Don't Start It: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Clewer New Town
If AdBlue has gone into the diesel tank, leave the engine off and leave the ignition off. Urea mixed in water is all AdBlue is. It does not burn, it doesn't mix with diesel, and the damage it does starts when the system draws it in. A drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Clewer New Town, is normally what AdBlue in a diesel tank takes — if it is caught before your engine has been run. Call 0333 366 0103 before you do anything else.
Your next steps straight away, Clewer New Town: AdBlue in your diesel tank
Do:
- So nobody can turn the ignition on, pull your keys away.
- Hazards on, if moving traffic is at all close.
- Keep your receipt or the empty bottle, so you can tell us what was put in and about how much.
- Call just where you are. Quote a SL4 3 postcode or the closest street sign, and nobody has to hunt for you.
Things not to do:
- Don't start your motor, even for a moment to shift the car.
- Don't switch your ignition on. On plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump.
- No more fuel on top. The AdBlue will not blend, and so it is wasted.
- Any driving at all is best avoided, including a short way down Hatch Lane.
- By the road, do not attempt emptying it yourself.
On a forecourt in Clewer New Town, whether it's the Shell or another one, ask the attendants to help you roll your car away from the petrol pump. If you're on your own drive, leave the vehicle precisely where it is.
AdBlue in a diesel tank, and what it does there
The engine isn't what AdBlue is made for; the exhaust is. It goes into its own tank and is sprayed into the exhaust gas to clean it. A fuel pump is not designed to cope with it, and AdBlue was never intended to travel through one.
Inside a diesel tank it behaves really differently from fuel. It does not mix in. The pickup sucks fuel from the deepest part of that tank, and that's precisely where AdBlue settles: as it is denser than diesel, it sinks. The first thing your fuel system pulls through, once it runs, is the AdBlue. So a vehicle that had AdBlue poured in on a drive in Dedworth last night, and hasn't been started since, is still the easy case: the AdBlue is lying at the bottom of your tank, and nothing has drawn it in.
It does two kinds of damage from there. It attacks some metals used in fuel components, attacking any part it touches till it is removed from your system. And when the water goes, the urea turns into crystals that block filters and lodge in narrow passages. Lines holding AdBlue spell damage by morning for a car sitting in Clewer New Town. Only in the tank, it stays stable. And there's the water: it offers no protection to the parts that need it most — the injection pump and each injector.
Why is AdBlue in a diesel commonly the bigger problem?
Petrol pumped into a diesel on BP's forecourt leaves your fuel watery — that's the main fault. It mixes with your diesel, and while it's inside your tank it does no damage; the damage comes from running the motor on it.
With AdBlue in a diesel, the liquid as such is simply the wrong one. It cannot just be run through, since it does not burn. It doesn't stay mixed, and so it cannot be thinned. And crystals and corrosion do not wash out with the next tank of fuel. That's why the flush matters more with AdBlue than with petrol, and why starting the motor "to see" costs more here than nearly anywhere else, whether the car is in Windsor or the middle of Clewer New Town.
As with petrol, there is good news. Not run? Then the AdBlue sits just inside your tank, the easiest section of the entire system to empty, anywhere the vehicle has stopped around Berkshire.
How does AdBlue end up in a diesel tank around Clewer New Town?
Nobody means to do it. The AdBlue filler on many cars waits right next to your diesel filler, at times under the same flap, and the two caps can look alike in poor light. A container picked up when driving home and poured in outside the house, instead of at the forecourt, is the usual route.
It tends to occur in a few familiar ways. Halfway through the morning drop-off, the dashboard flags it up, and outside St Edward's Catholic First School the refill is hurried. Near Cross Oak, a driver pours a container in on that drive in the evening. Otherwise, in dim light by The Swan, your car is refilled by someone opening that flap the first time.
The least known vehicles get it the most — hire cars, brand-new ones, company cars, and the other motor of a family with both fuel types. Wherever around Berkshire, Clewer New Town included, the mistake doesn't change, and nor does the first response: leave it switched off.
AdBlue in your diesel tank in Clewer New Town, and the motor started?
In that case, the AdBlue is no longer in your tank. The fuel filter and lines have had it sucked through, and some running time takes it on to the injection pump and each injector.
Watch for rough running, exhaust smoke, lost power, lights on your dash, or a cut-out — returning from Imperial Park, say, or part way across Clewer New Town. No starting it again to check: pull over once it is safe, then turn everything off. More of that is pulled through with each start.
On the M4, under 3 miles from Clewer New Town, the first junction is where to exit, and anywhere safe is where to park — not carrying on.
How far it went matters. A couple of hundred yards across Clewer New Town to the car park by War Memorial is a very different job from a run towards Westminster, under 25 miles away, with the AdBlue reaching further into your system with each mile. About how far it had come is worth telling us.
Wherever the vehicle came to a halt is where all of it gets done, even with more to clean out once your engine has been run. Very seldom does it leave permanent damage if it's spotted early.
Clearing AdBlue in a diesel in Clewer New Town: what it takes
The vehicle remains where it is, whether that's a road near Oliver Brooks, a driveway, a layby or a filling station around Clewer New Town, and our van comes to it. Which fluid was put in, roughly how much, plus if the engine has turned over: we ask before all else, since those decide the job.
Next, emptying the tank on the spot removes the contaminated diesel and the AdBlue together. With AdBlue, far more than with petrol, the flush counts: the fuel system is flushed all the way through since residue will not flush out unaided. The filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. About half an hour on site is typical for most jobs when the engine has not run. Quiet enough for use outside a house at night, and fine on a working forecourt, our pumps are explosion-proof.
Fresh diesel goes in to prime the fuel system, and that's the last step. Whether it's a parking space outside Windsor & Eton Central or a drive around Clewer New Town, that is where our technicians fire it up and you head off. It is tested on fresh diesel to be sure it runs smoothly before we go. The entire job is done where your car is, so it never has to go to a workshop. You receive a VAT invoice and an engineer report afterwards, which is what insurers want.
About Clewer New Town
Clewer New Town is a suburban area in Berkshire, situated inland at an elevation of 24 metres, and is located approximately 21.7 miles from London. Clewer New Town is characterized by its predominantly flat-type housing and is near neighbouring areas such as Clewer Village and Clewer Green. Clewer New Town has a population of around 7250 residents and is part of the wider urban area surrounding Westminster. Clewer New Town sits in close proximity to Spital, another nearby suburban area.
AdBlue drains in Clewer New Town and across Berkshire
Our teams that answer AdBlue calls around Clewer New Town also cover the locations about it, Clewer Village, Clewer Green and Spital among them, and most of Berkshire beyond, across the SL postcode area. Phone and ask rather than guess if you're by a county line, or somewhere tricky to pin down.
Anywhere the car stands — your driveway at home, a residential street, a parking area, a forecourt — our technicians drain it there, with no need to bring it to us; which suits Clewer New Town, a residential suburb, well.
Clewer New Town: what AdBlue in a diesel tank costs to fix
Each job is different, and so no single quote would be honest. Whether your engine has been running, and for how long, comes first in what shifts the cost. How much AdBlue got in comes next, and then the location of the car, since an open drive is simpler for our van to reach safely than a tight spot behind Medina Mosque.
That's why each call from Clewer New Town starts with the same three questions, asked before giving a figure, not after: what went in, how much, and if it's run. The replies turn a range into a straight price.
Quoted by phone before the van sets out, the job is settled on the day — card or phone, nothing in advance. Misfuelling cover comes with many insurance policies, so it is worth looking at yours before the van gets there.
Still beside your car in Clewer New Town?
In that case, touch nothing — that is the most helpful step there is. Engine off, keys out, ignition off. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, across Clewer New Town or wherever within Berkshire, after you phone 0333 366 0103 saying it's AdBlue, roughly how big an amount, and if it ran.