AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Broad Green, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: whether your motor has been run since it went in. Anywhere your vehicle stands — Selhurst, Broad Green — never run a motor that hasn't run yet. Leave the engine and the ignition off then call 0333 366 0103; it's usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Broad Green. Pull over the minute you safely can and switch off, if it has been run. It's a bigger job, though stage one does not change.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever across Greater London it happened.
At the petrol pump around Broad Green: AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you just spot it while you are standing at the petrol pump, bottle or the nozzle in your hand. Whether BP, Sainsbury's or somewhere else around Broad Green, the case is the same.
Meaning? Spotting it here is as good as it gets. Nothing has drawn it in, so the AdBlue stays only inside the tank.
Freeing the pump is no reason to run it — and so don't get back in. Ask the staff to help you push the vehicle into a parking spot, keep your receipt or the bottle, then phone us from the forecourt. If it cannot be moved, it can be emptied at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a working forecourt.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Broad Green drive?
The warning light had been on for days. Picked up a container, tipped it in at home, binned the empty — and only then checked the cap a second time, after the fact. Drives near Handcroft Road get it as much as any other street.
The point: no driving since makes this nearly as good to spotting it at the petrol pump. As it is reluctant to blend, AdBlue drops to the base in your tank and waits. One night parked alters none of that.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so no one moves the car in the morning. Then call. Wandle Park or Broad Green: wherever your driveway is, that's where it gets cleared. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
On the road in Broad Green with AdBlue in a diesel
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later the motor began to run unevenly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Eastney Road, say, or the route to Westminster — a run of under 10 miles.
In short: the AdBlue has been pulled into your fuel system. The high-pressure pump and every injector get it as well on a bigger trip, once the filter and lines have had it. More driving, more starts: further it travels.
What to do: pull over where it's safe and switch off. Exit by the next junction — not the services beyond — if you're on the M23, under 10 miles from Broad Green. Restarting it to test achieves nothing — AdBlue never clears on its own. Tell us know the mileage driven when you ring.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company vehicles
It's a vehicle you have had for a week. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is absent or somewhere else. On this one, the cap is right next to your diesel inlet — a surprise to you. It can happen to anyone, anywhere across Greater London.
Put simply: an extra stage on top of the situations above, which turn on if it has run. Any work on your car frequently needs the owner's go-ahead under hire or fleet agreements.
Settling it before we arrives is faster, and so ring the rental company or your fleet manager, then us. Hanging on for an answer at the car park at West Croydon, or beside Christ Church West Croydon? Leave your engine off throughout.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank in Broad Green?
Honestly, the only answer might be that you think so. A slight ammonia smell hangs near the filler, the bottle feels too light, and the cap you took off is a blur. Maybe on a friend's drive in Thornton Heath, or rushing outside Chestnut Park Primary School on the school run.
The upshot: the engine isn't harmed by a little AdBlue spilled on the filler. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. You can't tell which by turning the key, and doing so would suck in any AdBlue that is in your tank.
Take it that it got in, and never turn the engine. Call us and describe what you saw; we'd rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
The common ground in every Broad Green AdBlue drain
Whichever scenario you are in, the job starts the same way. We come to your car, whether it's at a forecourt, a drive, the car park outside Princess Royal or a side street near Peri Community & Social Centre, and ask three things: what went in, roughly how much, and whether your motor has been run. Replies set the work; the price follows on the call whilst nobody has left yet.
Then your tank is drained and your system cleaned thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not rinse out on its own. Your filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Not started? Then about half an hour on site covers most jobs.
The final step is firing it up. With clean diesel in, it runs while our engineers check it's running properly, and then we go. The whole job is done where the car is, and when it is 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 in advance. Worth remembering: lots of insurers offer misfuelling cover, and so a check of your documents while you wait is worthwhile.
About Broad Green, briefly
Broad Green is a suburban area in south London, situated approximately 8.7 miles from central London and 8.3 miles from Westminster. Broad Green has a relatively low elevation of around 45 metres and is characterised by a high proportion of flat dwellings. Broad Green is close to several local amenities, including Wandle Park, and is near the towns of Croydon and Waddon. Broad Green has a population of around 19,787 people.
AdBlue drains in Broad Green, and across Greater London too
Croydon and Waddon have the same vans as Broad Green, a residential suburb, plus other towns over CR postcodes. Quickest of all: a CR0 3 postcode for where you stand.
No moving is required, whether stopped in the centre of Broad Green or on a layby en route to Canterbury Road Recreation Ground, and so leave it put. Wherever it sits, that's where it gets emptied. Guessing won't help near Broad Green Community Hall, on a county line or anywhere awkward to describe; ring and check.
Your situation, summed up
Engine never started: ring, leaving it alone. Whatever case fits, Petrol in Diesel handles the rest on 0333 366 0103, throughout Greater London and within Broad Green — once you pull over, turn off then ring, if it has run.