AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Broadwater Down, and What to Do Next
Has the motor run since the AdBlue was put in? This single question settles almost everything about what comes next. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether the car is in Broadwater Down itself or out in Royal Tunbridge Wells. Call 0333 366 0103 with the key and motor both off. Across Broadwater Down, that is typically drained and cleaned where it stands. When the motor has run, stop safely first, then switch the vehicle off. A larger job, yes, but the same opening move.
Anywhere in Kent it happened, one of the cases below matches yours.
Broadwater Down forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you only spot it while you're stood at the petrol pump, bottle or nozzle in hand. Possibly you are at the Sainsbury's, maybe at the Esso, perhaps somewhere else in Broadwater Down.
What it means: this is the ideal location to find out. Nothing has drawn it through, so the AdBlue stays just in your tank.
Next: resist the temptation to fire it up only to move away from the petrol pump. Three jobs: a push into a bay with the attendants helping, the receipt kept, and a call to us from the forecourt. Our equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a live forecourt, and so a vehicle that cannot be pushed clear gets drained right at the petrol pump.
Broadwater Down, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
Several days had gone by with the warning light on. Only at the recycling bin, the empty bottle in your hand, did you look back at the cap you'd opened on the driveway. It occurs on drives just off St George's Park as commonly as anywhere.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. As it is reluctant to mix, AdBlue settles low in your tank and waits. One night parked alters none of that.
Keep your keys indoors tonight — or a person may take it off first thing — and call us. In Ramslye or right here in Broadwater Down, the draining happens at your drive. Our equipment runs quietly enough not to disturb the neighbours at night.
On the road around Broadwater Down with AdBlue in a diesel
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later the engine began to run unevenly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Somewhere on Broadwater Down or heading towards Brighton and Hove — under 50 miles away.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been sucked through your fuel system. The injection pump and every injector get it as well on a longer trip, once the fuel filter and pipework have had it. It travels deeper with every mile covered and every restart.
Next: pick a safe spot, pull in, then switch your motor off. Leave at the next junction — not the services further along — if you are on the M25, under 15 miles from Broadwater Down. Starting it again to test gets nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear itself. Roughly what distance did it gone? Say so when you call.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You've had the vehicle hardly a week. On your own car, AdBlue is missing or somewhere else. On this one, its cap is just next to your diesel cap — news to you. Across Kent, no one is immune.
Put simply: one extra step on top of the situations above, and those turn on whether it's run. Plenty of hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on the car.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's faster settled before our technicians turn up than after. If you're stuck in the car park outside Tunbridge Wells, or by St Mark's Church, whilst you wait for an answer, leave your car off.
Broadwater Down: unsure if it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
"I think so" is sometimes the most honest answer there is. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia around the filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. The gates of Broadwater Down Primary School in a rush, say, or someone's drive out in Hawkenbury.
Put simply: spillage near the filler leaves your engine no harm. Once it's inside the diesel tank, though, it does. If there is AdBlue in the tank, firing up the car would suck it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Your move: behave as though it did, and don't start your motor. Checking a tank that proves free of AdBlue beats draining one after it has been run — so phone then tell us what you noticed.
Broadwater Down: what each AdBlue drain has in common
The work begins the same way, whatever your case. Forecourt, drive, The Bull's car park or a road beside TWCF Church (South Site) — the van comes to the vehicle, and three questions come next: which liquid, which amount, and whether it ran. Answers set the work; the price follows by phone whilst no one has left yet.
AdBlue crystallises and eats at certain metals in fuel systems, so it does not rinse out unaided; that's why the flush, after this drain, matters much more with AdBlue than with petrol. Then comes the filter — cleaned, or swapped when necessary — followed by fresh diesel, and a test of your vehicle. Not started? In that case roughly half an hour on site covers most jobs.
The final step is firing it up. With new diesel in, it runs while our engineers make sure it's running correctly, and then we leave. If it is caught early, the vehicle very seldom has permanent damage, and the entire job happens where it is. Nothing is taken upfront, settlement is made on the day, and you get what your insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Worth remembering: many insurers include misfuelling cover, so a check of your policy as you wait pays.
About Broadwater Down
Broadwater Down is a suburban area in Kent, situated inland at an elevation of 129 metres, and is located near several other localities including Ramslye, Hungershall Park, and Nevill Park. Broadwater Down has a population of approximately 4357 residents and is characterised by predominantly detached housing. Broadwater Down is positioned roughly 26.6 miles from Brighton and Hove, and about 31.6 miles from London, placing it within the wider South East England region.
Broadwater Down and Kent: AdBlue drains across the area
Broadwater Down is a residential suburb, and the same teams that cover it work the towns near it too, Hungershall Park and Nevill Park among them, across the TN postcode area. Giving us your TN2 5 postcode finds you quickest of all.
Central Broadwater Down or a lay-by near Hargate Forest: either way it is, the car never needs to shift an inch for us. Where it stands, that is where it is emptied. Guessing won't help beside Pantiles Baptist Church, on a border or anywhere hard to describe; ring and ask.
Your situation, in one line
Motor not started: phone, leaving it switched off. Whatever line applies, Petrol in Diesel takes over from there on 0333 366 0103, throughout Kent and in Broadwater Down — once you pull over, switch off and ring, if it has run.