlue was put in? That single question settles nearly everything else from here. Not run so far? Then leave it that way, wherever your vehicle sits — The Bowl or Redmoor. Usually this means emptying and properly purging it right there in The Bowl — so leave the ignition and engine off then phone 0333 366 0103. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. The job is bigger, yet the first stage is the same.
Match what happened to a situation from the list below, anywhere across Buckinghamshire you are.
At the petrol pump around The Bowl: AdBlue in a diesel
You are at the pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Be it Shell, Asda or somewhere else in The Bowl, the situation is the same.
The upshot: of every spot to find out, the forecourt is the best. Still inside that tank, with no fuel drawn onwards: that is where the AdBlue is.
Next: resist the temptation to start it only to move away from the pump. Get the attendants to help rolling it into a space, save the bottle, then ring us right there. Emptying it there at the petrol pump is fine if it can't be moved, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a The Bowl drive?
On your dash, a warning had shown all week. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look a second time at the cap. Driveways close to Favell Drive see it as much as any other street.
Meaning? As long as the car has not been driven since, it's second to the pump case. Diesel and AdBlue stay apart: the AdBlue settles to the floor of your tank and remains put, however long the night.
Put your keys indoors tonight — otherwise someone may take it away at breakfast — then phone us. Your drive is where it is emptied, be it in The Bowl or Elfield Park. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
On the road around The Bowl with AdBlue in a diesel
Filled up, drove away, and before long the engine was turning roughly, blowing smoke, down on power, or lighting up the dash. Barleycroft, perhaps, or the way to Milton Keynes — a trip of under 3 miles.
The point: your system has pulled AdBlue in by now. It's been through your filter and your lines and, the further you went, into your high-pressure pump and the injectors. Every restart, like every mile, pushes it on.
Stop safely — that's the first step — then turn everything off. Exit at the next junction — not the services further along — if you're on the M1, under 5 miles from The Bowl. No trial restarts: clearing itself is not something AdBlue will do. Phone us and say how far you went.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You have just driven the car for days. Your own vehicle either does without AdBlue or puts it elsewhere, and so no one warned you the AdBlue cap was right next to your diesel. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in Buckinghamshire.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it's run, with one more stage. The owner often has to sign off the work, under many hire and fleet contracts.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is faster settled before our engineers arrive than after. Keep it switched off while the reply comes, even if you're waiting at Milton Keynes Central or close to Triple Star Head.
Unsure about AdBlue in your diesel tank in The Bowl?
"I think so" is often as honest as it gets. Too light, the bottle; a trace of ammonia near your filler; no clear recollection of which cap. Sound familiar? A hurried stop by the gates of Cold Harbour Church of England School, or a call to a friend in Furzton: both fits.
Put simply: spillage round the filler leaves the motor unharmed. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. If there is AdBlue in the tank, starting the vehicle would draw it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Do this: behave as if it got in, and don't start the engine. Phone with the details: we would sooner find a tank free of AdBlue than empty one once your motor has been run.
The Bowl: what every AdBlue drain has in common
The job opens the same way, whatever the case. Three questions are asked when we reach the car — at a filling station, a driveway, a road beside South Furzton Meeting Place or the car park outside Furzton Lake - Hungry Horse: the fluid, the quantity, and whether the motor has been started. On the phone, before dispatch, you are told our price, and those answers shape the job too.
Then that tank is emptied and the system purged 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 doesn't rinse out on its own. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. If your engine hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Our engineers start the car at the end. Our technicians confirm it runs correctly on new diesel before leaving. If it's caught quickly, the car very rarely has lasting damage, and the entire job happens where it is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. It is worth knowing: lots of insurers offer misfuelling cover, and so a quick look at your documents while you wait pays.
About The Bowl itself
The Bowl is a suburban area situated on the lakeside in Buckinghamshire, with a mix of terraced housing and local amenities. The Bowl sits at an elevation of 88 metres, close to the city of Milton Keynes and near other residential areas such as Elfield Park and Coffee Hall. The Bowl is located approximately 44 miles from London, making it a commuter-friendly location. The Bowl has a population of around 1866 residents, living in a predominantly terraced housing environment.
AdBlue drains around The Bowl and across Buckinghamshire
Being a residential suburb, The Bowl shares its vans with the nearby towns — Coffee Hall, Bleak Hall — right through MK postcodes. Telling us a MK5 8 postcode pins you quickest of all.
Stopped heading to Furzton Lake, or bang in the heart of The Bowl, the vehicle stays put — there is no need to shift it anywhere. Where it stands, that's where it is cleared. If you are somewhere hard to explain, close to Coldharbour Childrens Centre or close to a border, ring and ask instead of assuming.
Your scenario, in one line
If it has not run, phone then leave it off. Started by now? Pull over, turn off, phone. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest whichever case, across The Bowl and Buckinghamshire, on 0333 366 0103.