What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Towthorpe
Everything turns on one detail: whether the motor has been run since the AdBlue was added — more than anything else. Over in Wigginton or right around Towthorpe, an unstarted engine should stay unrun. Normally this means draining and thoroughly flushing it on the spot in Towthorpe — and so leave your ignition and motor off then ring 0333 366 0103. Already run? Pull over when safe, then turn everything off. It's a bigger job, yet step one doesn't change.
Below: the situations our technicians meet, wherever around North Yorkshire. Pick the one that fits.
Towthorpe forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you only spot it while you are stood at the petrol pump, bottle or nozzle in hand. Somewhere around Towthorpe, then — JET, Sainsbury's, or anywhere else nearby.
The point: of every spot to find out, this is the best. Nothing has pulled it through, and so the AdBlue stays only in your tank.
Freeing the pump is no reason to run it — so do not get back in. Phone us from the forecourt after your vehicle sits in a bay — the staff will help roll it — and save the bottle. Our equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a live forecourt, and so a car that can't be pushed away is cleared where it is at the petrol pump.
At home in Towthorpe with AdBlue in your diesel tank
On your dash, a reminder had been lit for days. Only at the recycling bin, the empty bottle in your hand, did you look back at the cap you'd opened on the drive. Drives near Towthorpe Road see it as much as anywhere.
Meaning? Provided the car has not moved since, it's second to the pump case. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Put your keys indoors tonight — otherwise a person might take it away first thing — and call us. Your drive is where it gets emptied, be it in Towthorpe or Earswick. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Towthorpe: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Rough running, smoke, lost power or a lit dashboard arrived a short way beyond the fill. Maybe driving to York, under 5 miles away, or simply down Towthorpe Moor Lane.
What it means: the system has drawn the AdBlue in. Distance decides how far it goes: filter and lines to begin with, then the injection pump and each injector. Each restart, like each mile, carries it on.
What to do: pull over where it is safe then switch off. Exit by the first junction — not the services beyond — if you are on the A1(M), under 15 miles from Towthorpe. No trial starts: clearing itself isn't something AdBlue will do. Phone, and say how far your vehicle was driven.
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 next to the diesel filler, which you did not know, because your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Anyone, anywhere in North Yorkshire, might do the same.
Meaning? Whichever case above counts here — run or not — and one extra stage. Plenty of hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on your car.
Next: ring the rental company or the fleet manager first, and then us — settling it before we arrive is faster. Keep the vehicle off as the reply comes, whether you are waiting outside York or close to St Wilfrid's Garrison Church.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Towthorpe?
Occasionally the fair answer is "I think so". Lighter, that bottle; a hint of ammonia round your filler; a hazy recollection of which cap. Look familiar? A rushed stop by the gates of Ralph Butterfield Primary School, or a call to a friend in Huntington: both fit.
In short: a spill near your filler does your engine unharmed. If it is inside the diesel tank, though, that changes. Any AdBlue in the tank would be drawn in by starting your car, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
What to do: treat it as if it was put in. Don't start the vehicle. Checking a tank that turns out clean beats emptying one once it's been run — so ring and tell us what you noticed.
Every AdBlue drain in Towthorpe shares these steps
Whichever situation you are in, this job starts the same way. Our technicians come to the car, whether it is at a forecourt, a driveway, the car park at Six Bells or a side street close to Earswick Village Hall, and ask three things: what got in, roughly how much, and if your engine has run. Those answers settle the work, and you hear our price on the phone, before anybody sets off.
Then your tank is drained and the fuel 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 doesn't rinse out on its own. Next comes the fuel filter — flushed, or replaced when needed — then fresh diesel, and a test of the car. If the engine has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
Starting the engine comes at the end. With clean diesel in, it runs while our engineers make sure it is running properly, and then we go. Long-term damage is very uncommon when it's noticed early, and the entire job is done where the vehicle is. Payment is on the day, never in advance. For your insurer, there is a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. Worth remembering: lots of insurers include misfuelling cover, and so a check of your documents while we travel pays.
About Towthorpe, for a moment
Towthorpe is a small village situated on the riverside in North Yorkshire, with a low elevation of around 23 metres. Towthorpe lies close to the city of York, approximately 4.3 miles away, and is near other local places such as Earswick, Haxby, and Strensall. Towthorpe has a population of around 522 people and is characterised by predominantly detached housing. Towthorpe is located in a region that is relatively far from London, at a distance of around 177.8 miles.
AdBlue drains across North Yorkshire, Towthorpe included
Throughout YO postcodes, the vans covering Towthorpe — a village — work nearby places as well, Haxby and Strensall among them. Quickest of all: a YO32 5 postcode for your location.
Centre of Towthorpe or a lay-by towards Towthorpe Common: either way it is, the car doesn't need to shift an inch for this drain. The drain is done right there. Guessing won't help beside Foundations of WW2 POW camp (for Italians), on a border or somewhere awkward to describe; ring and ask.
Your situation, summed up
Unstarted? Keep the car off and phone. Already run: stop, switch off then call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there around Towthorpe and anywhere across North Yorkshire on 0333 366 0103.