AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Barbican, and What to Do Next
One thing matters above all once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is if the engine has been started afterwards. Anywhere the car is — Shoreditch, Barbican — never run an engine that has not run yet. Leave your motor and your ignition off and phone 0333 366 0103; it is normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is in Barbican. Pull over the minute it is safe then turn off, if it has already run. It is a larger job, though step one does not change.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever around Greater London it happened.
Barbican forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Just at this point, nozzle yet in your hand, it dawns on you that the cap you opened was the wrong one, right at the petrol pump. Whether Shell, Texaco or somewhere else around Barbican, the situation is identical.
The upshot: of every spot to find out, the forecourt is the best. Just the tank has AdBlue; no component past it has drawn it in.
Next: avoid the temptation to start it just to move away from the petrol pump. Ask the attendants to help you roll your car into a parking spot, keep your receipt or the bottle, and phone us from the forecourt. Our equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt, so a vehicle that can't be pushed away gets emptied where it is at the pump.
Barbican, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
Days had gone by with the dash light on. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look a second time at the cap. Driveways close to Fore Street get it as much as any other street.
In short: if your vehicle has not been driven since, it is almost equal to finding out at the pump. As it is unable to mix, AdBlue settles low inside your tank and waits. A night standing changes nothing.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so nobody moves your car in the morning. Then call. Your driveway is where it is drained, be it around Barbican or London. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
Barbican: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Topped up, pulled away, and before long your engine was running unevenly, blowing smoke, losing power, or lighting up the dash. Wood Street, say, or the way to London — a trip of under a mile.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been sucked through the fuel system. Through your filter, through the lines, and — the further the mileage — deeper into the high-pressure pump and every injector. More driving, more starts: deeper it travels.
Your move: stop anywhere sensible, then switch the engine off. Service stations further along can wait: from the M1, under 10 miles out of Barbican, take the next junction. It won't have cleared, and so there's no sense restarting to check. Phone us and say how far you travelled.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company motors
You've only had this vehicle a week. Unknown to you, the two fillers are next to each other here — not like your own vehicle, which has none or stores it elsewhere. Throughout Greater London, no one is safe from it.
Put simply: one extra stage on top of the situations above, and those depend on if it's run. Plenty of hire and company contracts require the owner's approval for work.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is faster settled before we get there than after. Hanging on for a reply in the car park at Moorgate, or near St Giles' Hospital (site of)? Leave your engine off throughout.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank around Barbican?
Now and then, "I think so" is the most you can truthfully say. Lighter, the bottle; a hint of ammonia near your filler; no clear memory of which cap. Look familiar? The gates of Prior Weston Primary School and Children's Centre in a hurry, perhaps, or someone's drive over in Blackfriars.
What it means: a little spilled round the filler does no harm to your motor. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. Any AdBlue in your tank would be pulled in by firing up the car, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
Do this: act as though it got in, and never start your engine. Inspecting a tank that proves clean is better than emptying one once it's been run — so phone then tell us what you noticed.
The common ground in every Barbican AdBlue drain
The job opens the same way, whatever your situation. Forecourt, driveway, The Jugged Hare's car park or a street beside St Giles-without-Cripplegate — our van reaches your vehicle, and three answers come next: what fluid, what amount, and whether it ran. Over the phone, before dispatch, you are told the quote, and those replies decide the job too.
Draining that tank comes first, then a full flush — more important with urea than after petrol, because crystals and corrosion will not clear on their own, however long you wait. Next is your filter — cleaned, or replaced when needed — followed by fresh diesel, and a test of your car. Where your motor hasn't been started, allow about half an hour once we arrive, in most jobs.
Firing it up comes last. Our technicians make sure it runs properly on fresh diesel before we go. The whole job is done where the vehicle is, and when it's caught soon, long-term damage is very uncommon. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Barbican itself
Barbican is a suburban area in central London, situated on the north bank of the River Thames at an elevation of around 24 metres. Barbican is characterized by its predominantly flat-type housing and is located close to nearby places such as Farringdon and St Lukes. Barbican is a densely populated area with approximately 10,980 residents, and its proximity to London makes it a desirable location. Barbican sits in a strategic position, with the city of London just 0.3 miles away.
AdBlue drains across Greater London, Barbican included
As a residential suburb, Barbican shares its vans with the nearby towns — St Lukes, Farringdon — right across EC2Y postcodes. Giving us a EC2Y 8 postcode finds you fastest of all.
Stopped heading to Thomas More Garden, or bang in the centre of Barbican, your vehicle stays put — there's no need to move it at all. Our van empties it where it stands. If you are somewhere hard to describe, near Barbican Centre (Cinema) or close to a border, ring and ask instead of guessing.
Your situation, summed up
Motor never started: phone, and leave it switched off. Whatever case applies, Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest on 0333 366 0103, throughout Greater London and in Barbican — after you pull over, turn off then phone, if it has run.