AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Towcester: What Now?
Everything turns on one detail: if the motor has been run after the AdBlue went in — more than anything else. Not started yet? Then leave the vehicle that way, wherever your vehicle is — Towcester or Caldecote. Keep nothing on, call 0333 366 0103, then expect a proper flush after a drain, done right where the vehicle stands around Towcester. When the motor has been run, pull in safely straight away, then switch the vehicle off. It is a bigger job, yet stage one does not change.
Further down: the situations our technicians see, wherever across Northamptonshire. Choose the one that fits.
Towcester forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Just now, bottle still in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you took off was the wrong one, there at the petrol pump. Maybe you're at the Shell, maybe at the BP Connect, possibly somewhere else in Towcester.
Put simply: no better place exists to discover it. The AdBlue is in that tank and nowhere else. Nothing has sucked it in.
Clearing the pump is no excuse to run it — so don't get back in. Get the attendants to help pushing it into a bay, save the receipt, then phone us from there. Emptying it there at the petrol pump is possible if it can't be shifted, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home in Towcester with AdBlue in your diesel tank
On your dash, a warning had shown for days. Bought a container, poured it in outside the house, binned the empty — and at that point checked the cap again, after the fact. Just off Chantry Lane is no less likely from any other place.
Meaning? As long as your car has not moved since, it is close to the pump case. As it is unable to blend, AdBlue settles low inside that tank and waits. A night standing changes none of that.
Keep your keys indoors tonight — otherwise someone may take it off at breakfast — and phone us. Wood Burcote or Towcester: wherever your drive is, that is where it is emptied. The equipment runs quiet enough not to disturb the neighbours at night.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel around Towcester?
A short way beyond filling up, your engine started playing up: rough running, smoke, less power, warnings on the dash. Watling Street, say, or the way to Milton Keynes — a trip of under 15 miles.
Meaning? Your fuel pump has taken the AdBlue in. The injection pump and every injector get it as well on a bigger run, after your filter and lines have had it. It travels further with every mile covered and each restart.
What to do: pull over where it's safe then switch off. Towcester lies under 10 miles from the M1; on it, come off at the first junction rather than pushing on for the services. No test restarts: clearing itself isn't something AdBlue does. Call us and say how far you went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
Seven days back, it was new to you. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is missing or elsewhere. On this one, its cap is right by the diesel inlet — a surprise to you. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in Northamptonshire.
Meaning? Whatever applies above counts here — run or unrun — and one further step. Many hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on the car.
Do this: hire firm or your fleet manager first, us second, since sorting it beforehand cuts time. Waiting for a reply in the car park at Northampton, or beside The Town Hall? Keep your engine off meanwhile.
Towcester: unsure if it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
"I think so" is often as honest answer there is. Too light, the bottle; a trace of ammonia round the filler; a hazy recollection of which cap. Look familiar? The gates of Towcester Church of England Primary School in a hurry, say, or a friend's driveway out in Greens Norton.
The upshot: the motor isn't hurt by some AdBlue spilled around the filler. Inside the diesel tank, however, AdBlue damages it. If there is AdBlue in your tank, firing up the vehicle would draw it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Take it that it got in, and don't start your key. Ring us and explain what you saw; we would rather check a tank that turns out free of AdBlue than drain one that has already been run.
Towcester: what each AdBlue drain has in common
The work opens identically, whatever your situation. Three questions are asked once our engineers reach your car — at a forecourt, a drive, a street by Towcester Museum or the car park outside The Watling Street Village: the fluid, the amount, and if it has been started. On the phone, before dispatch, you hear our price, and those replies shape the job too.
Draining your tank comes next, then a full flush — more vital after urea than after petrol, because crystals and corrosion will not clear by themselves, no matter how long you wait. Last come your filter, cleaned or renewed as needed; clean diesel; and a check of your vehicle. Never started? Then roughly half an hour on site covers most jobs.
Finally, we fire it up. Our check that it runs smoothly on fresh diesel comes before we leave. Lasting damage is very unusual if it is noticed early, and the whole job is done where your car is. Paying is on the day, never in advance. For your insurer, you get a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. Worth knowing: lots of insurers offer misfuelling cover, so a check of your documents as we travel pays.
About Towcester, briefly
Towcester is a town in southern Northamptonshire, situated on the River Tove at an elevation of around 93 metres. Towcester lies near several smaller villages, including Wood Burcote, Hulcote, and Heathencote, and is approximately 11.7 miles from Milton Keynes. Towcester has a population of around 10655 people, predominantly living in detached housing. Towcester is also within commuting distance of London, being around 56.7 miles from the capital.
AdBlue drains across Northamptonshire, Towcester included
Towcester is a riverside town, and the same vans that cover it work the towns near it too, Hulcote and Heathencote among them, across the NN postcode area. Quickest of all: a NN12 6 postcode for where you stand.
No moving is needed, whether stopped centrally in Towcester or in a lay-by en route to Sawpit Green, so keep it put. Draining is done on the spot. Assuming doesn't help beside Catholic Church of St Thomas More, close to a border or anywhere awkward to pin down; ring and ask.
Your situation, summed up
Not run yet: keep the vehicle off and call. Started already? Stop, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder whichever it is, in Towcester and Northamptonshire, on 0333 366 0103.