AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Chislehurst, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: if your motor has run since it was put in. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether your car is in Chislehurst itself or out in Longlands. Switch nothing on, phone 0333 366 0103, and count on a thorough flush plus a drain, carried out just where the car stands in Chislehurst. Stop the moment you safely can then switch off, if it has been run. It is a larger job, yet stage one doesn't change.
Match what happened to a situation from the ones below, wherever in Greater London you are.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Chislehurst forecourt
Imagine it: standing by the petrol pump, gripping the nozzle, you realise the cap you took off wasn't the correct one. Possibly you're at the BP, maybe at the Shell, possibly somewhere else around Chislehurst.
In short: there is no better place to be to discover it. The AdBlue is inside your tank and nowhere else. Nothing has pulled it in.
What to do: don't get back in and start it to clear the pump. Ask the staff to help you push the car into a parking spot, keep your receipt or the bottle, then phone us from the forecourt. Draining it there at the petrol pump is possible when it can't be shifted, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
Chislehurst, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
For days the dash had been nagging you. Bought a container, poured it in outside the house, binned the empty — and at that point looked at the cap a second time, too late. Driveways near Willow Grove see it as much as anywhere.
Meaning? Provided your vehicle hasn't moved since, it's close to the pump case. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of that tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
Next: prevent any early move by putting the keys indoors, then phone us. Your driveway is where it is drained, whether in Chislehurst or Chislehurst West. Night-time drains outside a house are fine: the pumps are quiet.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving in Chislehurst?
Topped up, drove away, and soon the engine was turning roughly, blowing smoke, losing power, or lighting up the dash. Anywhere along High Street or else heading to London — under 10 miles away.
The upshot: the system has drawn AdBlue in already. Distance decides how far it gets: filter and pipework to begin with, then the high-pressure pump and each injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
What to do: pull over where it's safe and switch off. Chislehurst lies under 10 miles from the M20; there, come off at the next junction rather than pushing on for the services. It will not have cleared, and so there's no sense restarting to check. Let us hear the distance covered when you ring.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You have had this car hardly a week. Unbeknown to you, the AdBlue and diesel inlets sit side by side here — not like your own car, which has no AdBlue or stores it elsewhere. It can happen to anyone, anywhere across Greater London.
Meaning? Whatever applies above counts too — run or unrun — plus one further stage. The owner often needs to sign off the work, under plenty of hire and company contracts.
Sorting it before we turn up is faster, so phone the hire company or your fleet manager, and then us. Keep the car off while the reply arrives, whether you're parked at the nearest station or close to Church of the Annunciation.
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Not sure, around Chislehurst
Now and then, "I think so" is all anyone can truthfully say. What cap came off, you can't recall; meanwhile the bottle weighs less than it ought to, and ammonia hangs by the filler. The gates of Orion Mead Road in a rush, perhaps, or a friend's drive over in Mottingham.
What it means: a little spilled round your filler does no damage to the motor. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. Firing up the vehicle cannot tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in your tank it would suck it in.
Take it that it went in, and don't turn your key. Ring us and explain what you saw; we'd rather check a tank that turns out free of AdBlue than drain one that has already been run.
Every AdBlue drain in Chislehurst shares these stages
Each situation gets the same opening to the job. Three questions come when our technicians arrive — on a filling station, a driveway, a road beside St Patrick's or the car park outside The Queens Head: the liquid, the amount, and if the motor has been started. Replies shape the work; the price comes by phone while nobody has set off yet.
Then the tank is drained and the fuel system flushed 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. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the car is tested. Not started? Then about half an hour once we are there covers most jobs.
Finally, our technicians start it. Our check that it runs properly on new diesel comes before our engineers head off. The whole job is done where your car is, and when it is noticed quickly, permanent damage is very unusual. Payment is on the day, never in advance. For your insurer, you get a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. Worth remembering: many insurers include misfuelling cover, and so a check of your policy as you wait is worthwhile.
About Chislehurst and where it is
Chislehurst is a locality in the London Borough of Bromley, situated near the River Ravensbourne in southeastern Greater London. Chislehurst sits at an elevation of around 82 metres, with its terraced housing stock reflecting its historical development as a residential area. Chislehurst is located close to neighbouring areas such as Chislehurst West, Foxbury, and Elmstead, and is approximately 10 miles from central London.
AdBlue drains in Chislehurst, and across Greater London too
Throughout BR postcodes, the teams serving Chislehurst — a small village — reach surrounding places too, Foxbury and Elmstead included. Quickest of all: a BR7 5 postcode for where you stand.
Central Chislehurst or a lay-by towards Chislehurst Recreation Ground: either way it is, your car never needs to shift an inch for us. The drain happens right there. If you're somewhere hard to explain, near Chislehurst library or close to a boundary, ring and ask instead of assuming.
Your situation, in one line
Motor not started: phone, leaving it switched off. Run by now? Pull over, turn off, ring. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder whichever it is, in Chislehurst and Greater London, on 0333 366 0103.