What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Black Rock
Everything turns on a single detail: if the engine has been run after the AdBlue went in — more than anything else. Out in Brighton or here around Black Rock, an unstarted engine must stay unrun. Leave the motor and the ignition off and call 0333 366 0103; it is generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Black Rock. Already run? Pull over when you safely can, then turn it off. Step one stays unchanged, even though the work is bigger.
Anywhere across East Sussex it happened, one of the situations below matches yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Black Rock forecourt
You are at the petrol pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Somewhere around Black Rock, then — Esso, Asda, or somewhere else close by.
Meaning? Spotting it here is as good as it can be. The AdBlue is inside that tank and nowhere else. Nothing has pulled it in.
Clearing the petrol pump is no reason to run it — so don't get back in. Phone us from the forecourt after the car sits in a bay — the attendants will lend a hand to push it — then save the receipt. Emptying it right at the pump is possible if it can't be shifted, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home around Black Rock with AdBlue in your diesel tank
Several days had passed with the warning light on. A bottle bought at the garage, emptied in at the drive — and it's just at the recycling that the cap caught a second look. Houses just off Arundel Place get hit as often as everywhere else.
Put simply: if the vehicle has not been driven since, it is nearly as good as spotting it at the pump. Being reluctant to mix, AdBlue drops to the base in the tank and waits. One night standing changes nothing.
Next: prevent an early-morning drive by keeping the keys indoors, then phone us. Kemp Town or Black Rock: whichever your driveway is, that's where it is cleared. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around Black Rock?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later your motor began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. It might have been heading for Brighton and Hove, under 3 miles away, or simply along Bush Mews.
The point: the system has drawn AdBlue in by now. It's been through the fuel filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure pump and your injectors. It goes further with each extra mile covered and every restart.
Stop safely — that's the first step — then turn it off. Black Rock lies under 25 miles from the M23; there, come off at the first junction rather than pressing on to the services. No test restarts: clearing isn't something AdBlue does. Phone, and say what distance the vehicle was driven.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
Seven days ago, the car was unknown to you. The AdBlue filler sits right alongside the diesel filler, which you did not know, since your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Any driver, wherever across East Sussex, could make it.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it's run, with one more stage. The owner often needs to sign off any work, under many hire and fleet contracts.
Do this: rental firm or your fleet manager first, us next, because settling it beforehand cuts time. If you are stranded in the car park at Brighton, or by W. Harrison Ainsworth, while you wait for an answer, leave the vehicle off.
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Not sure, in Black Rock
At times, "I think so" is all anyone can truthfully say. A slight ammonia-like whiff lingers around your filler, the bottle feels too light, and which cap came off is hard to recall. It might have been at a friend's drive in Bevendean, or in a rush outside St Mark's CofE Primary School at the school run.
Put simply: spillage near your filler leaves the motor no harm. A diesel tank with AdBlue in it is a different matter. If there is AdBlue in your tank, firing up the vehicle will pull it in, and it would not tell you which either.
Next: act as though it went in, and leave the motor off. Describe what you noticed on the phone. A clean tank looked at counts as a happier result than an already-run one emptied.
What every AdBlue drain in Black Rock has in common
Every situation has the same start to the work. Forecourt, driveway, The Bell Tower's car park or a road beside HRH Princess Consort of Thailand — our van comes to your vehicle, and three questions follow: what fluid, what amount, and if it has run. On the phone, before anything else, you are told the price, and those replies decide the job too.
Draining the tank comes next, followed by a careful flush — more vital with urea than after petrol, since crystals and corrosion will not clear on their own, however long you wait. Fresh diesel goes in once the fuel filter is flushed or replaced, and the car is finally tested. Where your engine hasn't run, allow roughly half an hour on site, for most cases.
We start the engine at the end. With new diesel in, it runs while we check it is running smoothly, and then we go. The entire job is done where the car is, and if it's spotted soon, permanent damage is very unusual. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money in advance. It is worth remembering: many insurers offer misfuelling cover, and so a check of your documents as we travel is worthwhile.
About Black Rock and where it is
Black Rock is a coastal suburban area in East Sussex, situated near the city of Brighton and Hove. Black Rock sits at an elevation of 26 metres, close to the seafront and adjacent to the neighbourhoods of Kemp Town and Whitehawk. Black Rock is characterized by its predominantly flat-type housing, which reflects the area's development as a residential zone. Black Rock is also near the Roedean area, with its historic school and scenic coastline.
AdBlue drains across East Sussex, Black Rock included
Black Rock is a residential suburb, and the same vans that cover it work the places near it too, Whitehawk and Roedean among them, across the BN postcode area. Giving us your BN2 5 postcode finds you quickest of all.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to Sussex Square or in a car park in the middle of Black Rock, it doesn't need to shift. Draining happens on the spot. If you're somewhere hard to describe, close to Roedean School or close to a border, ring and ask rather than assuming.
In one line: your situation
Engine not started: ring, leaving it alone. Run by now: pull over, power down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest, within Black Rock or anywhere across East Sussex.