AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Aveley: What Now?
Has your motor turned over since the AdBlue went in? That one question settles almost everything else from here. If it has not, keep it that way, whether your car is in Aveley itself or out in Purfleet. Usually this means draining and properly flushing it right there in Aveley — so leave your key and engine off then call 0333 366 0103. Stop the minute it is safe then turn off, if it has been run. The job is bigger, but the first step is the same.
Anywhere around Essex it took place, one of the situations below matches yours.
At the pump around Aveley: AdBlue in a diesel
Imagine it: standing by the petrol pump, gripping the bottle, you realise the cap you opened wasn't the correct one. Maybe you're at the Esso, possibly at the Tesco, perhaps somewhere else in Aveley.
What it means: this is the best place to find out. Nothing has pulled it in, and so the AdBlue stays just inside that tank.
Do this: keep out of the car, even if the queue needs clearing. A few things: a shove into a bay with the attendants assisting, the receipt saved, and a ring to us from where you stand. If it can't be shifted, it can be cleared at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home in Aveley
The warning light had been on for days. Only at the recycling bin, the empty container in hand, did you look back at the cap you'd used on the drive. Homes just off Mill Road are caught out as much as anywhere else.
The point: zero driving since makes it nearly as good to spotting it at the pump. Being unable to blend, AdBlue settles low inside your tank and waits. A night standing alters none of that.
Your move: keys indoors, so no one takes the car off first thing. Then, ring. Purfleet-on-Thames or Aveley: wherever your driveway is, that is where it gets cleared. Our pumping kit runs quiet enough that it won't wake the neighbours at night.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel in Aveley?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later your motor began to run unevenly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Purfleet Road, perhaps, or the route to London — a run of under 15 miles.
What it means: the system has drawn the AdBlue in. Distance sets how deep it goes: filter and lines first, then the high-pressure pump and every injector. It goes deeper with every mile driven and every restart.
Your move: stop somewhere safe, then switch your engine off. Leave at the next junction — not the services beyond — if you are on the M25, under a mile from Aveley. It will not have cleared, so there is no point starting it again to check. Call, and say what distance your car was driven.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company cars
Seven days back, it was unknown to you. Unbeknown to you, the AdBlue and diesel fillers are next to each other here — unlike your own vehicle, which has no AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere. Anywhere you happen to be around Essex, any motorist can be caught.
The upshot: exactly as above, split by if it ran, only with an added stage. Many hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on your car.
Sorting it before the van turn up is quicker, and so ring the hire company or your fleet manager, then us. Leave the vehicle off while the reply comes, whether you are waiting outside Purfleet or close to Aveley Village Hall.
Aveley: unsure if it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
At times, "I think so" is the most anyone can honestly say. A faint ammonia-like whiff hangs around your filler, the bottle seems too light, and which cap came off is hard to recall. Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Aveley Primary School, or on a friend's drive in West Thurrock.
Meaning? Spills around the inlet never touch your motor at all. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. You cannot tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so will draw in any AdBlue that is in your tank.
What to do: treat it as if it went in. Don't crank it. Ring 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.
Aveley: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Whichever scenario you are in, this job starts the same way. Three questions come when we arrive — on a filling station, a driveway, a road beside Aveley Village Social Club or the car park at The Top House: the liquid, the amount, and if the motor has been started. Over the phone, ahead of anything else, you are told our price, and those replies shape the work too.
Draining your tank comes first, followed by a careful flush — more vital with urea than after petrol, since crystals and corrosion won't go by themselves, however long it sits. Your filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the car is tested. Never started? Then roughly half an hour once we are there is most jobs.
Firing it up comes last. Our test that it runs smoothly on fresh diesel comes before our engineers leave. The whole job is done where the car is, and when it's spotted early, long-term damage is very unusual. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money upfront. Dig out your insurance before we arrive: misfuelling cover is included in plenty of policies.
About Aveley
Aveley is a village in Essex, situated approximately 16 miles from central London and 14 miles from the city's eastern edge. Aveley sits in a relatively low-lying area at around 30 metres above sea level, near the Thames estuary and close to nearby places like Purfleet-on-Thames and South Ockendon. Aveley has a population of around 5941 people, predominantly living in semi-detached housing.
AdBlue drains across Essex, Aveley included
Aveley is a rural village, and the same vans that cover it work the towns near it too, Wennington and South Ockendon among them, across the RM postcode area. The whereabouts is quickest from a postcode beginning RM15 4.
Centre of Aveley or a lay-by near Aveley Recreation Ground: wherever it is, your car doesn't need to shift at all for this drain. Where it sits, that is where it is drained. If you're somewhere hard to explain, close to The Kings Family Centre or close to a border, ring and ask instead of assuming.
Your situation, in one line
Not run yet: keep it off and ring. Run already: pull over, switch down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, in Aveley or anywhere in Essex.