What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Birchington
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: whether your engine has run since it went in. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether your car is around Birchington itself or out in Mount Pleasant. Leave your engine and the ignition off and phone 0333 366 0103; it's normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is in Birchington. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. A larger job, then, yet the identical first step.
Anywhere across Kent it took place, one of the situations below matches yours.
On a Birchington 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 Esso, or the another forecourt nearby, or another station in Birchington.
Meaning? Spotting it on the forecourt is the best it gets. Nothing has pulled it in, so the AdBlue sits only in that tank.
Next: avoid the urge to fire it up just to free up the pump. Have the staff to help rolling it to a space, hold on to the receipt, then ring us from there. If it can't be moved, it can be emptied at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a working forecourt.
At home in Birchington with AdBlue in your diesel tank
Days had passed with the dash light on. A bottle bought at the garage, tipped in at the drive — and it was just at the bin that the cap caught a second look. Just off Essex Gardens is not less likely from any other place.
Put simply: if the car has not moved since, it is nearly as good as finding out at the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue stay separate: the AdBlue drops to the floor of the tank and remains put, no matter how long the night.
Keep the keys indoors overnight — or someone might drive it off at breakfast — then phone us. Brooks End or Birchington: whichever your driveway is, that's where it is cleared. The pumping kit works quietly enough not to disturb the street at night.
Birchington: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Lumpy running, smoke, falling power or a lit dashboard arrived a short way beyond the top-up. Maybe driving to Canterbury, under 15 miles away, or simply along Lancaster Gardens.
What it means: the system has sucked the AdBlue in. Distance decides how deep it gets: filter and lines first, then the injection pump and every injector. Every restart, like each mile, pushes it deeper.
Next: find a safe place, stop, then turn the engine off. Birchington sits under 25 miles from the M2; on it, pull off at the first junction rather than pushing on for the services. Do not restart the vehicle to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Call us and say how far you drove.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You've had the car hardly a week. Your own motor either does without AdBlue or puts it elsewhere, and so no one warned you the AdBlue cap sits right beside your diesel. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in Kent.
Put simply: an extra step on top of the cases above, and those depend on whether it has run. Work on your vehicle frequently needs the owner's approval under rental or fleet terms.
Do this: rental firm or your fleet manager to begin with, us next, because settling it beforehand saves time. Keep the car switched off as the answer arrives, even if you are waiting outside Birchington-On-Sea or close to Church House.
Unsure about AdBlue in your diesel tank in Birchington?
"I think so" is often as honest as it gets. A faint ammonia-like smell lingers near your filler, the bottle feels too light, and the cap you took off is hard to recall. The gates of Birchington Church of England Primary School in a rush, say, or a friend's driveway over in Woodchurch.
The upshot: the motor isn't harmed by some AdBlue splashed on the outside. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. If there is AdBlue in the tank, starting the vehicle will draw it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Take it that it got in, and never turn the engine. Checking a tank that turns out free of AdBlue beats emptying one once it's been run — so phone then describe to us what you saw.
The common ground in every Birchington AdBlue drain
Every case gets the same opening to the job. We come to your car, whether it is on a forecourt, a driveway, the car park outside The Powell Arms or a side street close to All Saints Church, and ask three things: what was put in, roughly how much, and whether the engine has run. Replies shape the job; the quote follows by phone while no one has set off yet.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to certain metals used in fuel systems, and so it won't wash out on its own; that's why the flush, after this drain, matters far more here than with petrol. Clean diesel is put in once your filter is flushed or replaced, and your car is finally checked. Where your motor hasn't been started, allow about half an hour on site, for most cases.
Lastly, our engineers start the engine. Before our engineers head off, it is tested to be sure it runs properly on clean diesel. Permanent damage is very uncommon when it is noticed early, and the whole job is done where the car is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Birchington, for a moment
Birchington is a suburban area on the coast of Kent, situated near the town of Westgate-on-Sea and close to the historic city of Canterbury. Birchington has a population of around 4469 people and is characterised by semi-detached housing. Birchington sits at an elevation of 19 metres, looking out over the sea. Birchington is also near to other small places such as Brooks End and Acol.
AdBlue drains across Kent, Birchington included
Throughout CT postcodes, the vans covering Birchington — a residential suburb — work nearby places too, Acol and Westgate-on-Sea among them. Giving us a CT7 9 postcode finds you quickest of all.
Central Birchington or a layby near The Seaview Pub Garden: either way it sits, the car doesn't need to move an inch for us. Draining happens on the spot. Tricky to pin down? Close to Birchington Baptist Church or a border? Checking is better than assuming, and so phone.
The one-line version
Where it has not run, ring then keep it that way. Run by now? Pull over, turn off, ring. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest whatever case, in Birchington and Kent, on 0333 366 0103.