AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Brockhill, and What to Do Next
All of it turns on one detail: whether the motor has been run after the AdBlue went in — far more than anything else. Anywhere the car stands — Winkfield, Brockhill — never start an engine that hasn't run yet. Call 0333 366 0103 with the key and engine both off. Across Brockhill, such a case is typically drained and cleaned where it stands. Already started? Stop when you safely can, then turn everything off. A larger job, yes, but the same first move.
Below: the cases our technicians meet, anywhere across Berkshire. Choose yours.
At the petrol pump around Brockhill: AdBlue in a diesel
You're 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. Anywhere in Brockhill, then — Tesco, Esso, or somewhere else nearby.
Meaning? Spotting it here is the best it can be. No pump has drawn it through, and so the AdBlue stays only in that tank.
Next: resist the urge to fire it up just to move away from the petrol pump. Three things: a push into a space with the staff assisting, the bottle kept, and a call to us from where you stand. Emptying it right at the pump is possible when it cannot be moved, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in the diesel tank at home in Brockhill
The warning light had been on for days. A bottle from the garage, tipped in on the driveway — and it was just at the bin that the cap caught your eye. Driveways near Bracknell Road see it as much as any other street.
The point: no driving since leaves it almost equal to spotting it at the pump. Being reluctant to mix, AdBlue drops low in the tank and waits. One night parked changes nothing.
Your move: the keys in the house, and so nobody drives the vehicle anywhere first thing. After that, phone. Our technicians drain it on your drive, whether that is around Brockhill or out in Maidens Green. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
On the road around Brockhill with AdBlue in a diesel
Filled up, drove away, and before long the engine was turning roughly, blowing smoke, down on power, or flashing up the dash. Perhaps it was on Cricketers Lane, perhaps on the way out towards Westminster, under 50 miles away.
What it means: your fuel system has sucked the AdBlue in. The high-pressure pump and every injector get it as well on a longer trip, once the fuel filter and lines have it. Each restart, like every mile, pushes it on.
Stop somewhere safe — that's the next step — then switch everything off. Brockhill lies under 5 miles from the M4; there, come off at the next junction rather than pushing on for the services. No test starts: clearing isn't something AdBlue will do. About how far had it go? Say so when you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
It's a vehicle you have had for a week. The AdBlue filler sits right alongside the diesel one, which you didn't know, since your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Any driver, wherever across Berkshire, might make it.
Meaning? Whatever applies above counts too — run or unrun — plus one further step. The owner often needs to sign off any work, under plenty of hire and company agreements.
Next: phone the rental company or the fleet manager first, and then us — sorting it before our arrival is faster. Keep it off as the reply comes, whether you are parked at Martins Heron or near Saint Michael the Archangel.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Brockhill?
Truthfully, the only answer may be that you think it did. A faint ammonia-like smell lingers around your filler, the bottle seems too light, and the cap you took off is a blur. The gates of Winkfield St Mary's CofE Primary School in a hurry, say, or someone's drive over in Winkfield Street.
The point: your motor isn't harmed by a little AdBlue splashed around the filler. In your diesel tank, by contrast, AdBlue harms it. You can't tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so will pull in any AdBlue that is in your tank.
Do this: behave as if it got in, and don't start your motor. Checking a tank that proves clean is better than draining one after it has been run — so ring and tell us what you saw.
Brockhill: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Whatever the situation, a single opening applies. Wherever the vehicle stands — The Cricketers's car park, a street beside St Mary, a driveway, a filling station — the van arrives and asks about the liquid, the quantity, plus if your engine has turned over. Your price is given over the phone, ahead of anyone setting off, and those answers set the job.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to some metals used in fuel systems, and so it won't wash out on its own; that is why a full flush, after the drain, counts much more with AdBlue than with petrol. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the car is tested. If your motor hasn't run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Finally, our technicians start the car. With fresh diesel in, it runs while we check it's running smoothly, and then we leave. When it is noticed early, the vehicle very seldom has lasting damage, and the whole job happens where it is. Nothing is paid upfront, payment happens on the day, and you get what the insurer asks for: an engineer report plus a VAT invoice. Worth knowing: many insurers include misfuelling cover, so a check of your policy while we travel pays.
About Brockhill and where it is
Brockhill is a small village in Berkshire, situated on the riverside at an elevation of 64 metres. Brockhill lies near the villages of Maidens Green, Winkfield Row, and Warfield, and is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock. Brockhill is located approximately 25.8 miles from London, making it a rural outlier of the larger metropolitan area. Brockhill remains a quiet, residential community with a population of around 603 people.
AdBlue drains in Brockhill, and across Berkshire too
Brockhill is a village, and the same vans that cover it work the towns around it too, Winkfield Row and Warfield among them, across the RG postcode area. Fastest of all: a RG42 6 postcode for where you stand.
Parked heading to King George V Playing Field, or bang in the heart of Brockhill, the vehicle remains put — there's no need to move it anywhere. The van empties it in place. Ring and ask instead of guessing when you are by Carnation Hall, on a border, or somewhere awkward to explain.
The one-line version
Where it has not started, ring then keep it off. Run by now: stop, switch down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder, in Brockhill or wherever across Berkshire.