AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Totternhoe: What Now?
Has the motor turned over since the AdBlue was put in? This one point decides almost everything else from here. Anywhere your vehicle is — Beecroft, Totternhoe — never start an engine that has not been started yet. Leave the engine and your ignition off and phone 0333 366 0103; it's usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is in Totternhoe. Already run? Stop when you safely can, then switch it off. Stage one stays the same, even though the work is bigger.
Below: the cases our technicians see, anywhere around Bedfordshire. Choose yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Totternhoe forecourt
You're 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 BP, Esso or anywhere else in Totternhoe, the case is identical.
The point: of all places to notice, this is the best. The AdBlue is inside that tank and nowhere else. Nothing has drawn it in.
Freeing the petrol pump is no excuse to run it — and so don't get back in. Ring us from the forecourt after the car is in a bay — the attendants will lend a hand to push it — and keep the bottle. Can't move the car by the pump? Our explosion-proof equipment keeps a live forecourt sensible, and so it can be drained where it is.
Totternhoe, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
Several days had passed with the warning light on. Only at the recycling bin, the empty bottle in your hand, did you look back at the cap you had used on the drive. Houses just off Church Road get caught out as much as everywhere else.
Put simply: if your vehicle hasn't been driven since, it is almost equal to spotting it at the forecourt. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of that tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Next: keys in the house, so nobody drives your vehicle anywhere first thing. Then, ring. Out in Church End or right here in Totternhoe, the drain is done on your driveway. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
Totternhoe: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Rough running, smoke, falling power or a lit dashboard arrived a mile or two after the fill. Castle Hill Road, perhaps, or the route to St Albans — a trip of under 15 miles.
In short: the AdBlue has been pulled through the fuel system. It has been through the fuel filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure pump and your injectors. Each restart, like each mile, pushes it on.
Next: find a safe place, stop, and turn the engine off. Totternhoe sits under 5 miles from the M1; on it, pull off at the first junction instead of pressing on for the services. Restarting it to test gets nothing — AdBlue never clears itself. Tell us know the mileage covered as you ring.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
Seven days back, it was new to you. On your own car, AdBlue is missing or elsewhere. On this one, the inlet is just by your diesel inlet — news to you. Across Bedfordshire, no one is safe from it.
Meaning? Whichever case above applies here — run or not — and one further stage. Plenty of hire and company contracts need the owner's sign-off before repairs.
Settling it before we turn up is faster, so phone the hire company or your fleet manager, and then us. Hanging on for a reply at the car park at Cheddington, or beside St Giles Church Hall? Leave the car off meanwhile.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank in Totternhoe?
Sometimes the honest answer is "I think so". Too light, that bottle; a trace of ammonia round your filler; no clear recollection of which cap. Look familiar? It might have been on a friend's driveway in Sewell, or in a rush outside Totternhoe Church of England Academy on the school run.
Put simply: a spill round the filler does the motor unharmed. A diesel tank with AdBlue in it is a different story. If there is AdBlue in the tank, starting the vehicle will suck it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Your move: behave as though it got in, and don't start your engine. Inspecting a tank that turns out clean beats emptying one after it has been run — so phone and tell us what you saw.
What every AdBlue drain around Totternhoe has in common
The work begins the same way, whatever the situation. Anywhere the car stands — The Old Farm Inn's car park, a street by St Giles, a drive, a forecourt — our van gets there and we ask about the liquid, the amount, and if your motor has been run. On the phone, before dispatch, you hear the price, and those answers shape the job too.
Draining that tank comes first, then a careful flush — more important after urea than with petrol, because crystals and corrosion won't clear on their own, however long it sits. Next comes the filter — flushed, or replaced when necessary — then fresh diesel, and a test of your car. Where the motor hasn't run, allow about half an hour on site, for most cases.
Finally, our engineers start the engine. Our check that it runs properly on fresh diesel comes before our engineers leave. Permanent damage is very uncommon if it's caught early, and the whole job is done where the vehicle is. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, no money upfront. Many policies cover misfuelling, so check yours as we head over.
About Totternhoe itself
Totternhoe is a small village in Bedfordshire, situated approximately 31.8 miles northwest of London and 13 miles southwest of St Albans. Totternhoe has a population of around 664 people and is characterized by semi-detached housing. Totternhoe sits at an elevation of 120 metres, with nearby areas including Church End, Middle End, and Well Head.
AdBlue drains across Bedfordshire, Totternhoe included
As a rural village, Totternhoe has the same vans as the surrounding towns — Well Head, Middle End — right across LU postcodes. Giving us your LU6 1 postcode pins you fastest of all.
Centre of Totternhoe or a layby towards Totternhoe Conservation Area: either way it sits, the vehicle never needs to shift at all for this drain. The van empties it in place. Assuming doesn't help near Site of Roman Villa, on a border or anywhere awkward to describe; ring and check.
Your situation, summed up
Not run yet: keep the vehicle off and call. Run already: pull over, switch down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, in Totternhoe or wherever in Bedfordshire.