AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Digswell, and What to Do Next
Everything hinges on a single detail: whether your engine has been run after the AdBlue was added — more than anything else. Wherever the car is — Haldens, Digswell — don't run an engine that hasn't run yet. Switch nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, then expect a thorough flush after a drain, carried out just where the vehicle stands around Digswell. Stop the minute it is safe then turn off, if it has already run. Step one stays unchanged, even though the job is bigger.
Match what happened to a situation from the list below, anywhere across Hertfordshire you happen to be.
Digswell forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
Picture it: stood by the petrol pump, gripping the nozzle, you realise the filler you opened wasn't the correct one. It could be the BP, or the Esso, or another forecourt in Digswell.
The point: of all places to find out, the forecourt is the best. Still in your tank, and nothing drawn through: that is where the AdBlue sits.
Freeing the pump is no excuse to start it — so don't get back in. Have the staff to help rolling it into a bay, save the bottle, then ring us from there. If it can't be shifted, it can be drained at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a working forecourt.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home in Digswell
For days the dashboard had been warning you. A bottle bought at the garage, tipped in on the drive — and it's just at the bin that the cap caught your eye. Houses just off New Road get hit as often as everywhere else.
Put simply: if your vehicle hasn't been driven since, it's nearly equal to spotting it at the pump. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of that tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Keep your keys in the house tonight — otherwise a person may take it away first thing — and phone us. In Digswell Water or here around Digswell, the drain is done at your driveway. Even at night, our pumps stay quiet enough for a driveway.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel in Digswell?
Lumpy running, smoke, lost power or a lit dashboard started a short way beyond the top-up. Maybe heading to St Albans, under 10 miles away, or just along Harmer Green Lane.
The point: your system has pulled AdBlue through already. Through your filter, through the pipework, and — the further the mileage — on into the high-pressure pump and each injector. It goes further with every mile driven and every restart.
Do this: pull up anywhere safe, then switch the motor off. Digswell lies under a mile from the A1(M); there, come off at the first junction rather than pushing on for the services. No trial restarts: clearing is not something AdBlue will do. Let us know the mileage driven as you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You've just had the vehicle a week. On your own car, AdBlue is missing or elsewhere. On this one, the cap is just by your diesel inlet — a surprise to you. Wherever you are around Hertfordshire, any motorist can be caught.
In short: an extra step on top of the situations above, and those depend on whether it has run. Work on the vehicle frequently requires the owner's go-ahead under hire or company agreements.
Do this: rental firm or your fleet manager to begin with, us next, since settling it early saves time. Waiting for an answer at the car park outside Welwyn North, or near Digswell Village Hall? Keep your engine off throughout.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Digswell?
Honestly, the best answer may be that you think it did. What cap came off, you can't recall; but the bottle feels less than it ought to, and a whiff of ammonia lingers by your filler. A hurried top-up by the gates of St John's CofE Primary School, or a call to a friend in Burnham Green: either fit.
The upshot: your motor is not hurt by some AdBlue splashed on the filler. The diesel tank with AdBlue in it is a different matter. Starting the car won't tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in your tank it would pull it in.
What to do: treat it as if it got in. Don't crank it. Ring us and describe 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 Digswell shares these steps
Whatever the situation, a single start applies. Anywhere the vehicle is — Cowper Arms's car park, a road beside Digswell Village Church, a drive, a filling station — our van arrives and we ask for the fluid, the amount, plus whether your motor has been run. Answers set the job; the quote comes on the call while nobody has left yet.
AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some metals used in fuel systems, so it does not rinse out unaided; that is why the flush, after this drain, matters far more with AdBlue than with petrol. The filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and your car is tested. Where the motor has not been started, allow roughly half an hour once we arrive, for most jobs.
Our engineers fire it up last. With clean diesel in, it runs while we confirm it's running properly, and then we head off. If it is spotted quickly, the vehicle very seldom has long-term damage, and the whole job happens where it is. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, nothing upfront. Check your insurance before we're en route: cover for misfuelling is built into many policies.
About Digswell itself
Digswell is a suburban area in Hertfordshire, situated lakeside near Digswell Water and overlooking the surrounding countryside. Digswell sits at an elevation of 89 metres, approximately 22 miles north of London, and is close to the nearby city of St Albans. Digswell is characterized by its predominantly detached housing stock and is home to around 1345 residents. Digswell is also near several other local places, including Harmer Green and Digswell Park.
AdBlue drains about Digswell and across Hertfordshire
Throughout AL postcodes, the vans serving Digswell — a residential suburb — reach nearby towns as well, Harmer Green and Digswell Park included. Fastest of all: a AL6 0 postcode for where you stand.
Central Digswell or a lay-by towards Digswell Playing Fields: either way it sits, the vehicle never needs to shift an inch for this drain. Where it stands, that is where it is emptied. Awkward to explain? Close to War Memorial or a county line? Checking is better than assuming, so ring.
Your situation, in one line
Engine not started: phone, and leave it alone. Run by now: pull over, power down, ring 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, in Digswell or wherever across Hertfordshire.