AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Chinatown, and What to Do Next
One fact counts most once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is whether your engine has been started afterwards. Over in Whitehall or right in Chinatown, an unstarted engine must remain that way. Switch nothing on, phone 0333 366 0103, then expect a proper flush plus a drain, done just where the car sits in Chinatown. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. It is a bigger job, though stage one does not change.
Wherever around Greater London it took place, one of the situations below matches yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Chinatown forecourt
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you just notice it while you're standing at the petrol pump, bottle or nozzle in your hand. Possibly you're at the Esso, maybe at the BP, maybe somewhere else around Chinatown.
What it means: this is the ideal location to find out. The AdBlue is in the tank and nowhere else. Nothing has sucked it in.
What to do: don't get back in and fire it up to clear the pump. Ask the staff to help you roll your car into a parking bay, keep the receipt or the bottle, and call us from the forecourt. Can't move the car beside the petrol pump? Explosion-proof equipment makes a live forecourt safe, and so we can drain the vehicle in place.
AdBlue in the diesel tank at home around Chinatown
The warning light had been on for days. Only by the recycling, the empty bottle in your hand, did you look back at the cap you'd used at the drive. Houses just off Wardour Street get hit as often as anywhere else.
In short: if your car has not moved since, it's almost equal to spotting it at the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue stay separate: the AdBlue settles to the floor of your tank and stays put, however long it waits.
Next: prevent an early move by putting the keys indoors, then phone us. Your drive is where it gets drained, be it around Chinatown or Soho. Night-time clears beside a house are no problem: the pumps are quiet.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving in Chinatown?
Topped up, pulled away, and before long the motor was turning roughly, blowing smoke, losing power, or lighting up the dash. Anywhere along Lisle Street or else heading towards Westminster — under a mile away.
What it means: the system has sucked the AdBlue in. Through the fuel filter, through the pipework, and — the more the mileage — deeper into the injection pump and each injector. More driving, more starts: further it travels.
What to do: pull over where it is safe to do so and switch off. Services farther on are too far: from the M1, under 10 miles out of Chinatown, use the next junction. Starting it again to test achieves nothing — AdBlue never clears on its own. Tell us know the distance covered when you ring.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company cars
You've only had this vehicle a week. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is missing or somewhere else. On this one, its inlet is right next to the diesel inlet — a surprise to you. Across Greater London, no one is safe from it.
The point: exactly as above, divided by whether it ran, but with an added step. Many hire and company contracts require the owner's approval for work.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is quicker settled before we turn up than after. Leave the vehicle switched off while the reply arrives, whether you're waiting outside Tottenham Court Road or close to Chinatown Gate.
AdBlue in your diesel tank? Not sure, in Chinatown
Truthfully, the only answer might be that you think it did. Which cap came off, you cannot recall; meanwhile the bottle feels lighter than it ought to, and a whiff of ammonia hangs by the filler. Possibly it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Soho Parish CofE Primary School, or on a friend's drive in St Jamess.
What it means: a little spilled around your filler does no damage to the motor. If it is inside the diesel tank, though, that changes. If there is AdBlue in the tank, starting the vehicle will pull it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Assume it was put in, and never turn your engine. Tell us what you noticed on the phone. A clear tank checked counts as a better outcome than a run one emptied.
What every AdBlue drain in Chinatown has in common
Each case has the same opening to the work. We come to the car, whether it is at a forecourt, a drive, the car park at The Three Lanterns or a side street near Site of the Mont Blanc Restaurant, and ask three things: what was put in, roughly how much, and if your engine has run. Your price is given on the call, before a van leaves, and those answers set the work.
Then that tank is emptied and your system cleaned thoroughly, which matters 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. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Most unstarted cars are a half-hour visit from the moment we get there.
Lastly, we start it. With clean diesel in, it runs while our technicians confirm it's running properly, and then we head off. Our technicians do the entire job where your car is, and permanent damage is very unusual when it has been noticed quickly. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Check your insurance before we arrive: cover for misfuelling is built into plenty of policies.
About Chinatown
Chinatown is a small suburban area in the heart of London, situated near the city's main entertainment and shopping districts. Chinatown sits at an elevation of 31 metres, close to the neighbouring areas of Soho, Strand, and Charing Cross. Chinatown is predominantly composed of flats, providing housing for its approximately 7258 residents. Chinatown is located very close to Westminster, at a distance of just 0.7 miles.
Chinatown and Greater London: AdBlue drains across the area
Strand and Charing Cross have the identical vans as Chinatown, a residential suburb, along with further towns throughout WC2H postcodes. Fastest of all: a WC2H 7 postcode for where you stand.
No moving is required, be it parked in the centre of Chinatown or on a layby heading to Leicester Square, so leave it put. Wherever it sits, that's where it gets drained. Tricky to pin down? Close to Cineworld Leicester Square or a border? Asking beats guessing, so ring.
Your situation, summed up
If it hasn't run, ring then keep it off. Run already: pull over, switch down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, in Chinatown or wherever in Greater London.