AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Woodhall Spa, and What to Do Next
All of that hinges on a single detail: whether your motor has started after the AdBlue went in — far more than anything else. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether your car is in Woodhall Spa itself or out in Timberland Dales. Call 0333 366 0103 with your ignition and motor both off. Across Woodhall Spa, such a case is generally emptied and flushed on the spot. Where your engine has run, pull in safely first, then switch it off. A bigger job, then, yet the same first move.
Anywhere in Lincolnshire it happened, one of the cases below fits yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Woodhall Spa forecourt
Just at this point, bottle yet in hand, you realise that the cap you opened was the wrong one, right at the petrol pump. Possibly you're at the the nearest petrol station, perhaps at the Moorlands Service Station, maybe somewhere else in Woodhall Spa.
Put simply: no better place exists to discover it. Just the tank holds AdBlue; no component beyond it has drawn it in.
Clearing the petrol pump is no excuse to start it — so don't get back in. Have the attendants to help rolling it into a space, hold on to the bottle, then ring us from there. Emptying it right at the pump is fine if it cannot be shifted, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home around Woodhall Spa with AdBlue in your diesel tank
Several days had passed with the warning light on. A bottle bought at the shop, emptied in at the drive — and it's just at the bin that the cap caught a second look. Homes just off Clarence Road are caught out as often as anywhere else.
The point: zero driving since leaves it almost equal to spotting it at the petrol pump. At the bottom of that tank is exactly where AdBlue waits, since it won't mix with diesel — and a night going by makes nothing of the difference.
Your move: keys indoors, so no one takes your car off at breakfast. After that, phone. Kirkstead or Woodhall Spa: wherever your drive is, that's where it is cleared. The equipment runs quietly enough not to disturb the neighbours at night.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving in Woodhall Spa?
A short way after filling up, the motor started misbehaving: rough running, smoke, lost power, lights on your dash. Maybe driving for Lincoln, under 15 miles away, or just down The Broadway.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been pulled into your fuel system. Through the filter, along the pipework, and — the further the distance — deeper into the injection pump and each injector. Every restart, like each mile, carries it on.
Next: pick a sensible place, stop, then turn your engine off. On the M180, under 50 miles from Woodhall Spa, that means the next exit, not the services further on. Restarting it to check achieves nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear on its own. Call, saying how far the car was driven.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
Seven days back, it was unknown to you. Unknown to you, the two fillers are side by side here — unlike your own vehicle, which has none or keeps it elsewhere. It can happen to anyone, anywhere across Lincolnshire.
In short: an extra stage on top of the situations above, and those turn on whether it has run. Work on your vehicle frequently requires the owner's approval under rental or fleet terms.
Sorting it before the van arrives is faster, and so ring the hire company or your fleet manager, and then us. Waiting for a reply in the car park at Metheringham, or beside Woodhall Spa Library? Keep your engine off throughout.
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Not sure, around Woodhall Spa
Now and then, "I think so" is the most you can truthfully say. A slight ammonia whiff lingers around the filler, the bottle feels too light, and which cap came off is a blur. A rushed top-up by the gates of St Andrew's CofE Primary School, or a visit to a friend in Martin Dales: both fit.
What it means: a little spilled about the filler does no harm to the motor. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. Starting the vehicle cannot tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in the tank it would suck it in.
Do this: act as if it did, and never start the engine. Call us and explain what you saw; we would rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
Woodhall Spa: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Whichever situation you are in, the job starts the same way. Three questions come when we arrive — on a forecourt, a drive, a road by Dambuster's Memorial or the car park at The Mall: the liquid, the amount, and if it has been started. The price is given on the call, before a van leaves, and the answers shape the work.
A thorough flush comes after this drain. With petrol it is routine; with AdBlue it is crucial, since deposits form and certain metals are attacked, and neither rinses out unaided. Next is the fuel filter — cleaned, or replaced when necessary — then fresh diesel, and a test of your car. Where the engine has not been started, allow roughly half an hour on site, in most cases.
The final step is starting the engine. Our check that it runs smoothly on fresh diesel comes before our technicians leave. If it's caught soon, the car very rarely has long-term damage, and the entire job takes place where it is. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, no money upfront. Dig out your insurance while we're en route: misfuelling cover comes built into many policies.
About Woodhall Spa
Woodhall Spa is a town situated in a riverside setting in Lincolnshire, with an elevation of around 12 metres. Woodhall Spa lies near the villages of Kirkstead and Reeds Beck, and is close to Martin Moor. Woodhall Spa has a population of approximately 4131 people, predominantly living in detached housing. Woodhall Spa is located 14.5 miles from Lincoln and 113.7 miles from London.
AdBlue drains across Lincolnshire, Woodhall Spa included
Being a spa town, Woodhall Spa shares its vans with the nearby places — Martin Moor, Reeds Beck — all the way through LN postcodes. Your location comes quickest from a postcode beginning LN10 6.
Whether the car is on a lay-by on the way to Pine Woods or in a car park in the middle of Woodhall Spa, it does not need to move. The drain is done right there. If you are somewhere hard to explain, near 617 Squadron or close to a boundary, ring and ask instead of assuming.
Your scenario, summed up
If it has not started, phone then leave it that way. Whatever line applies, Petrol in Diesel handles from there on 0333 366 0103, across Lincolnshire and in Woodhall Spa — after you stop, switch off then ring, if it has run.