AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in East Barming: What Now?
Has your engine turned over since the AdBlue was put in? That single question settles almost everything else from here. Not run yet? Then keep it like that, wherever the car sits — East Barming or Hoppers Corner. Switch nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, then count on a thorough flush after a drain, carried out right where your car sits in East Barming. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. A larger job, then, but the identical first step.
Find the situation below that matches yours, wherever around Kent it happened.
At the petrol pump around East Barming: AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you only spot it while you are standing at the petrol pump, bottle or nozzle in your hand. Be it Esso, BP or somewhere else in East Barming, the case is identical.
What it means: this is the ideal spot to find out. Just that tank has AdBlue; not one part beyond it has taken it in.
Next: resist the urge to start it only to move away from the pump. Get the attendants to lend a hand rolling it into a bay, hold on to the receipt, then ring us from there. Our equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt, so a vehicle that can't be pushed clear gets emptied where it is at the pump.
At home in East Barming with AdBlue in your diesel tank
Several days had passed with the dash light on. Only at the recycling bin, the empty bottle in hand, did you look back at the cap you had used at the driveway. Drives close to Bull Orchard get it as much as anywhere.
Put simply: if your vehicle has not been driven since, it is almost equal to spotting it at the pump. As it is reluctant to mix, AdBlue drops low inside your tank and waits. One night parked changes nothing.
Next: the keys in the house, so nobody takes your vehicle anywhere first thing. After that, ring. Your drive is where it gets emptied, be it in East Barming or Barming. Late-night clears outside a house are no problem: the pumps are low-noise.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel in East Barming?
A mile or two after topping up, your motor started misbehaving: rough running, smoke, lost power, lights on the dash. South Street, say, or the route towards Southend-on-Sea — a trip of under 25 miles.
The upshot: your system has pulled AdBlue through by now. Mileage decides how far it gets: filter and lines to begin with, then the high-pressure pump and each injector. More miles, more restarts: further it goes.
Your move: pull up anywhere safe, then switch the motor off. Leave at the next junction — not the services beyond — if you're on the M20, under 3 miles from East Barming. No trial restarts: clearing isn't something AdBlue will do. About what distance did it gone? Say so when you call.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You've just driven this car for days. On your own car, AdBlue is absent or somewhere else. On this one, its cap is right by your diesel cap — news to you. Any driver, anywhere in Kent, might make it.
In short: an extra stage on top of the situations above, and those turn on whether it has run. Plenty of hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on the vehicle.
Your move: hire firm or fleet manager to begin with, us next, since sorting it beforehand cuts time. Waiting for a reply at the car park outside East Farleigh, or beside Barming Scout and Guide Group? Leave your engine off meanwhile.
East Barming: unsure if it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
"I think so" is sometimes the most honest as it gets. A faint ammonia whiff hangs near your filler, the bottle feels too light, and the cap you took off is a blur. Maybe at a friend's driveway in Cherry Orchard, or rushing by Barming Primary School at the school run.
In short: a spill round your filler does your motor unharmed. A diesel tank with AdBlue inside is another matter. If there is AdBlue in your tank, starting the vehicle would pull it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
What to do: treat it as if it was put in. Do not start it. Call us and explain what you saw; we would rather check a tank that turns out free of AdBlue than drain one that has already been run.
What each AdBlue drain in East Barming has in common
Whatever the case, a single start is used. Wherever the car stands — The Bull Inn's car park, a road beside St Margarets, Barming, a drive, a forecourt — the van arrives and asks for the liquid, the quantity, and if the motor has been run. Over the phone, before anything else, you are told the price, and those answers shape the job too.
AdBlue forms crystals and eats at some metals used in fuel systems, and so it won't wash out unaided; that's why a full flush, after the drain, counts much more here than with petrol. Clean diesel is put in after your filter has been flushed or replaced, and your car is then tested. Never started? Then roughly half an hour once we are there is most jobs.
Starting the engine comes at the end. Our technicians make sure it runs correctly on fresh diesel before we leave. When it's caught soon, the vehicle very seldom has lasting damage, and the entire job happens where it is. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, nothing in advance. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, so it is worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About East Barming
East Barming is a suburban area situated on the River Medway in Kent, with a mix of semi-detached housing and local amenities. East Barming sits at an elevation of 47 metres, close to the nearby settlements of Barming and Barming Heath. East Barming is located near the town of Maidstone, but is also within commuting distance of larger cities like Southend-on-Sea and London. East Barming has a population of around 2624 people, living in a predominantly residential environment.
AdBlue drains across Kent, East Barming included
Barming Heath and Kettle Corner have the same vans as East Barming, a residential suburb, plus other towns over ME postcodes. Your whereabouts is quickest from a postcode that starts ME16 9.
Parked heading to Pea Field, or bang in the centre of East Barming, the vehicle remains where it is — there is no need to shift it at all. Our technicians drain the car where it stands. Ring and check instead of guessing if you are close to Barming Village Hall, on a boundary, or somewhere awkward to pin down.
Your scenario, in one line
Not run yet: keep the car off and ring. Whichever line applies, Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest on 0333 366 0103, throughout Kent and within East Barming — after you stop, switch off then phone, if it has run.