AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Cranleigh, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: whether your engine has been run since it got in. Anywhere your vehicle stands — Palmers Cross, Cranleigh — never start an engine that hasn't run yet. Leave the engine and the ignition off and phone 0333 366 0103; it's generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is in Cranleigh. Stop the moment you safely can and switch off, if it has already run. The job is bigger, yet the first step is the same.
Wherever around Surrey it took place, one of the situations below fits yours.
At the pump around Cranleigh: AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you only spot it as you are standing at the pump, bottle or nozzle in hand. It might be the Shell, or perhaps the BP, or another station around Cranleigh.
In short: there is no better place exists to spot it. Still inside the tank, with no fuel pulled through: that's where the AdBlue is.
Next: resist the temptation to fire it up only to free up the pump. Ask the attendants to help you push the car into a parking space, keep your receipt or the bottle, then ring us from the forecourt. Draining it right at the pump is fine if it can't be shifted, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home in Cranleigh with AdBlue in the diesel tank
For days the dashboard had been warning you. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look once more at the cap. Driveways close to Rowland Road get it as much as any other street.
Meaning? Provided your vehicle has not moved since, it is close to the forecourt case. Being unable to blend, AdBlue settles low in the tank and waits. A night parked changes none of that.
Next: the keys in the house, and so no one drives the vehicle anywhere at breakfast. After that, phone. Elmbridge Village or Cranleigh: whichever your drive sits, that is where it is cleared. Even at night, our pumps stay quiet enough for a driveway.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel around Cranleigh?
A mile or two beyond topping up, your motor started misbehaving: rough running, smoke, less power, warnings on the dash. Victoria Road, perhaps, or the way towards Chichester — a trip of under 25 miles.
Meaning? Your pump has sucked the AdBlue in. Mileage decides how far it goes: filter and lines first, then the high-pressure pump and every injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Your move: pull up somewhere safe, then turn your motor off. Services further along are too far: on the M25, under 15 miles out of Cranleigh, use the next junction. No trial starts: clearing itself isn't something AdBlue will do. Roughly how far had it go? Tell us as you phone.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You've had this vehicle barely a week. Your own car either does without AdBlue or puts it elsewhere, and so no one warned you the AdBlue inlet sits right next to the diesel. It can happen to anyone, anywhere around Surrey.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it's run, with one more stage. Many hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on your car.
Sorting it before the van turn up is faster, so ring the rental company or your fleet manager, and then us. If you're stranded in the car park outside Chilworth, or by Cranleigh Village Hall, whilst you wait for an answer, leave your car off.
Cranleigh: unsure whether it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Truthfully, the only answer may be that you think so. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia about the filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Cranleigh Church of England Primary School, or on a friend's drive in Ewhurst.
The upshot: your motor isn't harmed by a little AdBlue spilled on the outside. The diesel tank with AdBlue in it is another story. If there is AdBlue in your tank, firing up your car will draw it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Next: act as though it got in, then keep your motor off. Checking a tank that proves clean beats emptying one once it's been run — so ring and describe to us what you noticed.
The common ground in each Cranleigh AdBlue drain
Every case has the same opening to the job. Filling station, drive, The Richard Onslow's car park or a street beside Cranleigh Library — our van reaches the car, and three answers come next: what liquid, what amount, and if it has run. Answers shape the job; the quote comes on the call while no one has set off yet.
A thorough flush comes after the drain. With petrol it is standard; with AdBlue it's crucial, since crystals form and certain metals are attacked, and none of that rinses out unaided. Clean diesel is put in after your filter has been cleaned or replaced, and the car is finally tested. Never started? Then about half an hour once we are there covers most jobs.
Our technicians start the engine last. With fresh diesel in, it runs while our technicians check it's running properly, and then we head off. If it's caught soon, the vehicle very rarely has permanent damage, and the whole job takes place where it is. Nothing is taken upfront, payment is made on the day, and you receive what the insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Dig out your insurance before we arrive: cover for misfuelling comes included in plenty of policies.
About Cranleigh itself
Cranleigh is a village situated in the Surrey countryside, near the River Wey and surrounded by rolling hills. Cranleigh has a mix of housing types, but semi-detached homes are particularly prevalent, and its population of around 1147 people gives it a small, community-focused feel. Cranleigh is located near several other small settlements, including Elmbridge Village and Rowly, and is close to Ridgebridge Hill. Cranleigh sits at an elevation of 56 metres above sea level, in a scenic riverside setting.
Cranleigh and Surrey: AdBlue drains across the area
Cranleigh is a village, and the same vans that cover it work the places near it too, Rowly and Ridgebridge Hill among them, across the GU postcode area. A postcode starting GU6 8 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Centre of Cranleigh or a lay-by towards Snoxhall Playing Fields: wherever it sits, the vehicle never needs to shift at all for this drain. Draining is done on the spot. Phone and ask rather than guess when you're close to Cranleigh Methodist Church, near a boundary, or anywhere tricky to explain.
Your scenario, summed up
Not run yet: keep the vehicle off and ring. Run by now: pull over, power down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, in Cranleigh or wherever in Surrey.