What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Denton
All of it turns on one fact: whether the motor has been run since the AdBlue went in — far more than anything else. Not run so far? Then leave the car like that, wherever your vehicle is — Denton or Milton. Leave the motor and the ignition off then phone 0333 366 0103; it's normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is in Denton. Already run? Stop when safe, then turn everything off. Step one remains unchanged, even though the job is bigger.
Further down: the cases we meet, wherever in Kent. Choose yours.
At the pump in Denton: AdBlue in a diesel
You're at the petrol pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. Maybe you are at the Esso, possibly at the Asda, possibly somewhere else in Denton.
What it means: this is the best spot to find out. The AdBlue is in your tank and nowhere else. Nothing has sucked it in.
Next: avoid the urge to fire it up just to free up the pump. Ask the attendants to help you push the vehicle into a parking spot, keep your receipt or the bottle, then ring us from the forecourt. Emptying it right at the pump is possible if it can't be shifted, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
At home around Denton with AdBlue in your diesel tank
On your dash, a reminder had been lit all week. Only at the recycling bin, the empty bottle in your hand, did you look back at the cap you had used at the driveway. Drives close to Ingoldsby Road see it as much as any other street.
Meaning? Provided the car hasn't moved since, it's close to the pump case. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
Your move: the keys in the house, and so nobody drives your vehicle anywhere at breakfast. After that, ring. Your drive is where it gets emptied, be it around Denton or Chalk. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
On the road around Denton with AdBlue in a diesel
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later your engine began to run unevenly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Somewhere on Bellman Avenue or else on the road to Southend-on-Sea — under 25 miles away.
What it means: the fuel system has drawn the AdBlue in. Distance sets how far it goes: filter and pipework to begin with, then the injection pump and every injector. More miles, more starts: deeper it goes.
Pull in somewhere safe — that is the next step — then turn it off. Services further on can wait: from the M2, under 3 miles out of Denton, use the next junction. No test starts: clearing itself isn't something AdBlue does. Phone us and say how far you went.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You've just had this car a week. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is missing or elsewhere. On this one, its cap is right by the diesel inlet — news to you. Anywhere you happen to be in Kent, any driver can slip up.
Meaning? Whatever applies above applies here — run or unrun — and one further stage. Work on the vehicle often requires the owner's go-ahead under rental or company agreements.
Do this: rental firm or fleet manager to begin with, us next, since sorting it early cuts time. Stuck near Riverside Community Centre or outside Gravesend till someone replies, the car remains turned off throughout.
Denton: unsure if it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Sometimes the fair answer is "I think so". Which cap was taken off, you can't say; but the bottle weighs lighter than it ought to, and ammonia hangs by your filler. The gates of Westcourt Primary School in a hurry, perhaps, or someone's drive over in Parrock Farm.
The point: your engine isn't hurt by a little AdBlue splashed around the filler. In your diesel tank, however, AdBlue harms it. You can't tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so would draw in any AdBlue that is in that tank.
Next: assume it got in, then leave the engine off. Phone and give the details: we'd sooner confirm a tank free of AdBlue than empty one after your motor has been run.
The common ground in every Denton AdBlue drain
Whichever scenario you are in, this job starts the same way. Wherever the car is — White Hart's car park, a road by St Mary's Catholic Church, Denton, a driveway, a forecourt — the van gets there and we ask for the liquid, the amount, plus whether the motor has turned over. The price is given on the call, before a van leaves, and the replies set the work.
Then the tank is cleared and the fuel 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 doesn't rinse out on its own. Finally come the fuel filter, cleaned or renewed as needed; clean diesel; and a test of your car. Never started? In that case about half an hour once we are there is most jobs.
Lastly, our engineers fire it up. Before our technicians head off, it is tested to make sure it runs smoothly on clean diesel. When it's caught early, the car very rarely has long-term damage, and the whole job takes place where it is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. It is worth knowing: lots of insurers include misfuelling cover, so a check of your documents while you wait is worthwhile.
About Denton, briefly
Denton is a suburban area in Kent, situated near the coast and approximately 23 miles from London. Denton has a relatively low elevation of around 12 metres, and its proximity to the Thames Estuary has influenced its development. Denton is characterised by its semi-detached housing stock, which is typical of many suburban areas in the South East. Denton is close to other nearby places such as Chalk, Westcourt, and Windmill Hill.
AdBlue drains around Denton and across Kent
Westcourt and Windmill Hill have the same vans as Denton, a residential suburb, plus further towns over DA postcodes. Telling us your DA12 2 postcode finds you quickest of all.
No moving is required, whether stopped in the centre of Denton or in a lay-by en route to Guru Nanak Sports Club, so keep it put. The drain happens on the spot. If you are somewhere hard to describe, close to Milton Next Gravesend War Memorial or close to a boundary, ring and ask instead of guessing.
Your situation, summed up
Unstarted? Leave the vehicle that way then phone. Whatever line fits, Petrol in Diesel handles from there on 0333 366 0103, across Kent and in Denton — after you stop, turn off and ring, if it has run.