Upper Wolvercote: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Find Your Situation
Everything hinges on one detail: whether the engine has been run since the AdBlue was added — more than anything else. Wherever the car stands — Binsey, Upper Wolvercote — don't run a motor that hasn't run yet. Keep nothing on, phone 0333 366 0103, then expect a thorough flush after a drain, carried out right where the car sits in Upper Wolvercote. Stop the moment it is safe then turn off, if it has been run. It's a larger job, though stage one does not change.
Below: the situations our engineers meet, wherever in Oxfordshire. Pick yours.
At the petrol pump around Upper Wolvercote: AdBlue in a diesel
Only at this point, bottle still in hand, you realise that the cap you opened was the wrong one, right at the pump. Perhaps you are at the BP, maybe at the Welcome Break, possibly somewhere else around Upper Wolvercote.
Meaning? Spotting it here is as good as it gets. The AdBlue is inside the tank and nowhere else. Nothing has pulled it in.
What to do: do not get back in and start the car to clear the pump. A few things: a push into a bay with the staff assisting, the bottle kept, and a call to us from where you stand. The equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a live forecourt, so a vehicle that can't be pushed clear is emptied right at the pump.
Upper Wolvercote, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
Days had passed with the warning light on. Only by the recycling, the empty bottle in hand, did you look back at the cap you'd opened on the driveway. Houses just off Webbs Close are caught out as often as anywhere else.
Put simply: if your vehicle hasn't been driven since, it's almost equal to finding out at the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue keep separate: the AdBlue drops to the base of your tank and stays put, however long it waits.
Put the keys indoors overnight — or someone might drive it off at breakfast — and call us. Our engineers drain it on your drive, whether that is around Upper Wolvercote or out in Lower Wolvercote. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
On the road in Upper Wolvercote with AdBlue in a diesel
Lumpy running, smoke, lost power or a lit dashboard started a mile or two beyond the fill. It might have been heading for Oxford, under 3 miles away, or just along Godstow Road.
What it means: the fuel system has drawn the AdBlue in. Distance sets how far it goes: filter and pipework to begin with, then the injection pump and each injector. More miles, more restarts: deeper it travels.
What to do: pull over where it's safe to do so then switch off. On the M40, under 10 miles from Upper Wolvercote, that means the next junction, not the services further on. Starting it again to test achieves nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear on its own. About what distance had it go? Tell us as you call.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You've just driven this car for days. Unbeknown to you, the two fillers sit side by side here — unlike your own car, which has none or keeps it in another spot. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in Oxfordshire.
In short: one extra stage on top of the cases above, and those turn on whether it's run. The owner often needs to sign off any work, under plenty of hire and company contracts.
Next: ring the rental company or the fleet manager first, then us — settling it before we arrive is quicker. Waiting for a reply in the car park at Oxford Parkway, or beside Lt. Bettington and 2nd Lt. Hotchkiss? Keep your engine off throughout.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank around Upper Wolvercote?
Honestly, the best answer might be that you think so. What cap came off, you cannot recall; but the bottle weighs less than it ought to, and ammonia hangs by the filler. It might have been on a friend's drive in Sunnymead, or rushing outside Wolvercote Primary School on the school run.
Meaning? Drips outside the inlet don't touch your engine at all. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. Turning on your car cannot tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in that tank it will pull it in.
Do this: behave as though it did, and never start your motor. Checking a tank that turns out clean is better than draining one once it's been run — so ring then tell us what you noticed.
The common ground in every Upper Wolvercote AdBlue drain
The work begins identically, whatever your case. Wherever your vehicle is — The Wolvercote Inn's car park, a street by Wolvercote Baptist Church, a drive, a forecourt — our van gets there and we ask for the fluid, the quantity, and if the motor has turned over. Those replies determine the work, and you get the quote on the phone, before anyone sets off.
Then your tank is drained and the fuel system flushed thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not rinse out on its own. Your filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the car is tested. If your motor hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
The last step is starting the engine. Our test that it runs smoothly on fresh diesel comes before we leave. The entire job is done where your car is, and if it's spotted soon, lasting damage is very uncommon. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, nothing upfront. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling, and so look at yours while the van travels.
About Upper Wolvercote
Upper Wolvercote is a suburban area located on the riverside in Oxfordshire, with a mix of semi-detached housing and a population of around 1328 residents. Upper Wolvercote sits at an elevation of 59 metres, close to the nearby settlements of Lower Wolvercote and Wolvercote, and is approximately 2.6 miles from Oxford. Upper Wolvercote is part of the wider Oxford urban area, yet retains a distinct character as a residential community near the River Thames. Upper Wolvercote is also within commuting distance of London, being around 53.5 miles from the capital.
AdBlue drains around Upper Wolvercote, and across Oxfordshire too
Upper Wolvercote is a residential suburb, and the same vans that cover it work the places around it too, Wolvercote and Wytham among them, across the OX postcode area. Fastest of all: a OX2 8 postcode for where you stand.
Parked heading to The Bathers, or bang in the heart of Upper Wolvercote, the vehicle stays put — there's no need to shift it anywhere. Wherever it stands, that's where it is drained. Assuming doesn't help near RFC/RAF Airfield Memorial, on a border or somewhere hard to pin down; phone and ask.
In one line: your situation
Unstarted? Keep the vehicle off and phone. Whichever line applies, Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest on 0333 366 0103, throughout Oxfordshire and within Upper Wolvercote — once you pull over, turn off and phone, if it has run.