AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Chalfont Common: What Now?
All of it hinges on one fact: if your engine has started after the AdBlue was added — more than anything else. If it has not, keep it that way, whether the vehicle is in Chalfont Common itself or out in Chalfont Grove. Leave the engine and your ignition off then call 0333 366 0103; it's generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Chalfont Common. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. It is a larger job, yet stage one doesn't change.
Compare your case to a situation from the list below, wherever in Buckinghamshire you happen to be.
On a Chalfont Common forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Just now, bottle still in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you opened was the wrong one, there at the petrol pump. Somewhere in Chalfont Common, then — Esso, BP, or somewhere else nearby.
What it means: this is the best spot to find out. Only that tank holds AdBlue; no part past it has taken any in.
What to do: do not get back in and start the vehicle to clear the pump. Ask the staff to help you push your car into a parking space, keep the receipt or the bottle, and phone us from the forecourt. Can't move the car by the pump? Explosion-proof equipment keeps a busy forecourt safe, and so we can drain the car where it is.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Chalfont Common drive?
On the dash, a reminder had been lit for days. Picked up a container, poured it in outside the house, binned the empty — and at that point looked at the cap a second time, too late. Houses just off Cross Lanes get hit as much as anywhere else.
In short: if your car hasn't been driven since, it's almost as good as finding out at the pump. At the bottom of the tank is where AdBlue waits, because it will not blend with diesel — and a night passing makes no difference.
Your move: keys indoors, so nobody takes your car anywhere first thing. Then, phone. Our technicians drain the car on your driveway, whether that's around Chalfont Common or out in Horn Hill. Our equipment runs quietly enough not to disturb the street at night.
Chalfont Common: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Lumpy running, smoke, lost power or a lit dashboard started a short way after the top-up. Mid Cross Lane, say, or the way towards St Albans — a trip of under 15 miles.
Meaning? Your pump has sucked the AdBlue in. Mileage sets how deep it goes: filter and pipework first, then the high-pressure pump and every injector. It goes deeper with every mile covered and every restart.
Your move: stop somewhere sensible, then switch your motor off. On the M25, under a mile from Chalfont Common, that means the next junction, not the services further on. It will not have cleared, and so there's no point restarting to check. Call, saying what distance your vehicle was driven.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company motors
A week back, the car was unknown to you. On your own car, AdBlue is absent or somewhere else. On this one, the cap is just next to the diesel inlet — news to you. Wherever you happen to be in Buckinghamshire, any motorist can be caught.
Meaning? Whatever case above applies too — run or not — plus one further step. Many hire and fleet agreements require the owner's sign-off before repairs.
Your move: hire firm or fleet manager to begin with, us next, because sorting it beforehand saves time. Leave the car off while the reply arrives, whether you are waiting outside Gerrards Cross or near St Paul's.
Chalfont Common: unsure whether it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
"I think so" is often the most honest as it gets. Lighter, the bottle; a trace of ammonia near your filler; a hazy memory of which cap. Look familiar? It might have been on a friend's driveway in Bottrells Close, or in a rush outside Robertswood School on the school run.
Meaning? Drips outside the filler don't reach your engine at all. If it's inside the diesel tank, though, that changes. Any AdBlue in your tank will be sucked in by turning on your car, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
Assume it was put in, and never start the engine. Checking a tank that turns out free of AdBlue beats emptying one once it has been run — so ring then describe to us what you saw.
The common ground in every Chalfont Common AdBlue drain
Whichever situation you are in, the job starts the same way. Filling station, driveway, The Dumb Bell Public House's car park or a road beside Chalfont St Peter Community Centre — the van reaches your car, and three answers follow: which liquid, which amount, and if it ran. The price is given on the call, ahead of anyone setting off, and those replies set the job.
Then that tank is cleared and your system purged thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not rinse out on its own. Clean diesel goes in once the filter is cleaned or replaced, and your car is then tested. Where the engine has not run, expect roughly half an hour on site, in most cases.
Firing it up comes last. We make sure it runs smoothly on clean diesel before we leave. Our engineers do the entire job where the vehicle is, and long-term damage is very rare when it has been spotted early. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, nothing in advance. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Chalfont Common, briefly
Chalfont Common is a suburban area in Buckinghamshire, situated near the River Misbourne and characterised by detached housing. Chalfont Common sits at an elevation of 103 metres, with nearby settlements including Horn Hill, Chalfont St Peter, and Chalfont St Giles. Chalfont Common is located approximately 19.6 miles from London and 12.8 miles from St Albans, making it a commuter base for those working in the larger cities. Chalfont Common has a population of around 3090 residents.
AdBlue drains across Buckinghamshire, Chalfont Common included
Chalfont Common is a residential suburb, and the same teams that cover it work the places around it too, Chalfont St Peter and Chalfont St Giles among them, across the SL postcode area. Telling us a SL9 0 postcode finds you quickest of all.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to Cheena Meadow or in a car park in the middle of Chalfont Common, it does not need to shift. The van drains it in place. Phone and ask rather than guess if you're close to Saint Peter's Church, on a border, or anywhere tricky to explain.
Your scenario, in one line
Unstarted? Leave the vehicle that way then ring. Whatever line applies, Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest on 0333 366 0103, throughout Buckinghamshire and within Chalfont Common — after you stop, turn off then ring, if it has run.