AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Counters End, and What to Do Next
Has the engine turned over since the AdBlue got in? This one point settles almost everything about what comes next. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether the car is around Counters End itself or out in Chaulden. Usually this is draining and thoroughly rinsing it right there in Counters End — so leave your key and engine off then phone 0333 366 0103. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. A larger job, then, but the identical first move.
Further down: the cases we meet, anywhere in Hertfordshire. Pick yours.
Counters End forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you only spot it as you are standing at the petrol pump, bottle or nozzle in your hand. Maybe you're at the Shell, maybe at the Texaco, possibly somewhere else around Counters End.
Put simply: no better spot to be to spot it. The AdBlue is inside that tank and nowhere else. Nothing has pulled it in.
Do this: keep out of the driver's seat, even if the queue needs freeing. Ask the staff to help you roll the car into a parking bay, keep the receipt or the bottle, then phone us from the forecourt. Emptying it there at the petrol pump is fine if it cannot be moved, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home around Counters End with AdBlue in the diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. A bottle bought at the garage, tipped in on the driveway — and it was only at the recycling that the cap got your eye. Just off Northridge Way is no different from any other place.
The point: zero driving since makes it nearly equal to finding it at the petrol pump. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of that tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so nobody moves the vehicle in the morning. Then ring. Your drive is where it is drained, whether around Counters End or Green End. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in Counters End?
Filled up, pulled away, and before long your motor was turning unevenly, blowing smoke, down on power, or lighting up your dash. Perhaps it was on Gravel Lane, possibly on the way out towards St Albans, under 10 miles away.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been pulled into the fuel system. The high-pressure pump and each injector get it as well on a bigger trip, once your filter and lines have had it. It goes further with every mile driven and each restart.
Next: pick a sensible spot, stop, then turn the engine off. Service stations further on can wait: on the M1, under 5 miles out of Counters End, use the first junction. Starting it again to check achieves nothing — AdBlue never clears itself. Call, saying what distance the car went.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You have only had this vehicle a week. The AdBlue filler is right beside the diesel filler, which you didn't know, since your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Throughout Hertfordshire, nobody is safe from it.
Put simply: an extra step on top of the situations above, and those depend on if it's run. Plenty of hire and company contracts need the owner's sign-off before repairs.
What to do: call the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is quicker settled before our technicians arrive than after. Leave it switched off as the answer arrives, whether you are parked outside Hemel Hempstead or near Warners End Community Centre.
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Not sure, around Counters End
Sometimes the honest answer is "I think so". Which cap was taken off, you cannot say; meanwhile the bottle weighs lighter than expected, and ammonia lingers by your filler. It might have been on a friend's drive in Boxmoor, or rushing outside Micklem Primary School at the school run.
The point: your motor is not harmed by some AdBlue splashed on the filler. Once it's inside the diesel tank, though, it does. If there is AdBlue in your tank, firing up the car will suck it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Do this: act as though it got in, and don't start your motor. Ring and give the details: we would sooner find a clean tank than empty one once the motor has been run.
Counters End: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Each case gets the same start to the job. Anywhere your vehicle is — Top Of The World's car park, a street beside St Alban's Church, a drive, a filling station — the van gets there and asks for the fluid, the amount, plus whether the engine has been run. The price comes on the call, ahead of anyone setting off, and those answers set the work.
A thorough flush follows this drain. With petrol it's standard; with AdBlue it is essential, since crystals form and some metals are attacked, and neither rinses out unaided. Your filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and your car is tested. Where your engine hasn't run, allow about half an hour on site, for most jobs.
Starting it comes at the end. With fresh diesel in, it runs while our engineers check it's running correctly, and then we go. The entire job is done where your car is, and if it's caught quickly, lasting damage is very unusual. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, nothing in advance. It is worth knowing: lots of insurers include misfuelling cover, and so a quick look at your documents while we travel pays.
About Counters End, briefly
Counters End is a suburban area in Hertfordshire, situated approximately 23 miles northwest of London and 6 miles southeast of St Albans. Counters End sits at an elevation of around 138 metres, in a landscape of gentle hills and valleys. Counters End is characterized by its predominantly terraced housing stock, with nearby neighbourhoods including Green End, Hammerfield, and Warners End.
AdBlue drains round Counters End and across Hertfordshire
Counters End is a residential suburb, and the same vans that cover it work the places near it too, Hammerfield and Warners End among them, across the HP postcode area. Fastest of all: a HP1 2 postcode to show where you stand.
Whether the vehicle is on a lay-by on the way to Northridge Park or in a car park in the middle of Counters End, it doesn't need to shift. Draining happens on the spot. Assuming doesn't help near Hemel Hempstead Methodist Church, on a border or somewhere awkward to describe; ring and ask.
In one line: your scenario
Unstarted? Keep it that way then phone. Run by now? Pull over, turn off, phone. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest whichever case, across Counters End and Hertfordshire, on 0333 366 0103.