AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Woodford, and What to Do Next
Everything hinges on a single detail: if the engine has been run after the AdBlue was added — more than anything else. Not started yet? Then leave the vehicle like that, whether your vehicle sits — Woodford or Slipton. Leave the motor and your ignition off and call 0333 366 0103; it's usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Woodford. Already started? Pull over when you safely can, then turn everything off. A bigger job, yes, yet the same first step.
Wherever around Northamptonshire it took place, one of the situations below matches yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Woodford 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. Maybe you're at the Shell, maybe at the BP, perhaps somewhere else in Woodford.
Meaning? Finding out on the forecourt is the best it gets. Only the tank has AdBlue; not one part past it has drawn any in.
What to do: do not get back in and crank it to clear the pump. A few jobs: a push into a space with the attendants assisting, the receipt saved, and a call to us from where you stand. Emptying it right at the petrol pump is fine when it can't be shifted, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in the diesel tank at home around Woodford
On your dash, a warning had been lit all week. Only at the recycling bin, the empty container in hand, did you glance back at the cap you had opened on the driveway. Houses just off Newtown Street are caught out as much as anywhere else.
In short: if your car hasn't moved since, it is almost equal to spotting it at the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue stay apart: the AdBlue settles to the floor of your tank and remains there, however long it waits.
Put your keys indoors overnight — or a person may drive it off first thing — then call us. In Woodwell or right here in Woodford, the drain is done on your driveway. Night-time clears beside a house are no problem: the pumps are low-noise.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving in Woodford?
A short way beyond filling up, your motor started playing up: rough running, smoke, lost power, warnings on your dash. Long Row, perhaps, or the route to Peterborough — a trip of under 25 miles.
What it means: the system has sucked the AdBlue in. It's been through the filter and the fuel lines and, the further you went, into your high-pressure pump and your injectors. Every restart, like each mile, pushes it deeper.
Next: find a safe spot, stop, then turn the engine off. On the A1(M), under 15 miles from Woodford, that means the next exit, not the services further on. No trial starts: clearing itself is not something AdBlue will do. Call us and say how far you went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
It is a motor you have had for a week. Your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or puts it somewhere different, and so no one told you the AdBlue inlet was right next to your diesel. Wherever you are around Northamptonshire, any driver can be caught.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it has run, with one more step. Many hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on the car.
Next: ring the rental company or your fleet manager first, and then us — settling it before our arrival is quicker. Stuck near Woodford Baptist Church or at Kettering till someone answers, the vehicle remains turned off the whole time.
Woodford: unsure whether it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
At times, "I think so" is the most anyone can honestly say. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia about the filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. Maybe at a friend's driveway in Islip, or in a rush by Woodford Church of England Primary School at the school run.
Meaning? Spills around the inlet don't touch the motor at all. If it's inside the diesel tank, though, it does. If there is AdBlue in your tank, turning on the vehicle would draw it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Do this: act as if it got in, and don't start the engine. Inspecting a tank that turns out free of AdBlue is better than emptying one after it's been run — so phone then tell us what you saw.
What every AdBlue drain in Woodford has in common
Whatever the situation, a single start is used. Anywhere your vehicle stands — The Dukes Arm's's car park, a street beside Saint Mary's, Woodford, a drive, a filling station — our van arrives and asks for the fluid, the quantity, and if the engine has been run. Those replies determine the work, and you get our price on the phone, before anyone heads out.
Then your tank is cleared and the fuel system cleaned 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. Your filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and your car is tested. Not started? Then about half an hour on site is most jobs.
Last, we start the engine. Before our technicians leave, it is tested to confirm it runs smoothly on new diesel. The whole job is done where your car is, and when it is noticed early, lasting damage is very rare. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money upfront. Check your insurance while we arrive: misfuelling cover comes built into plenty of policies.
About Woodford and where it is
Woodford is a small village in Northamptonshire, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 72 metres. Woodford lies near the villages of Woodwell, Twywell, and Great Addington, and is approximately 19 miles from Peterborough. Woodford has a population of around 569 people and features predominantly terraced housing. Woodford is also within commuting distance of London, being around 64 miles from the capital.
AdBlue drains across Northamptonshire, Woodford included
Woodford is a village, and the same teams that cover it work the towns around it too, Twywell and Great Addington among them, across the NN postcode area. Quickest of all: a NN14 4 postcode for where you stand.
Parked heading to Woodford Shrubbery, or right in the heart of Woodford, your car remains where it is — there's no need to move it anywhere. The drain happens on the spot. Phone and check rather than guess when you are close to Site of ironworks, on a boundary, or anywhere awkward to explain.
In one line: your situation
Engine not started: phone, leaving it switched off. Started by now? Pull over, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest whatever it is, across Woodford and Northamptonshire, on 0333 366 0103.