AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Alexandra Park: What Now?
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: whether the motor has run since it was put in. Anywhere the vehicle is — Cranley Gardens, Alexandra Park — never run an engine that hasn't been started yet. Normally that is draining and thoroughly purging it right there around Alexandra Park — so keep your ignition and engine off and ring 0333 366 0103. Already started? Pull over once you safely can, then switch it off. Stage one stays unchanged, even though the work is bigger.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever around Greater London it happened.
On a Alexandra Park forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
You are 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. It might be the Shell, or the Bounds Green Service Station, or another forecourt around Alexandra Park.
Meaning? Spotting it here is the best it can be. No pump has pulled it through, so the AdBlue stays only in the tank.
What to do: don't get back in and start the vehicle to clear the petrol pump. Ask the staff to help you push the vehicle into a parking space, keep your receipt or the bottle, and phone us from the forecourt. Our equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a live forecourt, so a car that cannot be pushed clear gets emptied where it is at the pump.
At home in Alexandra Park with AdBlue in the diesel tank
Days had gone by with the warning light on. Only at the recycling bin, the empty bottle in your hand, did you look back at the cap you'd opened on the drive. Driveways close to Yewtree Close see it as much as anywhere.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. Being unable to mix, AdBlue settles to the base in your tank and stays. One night parked alters nothing.
Next: keys indoors, and so no one takes the vehicle anywhere at breakfast. Then, phone. Out in Muswell Hill or here in Alexandra Park, the draining happens on your drive. The equipment works quietly enough that it won't wake the neighbours at night.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving in Alexandra Park?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later your engine began to run unevenly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Alexandra Park Road, perhaps, or the route towards London — a trip of under 10 miles.
The point: your system has pulled AdBlue in already. It's been through your filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure pump and the injectors. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Stop safely — that is the next step — then switch everything off. Alexandra Park sits under 5 miles from the M1; there, pull off at the next junction rather than pressing on to the services. It will not have cleared, so there is no sense starting it again to check. Roughly what distance had it go? Say so when you call.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
It's a vehicle you have had for a week. Your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere, and so no one warned you the AdBlue cap sits right next to your diesel. Anyone, wherever in Greater London, might do the same.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it's run, with one more stage. The owner often has to sign off the work, under plenty of rental and company agreements.
Next: phone the rental company or your fleet manager first, and then us — sorting it before our arrival is quicker. Stranded by Alexandra Park Library or at Alexandra Palace till the firm replies, your vehicle remains switched off the whole time.
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Not sure, around Alexandra Park
At times, "I think so" is all you can truthfully say. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia about your filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. Perhaps it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Rhodes Avenue Primary School, or on a friend's drive in Fortis Green.
Meaning? Drips outside the filler never reach your engine at all. In your diesel tank, however, AdBlue damages it. Any AdBlue in your tank will be pulled in by turning on 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 start it. Call us and describe what you saw; we'd rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
The common ground in every Alexandra Park AdBlue drain
Whichever situation you are in, this job starts the same way. Three questions are asked when we arrive — on a forecourt, a driveway, a road by Oliver Tambo statue or the car park at The Maid of Muswell: the fluid, the amount, and whether it has been started. Replies set the work; the quote follows on the call while no one has set off yet.
Draining that tank comes next, followed by a careful flush — more important after urea than after petrol, since crystals and corrosion will not clear by themselves, no matter how long you wait. Clean diesel is put in after the filter is cleaned or replaced, and your car is then tested. If the motor hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Our technicians start it last. Our technicians make sure it runs correctly on new diesel before we go. The entire job is done where your car is, and if it's caught soon, permanent damage is very uncommon. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money upfront. It is worth remembering: lots of insurers offer misfuelling cover, and so a quick look at your documents as we travel pays.
About Alexandra Park, briefly
Alexandra Park is a suburban area in north London, situated near the lakeside and surrounded by other residential neighbourhoods such as Muswell Hill and Bounds Green. Alexandra Park sits at an elevation of around 61 metres, with terraced housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Alexandra Park is located approximately 6 miles from central London, making it a popular choice for those who want to be close to the city. Alexandra Park has a population of around 10,144 people, according to recent estimates.
AdBlue drains around Alexandra Park and across Greater London
As a residential suburb, Alexandra Park has the same vans as the surrounding places — Coldfall, Bounds Green — all the way through N postcodes. Your location is clearest from a postcode that starts N22 7.
No towing is required, whether stopped in the centre of Alexandra Park or on a lay-by heading to O R Tambo Recreation Ground, and so keep it put. The drain is done on the spot. Assuming won't help near Oliver Tambo Memorial, on a county line or somewhere hard to pin down; phone and ask.
Your situation, summed up
Where it has not started, phone then keep it that way. Whichever case fits, Petrol in Diesel handles from there on 0333 366 0103, across Greater London and in Alexandra Park — once you pull over, turn off and ring, if it has run.