AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Chafford Hundred: What Now?
Has the engine turned over since the AdBlue went in? This single question settles nearly everything else from here. Wherever the car stands — Little Thurrock, Chafford Hundred — don't start a motor that has not been started yet. Leave your motor and your ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103; it is usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Chafford Hundred. Stop the moment you safely can and turn off, if it has already run. It's a bigger job, though step one doesn't change.
Match what happened to a situation from the ones below, anywhere across Essex you happen to be.
At the pump in Chafford Hundred: AdBlue in a diesel
You're 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. Whether Esso, Morrisons or somewhere else in Chafford Hundred, the case is the same.
Put simply: no better spot to be to discover it. Just that tank has AdBlue; not one component beyond it has taken it in.
Clearing the pump is no excuse to start it — so don't get back in. Three things: a shove into a bay with the staff helping, the bottle saved, and a ring to us from the forecourt. If it can't be shifted, it can be emptied at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a working forecourt.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home in Chafford Hundred
The warning light had been on for days. Bought a bottle, tipped it in outside the house, binned the empty — and at that point checked the cap again, after the fact. Just off Drake Road is not less likely from anywhere.
Meaning? Provided the car has not been driven since, it is close to the forecourt case. On the floor of your tank sits where AdBlue waits, because it won't blend with diesel — and a night passing changes no difference.
Put the keys in the house overnight — or a person may take it off at breakfast — and call us. North Stifford or Chafford Hundred: wherever your driveway is, that's where it gets emptied. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel around Chafford Hundred?
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. Somewhere along Devereux Road or on the road to Southend-on-Sea — under 25 miles away.
The upshot: your system has drawn AdBlue through by now. It's been through the filter and your lines and, the further you went, into your high-pressure pump and the injectors. Every restart, like every mile, carries it on.
What to do: pull over where it is safe and switch off. Chafford Hundred sits under 3 miles from the M25; on it, come off at the next junction instead of pushing on for the services. No trial starts: clearing is not something AdBlue does. Let us know the distance driven when you call.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
Seven days back, it was unknown to you. The AdBlue filler is right alongside the diesel one, which you did not know, since your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. It can happen to anyone, anywhere around Essex.
The upshot: just as above, split by if it ran, but with an added step. Plenty of hire and company contracts require the owner's approval before repairs.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is quicker settled before we turn up than after. If you're stuck in the car park outside Grays, or by Drake Road Community Centre, while you wait for an answer, leave the car off.
AdBlue in your diesel tank? Not sure, in Chafford Hundred
Truthfully, the only answer might be that you think so. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia around your filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. Possibly it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Tudor Court Primary School, or on a friend's drive in Thurrock Park.
Meaning? Spills around the inlet never reach the engine at all. A diesel tank with AdBlue in it is a different story. If there is AdBlue in that tank, firing up your car would pull it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Take it that it went in, and don't turn your engine. Ring us and explain 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 Chafford Hundred AdBlue drain
Each situation has the same start to the work. We come to the car, whether it's on a forecourt, a drive, the car park outside The Sandmartin or a side street near Essex Fire Museum, and ask three things: what was put in, about how much, and if the engine has run. Over the phone, before dispatch, you are told the quote, and those replies decide the work too.
AdBlue forms crystals and eats at some metals in fuel systems, and so it won't wash out on its own; that's why a full flush, after this drain, matters far more with AdBlue than with petrol. Clean diesel is put in after the filter has been cleaned or changed, and the car is finally tested. If the engine has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Finally, our technicians start the car. Our check that it runs smoothly on fresh diesel comes before our technicians go. The entire job is done where the car is, and when it's spotted quickly, permanent damage is very rare. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, no money upfront. Check your insurance while we arrive: cover for misfuelling comes built into many policies.
About Chafford Hundred, for a moment
Chafford Hundred is a village situated on the lakeside in Essex, with an elevation of around 21 metres. Chafford Hundred lies approximately 19 miles from London and 17 miles from Southend-on-Sea, near the communities of North Stifford, Grays, and South Stifford. Chafford Hundred has a population of around 4076 residents, predominantly living in detached housing. Chafford Hundred is characterized by its lakeside setting and modern residential developments.
AdBlue drains across Essex, Chafford Hundred included
Being a village, Chafford Hundred has the same vans as the nearby places — South Stifford, Grays — all the way through RM postcodes. Quickest of all: a RM16 6 postcode for where you stand.
Centre of Chafford Hundred or a lay-by towards Chafford Gorges Nature Reserve: either way it is, your vehicle doesn't need to shift an inch for us. Our technicians drain the vehicle where it sits. Awkward to pin down? By All Saints or a county line? Checking beats assuming, so ring.
Your situation, summed up
If it has not started, ring then leave it that way. Whatever case applies, Petrol in Diesel handles the rest on 0333 366 0103, throughout Essex and within Chafford Hundred — after you pull over, turn off and ring, if it has run.