What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Witney
One fact counts most when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is whether the motor has been started afterwards. Anywhere the vehicle is — Shores Green, Witney — never run a motor that has not been started yet. Usually this means draining and thoroughly cleaning it on the spot around Witney — so leave the key and motor off then call 0333 366 0103. Stop the minute you safely can and switch off, if it has already run. The job is bigger, but the first stage is the same.
Wherever around Oxfordshire it happened, one of the situations below matches yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Witney 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 Shell, Esso or somewhere else around Witney, the case is the same.
Put simply: no better spot to be to discover it. The AdBlue is inside the tank and nowhere else. Nothing has sucked it in.
Your move: stay out of the car, even if the queue wants freeing. Three things: a push into a space with the staff assisting, the bottle kept, and a ring to us from where you stand. If it can't be moved, it can be emptied at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt.
Witney, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
For days the dash had been nagging you. Only at the recycling bin, the empty bottle in your hand, did you look back at the cap you had opened at the drive. Drives near Welch Way see it as much as anywhere.
Put simply: if your vehicle has not moved since, it's nearly equal to finding out at the forecourt. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so no one moves the vehicle in the morning. Then ring. Our technicians drain the car on your drive, whether that is in Witney or out in Woodgreen. Night-time clears outside a house are no problem: the pumps are low-noise.
On the road around Witney with AdBlue in a diesel
Rough running, smoke, falling power or a lit dashboard started a short way after the top-up. Anywhere along Glovers Walk or else on the road to Oxford — under 15 miles away.
What it means: the system has sucked the AdBlue in. Through the filter, along the pipework, and — the more the mileage — deeper into the injection pump and each injector. It travels deeper with every extra mile covered and every restart.
Stop somewhere safe — that's the first job — then turn it off. On the M40, under 15 miles from Witney, that means the next junction, not the services further on. Don't restart the vehicle to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Let us know the distance driven when you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
It's a motor you have had for a week. The AdBlue filler sits right next to the diesel one, which you did not know, since your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. It can happen to anyone, anywhere across Oxfordshire.
In short: one extra step on top of the cases above, which turn on whether it has run. Plenty of hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on your car.
Do this: hire firm or your fleet manager to begin with, us second, because settling it beforehand saves time. Keep the vehicle off as the reply comes, whether you are waiting outside Finstock or near Witney Congregational Church.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Witney?
At times, "I think so" is all anyone can truthfully say. Too light, the bottle; a hint of ammonia near your filler; a hazy memory of the cap. Look familiar? It might have been on a friend's driveway in High Cogges, or rushing outside The Batt Church of England Primary School at the school run.
What it means: a little spilled around the filler does no harm to your motor. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. Any AdBlue in your tank would be pulled in by firing up the car, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
What to do: treat it as if it went in. Do not crank it. Checking a tank that proves free of AdBlue is better than draining one once it has been run — so phone and tell us what you saw.
Every AdBlue drain in Witney shares these stages
Whichever situation you are in, this job starts the same way. Wherever the car is — Royal Oak's car park, a road by Witney High Street Methodist Church, a drive, a forecourt — the van gets there and asks for the liquid, the amount, plus whether the engine has turned over. Replies shape the work; the price comes on the call whilst nobody has set off yet.
Then your tank is emptied and the system purged thoroughly, which counts 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 fuel filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. If the motor hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we are there.
The last step is firing it up. Our engineers make sure it runs smoothly on fresh diesel before we go. The entire job is done where the vehicle is, and when it's spotted soon, long-term damage is very unusual. Paying comes that day, never in advance. For the insurer, you get a VAT invoice plus a written report from the engineer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Witney
Witney is a town in west Oxfordshire, situated on the River Windrush at an elevation of around 82 metres. Witney lies approximately 10 miles west of Oxford and 61 miles from London, with nearby places including Woodgreen, Newland, and Cogges. Witney has a population of around 22,130 people and is characterised by its semi-detached housing stock. Witney is a significant urban centre in the South East region, with a mix of old and new buildings along its riverside setting.
AdBlue drains about Witney and across Oxfordshire
Witney is a riverside town, and the same teams that cover it work the towns near it too, Newland and Cogges among them, across the OX postcode area. Quickest of all: a OX28 6 postcode for your location.
No towing is needed, be it stopped in the centre of Witney or in a lay-by heading to Bee Lovelly, and so leave it put. The van empties it in place. Ring and ask instead of guessing if you are by Queen Victoria Jubilee Plaque, near a border, or anywhere awkward to explain.
The one-line version
Not run yet: keep the vehicle off then call. Run by now? Stop, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest whatever case, across Witney and Oxfordshire, on 0333 366 0103.