What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Ditchling
All of it turns on one detail: whether your motor has started since the AdBlue was added — far more than anything else. Anywhere your vehicle is — Streat, Ditchling — don't run a motor that hasn't been started yet. Leave your engine and your ignition off then ring 0333 366 0103; it's normally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is around Ditchling. Already started? Pull over when you safely can, then turn it off. A bigger job, yes, yet the same opening move.
Compare your case to one of the list below, anywhere in East Sussex you happen to be.
On a Ditchling forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
You are at the pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. It might be the Esso, or perhaps the Tesco, or another station around Ditchling.
Meaning? Finding out on the forecourt is as good as it gets. Nothing has pulled it in, and so the AdBlue sits just inside your tank.
What to do: do not get back in and crank it to clear the pump. Have the staff to lend a hand pushing it into a space, save the receipt, then phone us from there. Stuck beside the pump? Explosion-proof kit keeps a busy forecourt safe, so we can drain it where it is.
AdBlue in the diesel tank at home around Ditchling
Several days had passed with the dash light on. Only by the recycling, the empty bottle in hand, did you look back at the cap you had used at the driveway. Homes just off East End Lane are hit as much as anywhere else.
Put simply: if the car hasn't moved since, it's nearly equal to finding out at the forecourt. Being reluctant to mix, AdBlue settles low in your tank and stays. A night parked changes nothing.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so no one moves the car in the morning. Then call. Our engineers drain the vehicle on your driveway, whether that's around Ditchling or out in Keymer. The equipment runs quietly enough that it won't wake the neighbours at night.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in Ditchling?
A short way beyond topping up, the motor started playing up: roughness, smoke, less power, warnings on your dash. Possibly it was on East Gardens, possibly on the way out towards Brighton and Hove, under 10 miles away.
The upshot: the system has drawn AdBlue in already. Through your filter, through the pipework, and — the more the distance — deeper into the injection pump and each injector. More miles, more restarts: deeper it goes.
Do this: stop somewhere safe, then turn the motor off. On the M23, under 15 miles from Ditchling, that means the next junction, not the services further on. Starting it again to test gets nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear on its own. About what distance had it gone? Tell us as you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company motors
You have had this car hardly a week. The AdBlue filler is right beside the diesel one, which you didn't know, because your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. It can happen to anyone, anywhere in East Sussex.
The upshot: exactly as above, split by if it ran, but with an added step. Plenty of hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on your car.
Next: ring the hire company or the fleet manager first, and then us — sorting it before we arrive is faster. Stranded near Venue 8 or at Hassocks till someone answers, the vehicle remains turned off throughout.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Ditchling?
"I think so" is sometimes as honest as it gets. What cap was taken off, you can't say; meanwhile the bottle weighs less than it ought to, and ammonia hangs by your filler. The gates of Ditchling St Margaret's Church of England Primary School in a rush, perhaps, or someone's drive out in Clayton.
Put simply: spillage round the filler does the engine no harm. If it's inside the diesel tank, though, it does. Any AdBlue in your tank would be pulled in by firing up the vehicle, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
What to do: treat it as if it got in. Do not crank it. Describe what you noticed on your phone. A clean tank looked at is a better result than an already-run one emptied.
Ditchling: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Whatever the case, a single start is used. Anywhere your vehicle is — The Bull's car park, a road by St Margaret's, The Beacon Parish, a driveway, a filling station — our van gets there and asks for the fluid, the amount, and if the motor has turned over. Over the phone, ahead of dispatch, you hear our price, and those answers decide the job too.
Draining your tank comes first, followed by a careful flush — more vital after urea than after petrol, because crystals and corrosion will not go by themselves, however long you wait. Finally come your filter, cleaned or renewed as needed; fresh diesel; and a test of the car. Not started? In that case about half an hour once we are there is most jobs.
Starting it comes last. With new diesel in, it runs while our engineers make sure it's running smoothly, and then we go. Long-term damage is very rare when it is caught early, and the entire job is done where the car is. Paying comes on the day, never upfront. For your insurer, there is a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer. Many policies cover misfuelling, and so look at yours while the van travels.
About Ditchling
Ditchling is a rural village in East Sussex, situated approximately 68 metres above sea level in the South Downs area. Ditchling lies near the towns of Keymer, Hassocks, and Westmeston, and is about 6.9 miles from Brighton and Hove. Ditchling has a population of around 1123 people and is characterised by its predominantly detached housing stock. Ditchling is also within commuting distance of London, being about 40.4 miles from the capital.
Ditchling and East Sussex: AdBlue drains across the area
Ditchling is a rural village, and the same teams that cover it work the towns near it too, Hassocks and Westmeston among them, across the BN postcode area. Quickest of all: a BN6 8 postcode to show where you stand.
No towing is needed, be it parked centrally in Ditchling or in a layby heading to Village Orchard, so leave it where it is. Draining happens on the spot. Awkward to pin down? Close to Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft or a border? Asking is better than assuming, and so phone.
Your situation, summed up
Engine never started: phone, leaving it alone. Whatever line applies, Petrol in Diesel handles the rest on 0333 366 0103, across East Sussex and in Ditchling — after you pull over, turn off then ring, if it has run.