AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Althorne, and What to Do Next
One thing matters above all when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is if the motor has been started since. Out in Ostend or right around Althorne, an unstarted engine must stay that way. Keep nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, and count on a thorough flush plus a drain, done just where the vehicle sits in Althorne. When your engine has run, pull in safely first, then turn the car off. The job is bigger, but the first step is the same.
Below: the cases our technicians meet, anywhere around Essex. Choose the one that fits.
On a Althorne forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Imagine it: standing by the pump, gripping the bottle, you spot the filler you opened was not the correct one. Be it Texaco, Woodfords Garage or somewhere else in Althorne, the situation is the same.
In short: there is no better place exists to spot it. Still in your tank, and nothing pulled onwards: that is where the AdBlue sits.
What to do: do not get back in and crank it to clear the pump. Ask the staff to help you roll the car into a parking space, keep your receipt or the bottle, then call us from the forecourt. Our equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt, and so a car that can't be pushed away is cleared where it is at the petrol pump.
AdBlue in the diesel tank at home in Althorne
On your dash, a warning had shown all week. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the driveway, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look a second time at the cap. Houses just off Southminster Road get caught out as much as everywhere else.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue stay apart: the AdBlue drops to the floor of the tank and stays there, however long it waits.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so nobody moves the vehicle in the morning. Then call. Our engineers drain it on your drive, whether that is around Althorne or out in Mayland. Night-time clears outside a house are fine: the pumps are low-noise.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel around Althorne?
Rough running, smoke, falling power or a lit dashboard arrived a short way after the top-up. Maybe heading to Southend-on-Sea, under 10 miles away, or simply along Summerhill Burnham Road.
What it means: the system has sucked the AdBlue in. Through the filter, through the pipework, and — the further the distance — deeper into the injection pump and every injector. More miles, more starts: deeper it travels.
Next: find a safe place, pull in, then turn the engine off. Althorne sits under 25 miles from the M25; on it, pull off at the first junction rather than pressing on to the services. It will not have cleared, and so there's no point starting it again to check. Phone, and say how far the car went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
It is a car you have had for a week. On your own car, AdBlue is absent or somewhere else. On this one, its cap is right by your diesel inlet — news to you. Any driver, wherever across Essex, could do the same.
The point: exactly as above, split by whether it ran, but with one added stage. Plenty of hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on the vehicle.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's faster settled before our engineers arrive than after. If you're stuck in the car park outside the nearest station, or by Parish Hall, while you wait for an answer, leave your car off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Althorne?
Honestly, the only answer might be that you think it did. Too light, that bottle; a hint of ammonia near your filler; no clear recollection of which cap. Look familiar? The gates of Maylandsea Primary School in a hurry, perhaps, or someone's driveway over in Steeple.
Put simply: a spill near the filler does your engine unharmed. If it is inside your diesel tank, though, that changes. Turning on the vehicle cannot tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in the tank it will suck it in.
Assume it was put in, and never turn your engine. Call us and explain what you saw; we would rather check a tank that turns out free of AdBlue than drain one that has already been run.
Each AdBlue drain in Althorne shares these stages
Every situation has the same opening to the job. Anywhere the vehicle stands — Three Horseshoes's car park, a road beside St Andrews, Althorne, a driveway, a forecourt — the van arrives and asks for the liquid, the quantity, plus whether your motor has been run. Over the phone, before dispatch, you hear our price, and those replies shape the job too.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to certain metals used in fuel systems, and so it does not wash out unaided; that's why the flush, after this drain, matters much more here than with petrol. The fuel filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. The majority of unrun cars are a half-hour job from the moment we arrive.
Last, we start it. With new diesel in, it runs while our technicians confirm it's running smoothly, and then we leave. The entire job is done where the vehicle is, and when 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, nothing upfront. Worth knowing: lots of insurers include misfuelling cover, so a quick look at your documents while you wait pays.
About Althorne itself
Althorne is a small village on the coast of Essex, situated near the mouth of the River Crouch and close to the nearby settlements of Mayland, Latchingdon, and Maylandsea. Althorne has a low elevation of around 24 metres and is located approximately 8.8 miles from Southend-on-Sea. Althorne is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock, reflecting its rural and residential nature. Althorne is also within commuting distance of London, being around 39.6 miles from the capital.
Althorne and Essex: AdBlue drains across the area
Latchingdon and Maylandsea get the identical teams as Althorne, a coastal village, along with other towns over CM postcodes. Quickest of all: a CM3 6 postcode for where you stand.
Stopped en route to Pub Garden, or bang in the centre of Althorne, your vehicle remains put — there is no need to shift it at all. Our technicians drain the car where it sits. Tricky to pin down? By St Barnabas, Mayland or a county line? Checking is better than assuming, so phone.
Your scenario, in one line
Motor not started: phone, leaving it switched off. Started already? Stop, switch off, ring. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder whatever case, across Althorne and Essex, on 0333 366 0103.