What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in East Wickham
One thing matters above all once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is if your engine has run afterwards. Not run so far? Then leave it like that, whether the car sits — East Wickham or Bostall Woods. Call 0333 366 0103 with the key and engine both off. Across East Wickham, that is generally emptied and cleaned on the spot. Already run? Pull over when you safely can, then switch it off. It's a bigger job, yet step one does not change.
Below: the situations our engineers meet, wherever across Greater London. Choose the one that fits.
At the petrol pump in East Wickham: AdBlue in a diesel
Only now, bottle still in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you opened was the wrong one, there at the pump. Be it Shell, another forecourt nearby or anywhere else around East Wickham, the case is the same.
What it means: this is the ideal place to find out. Just the tank holds AdBlue; no part past it has drawn it in.
What to do: do not get back in and start the vehicle to clear the pump. Three things: a push into a space with the staff assisting, the bottle kept, and a call to us from the forecourt. If it can't be shifted, it can be drained at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt.
East Wickham, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
For days the dash had been nagging you. Bought a container, tipped it in outside the house, recycled the empty — and only then checked the cap again, after the fact. Driveways near Monkton Road get it as much as anywhere.
Meaning? As long as your car has not moved since, it's close to the pump case. Being unable to blend, AdBlue drops low inside the tank and stays. One night standing changes none of that.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so no one moves the car in the morning. Then ring. Out in Welling or right here around East Wickham, the draining is done on your drive. Night-time drains beside a house are fine: the pumps are low-noise.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel around East Wickham?
Lumpy running, smoke, lost power or a lit dashboard arrived a mile or two after the fill. Wickham Street, say, or the route towards London — a trip of under 10 miles.
The point: your system has pulled AdBlue in already. It's been through your filter and the fuel lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and your injectors. Every restart, like every mile, pushes it on.
Pull in safely — that is the first step — then switch it off. Leave by the first junction — not the services further along — if you are on the M25, under 10 miles from East Wickham. Starting it again to check achieves nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear itself. Call us and say how far you went.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
It's a motor you have had for a week. Your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or puts it somewhere different, and so no one warned you the AdBlue cap was right next to the diesel. Throughout Greater London, no one is safe from it.
Put simply: an extra stage on top of the situations above, which turn on if it's run. Many hire and company agreements want the owner to approve work on your car.
Your move: rental firm or fleet manager first, us second, because settling it early saves time. Hanging on for an answer in the car park at Welling, or near St Mary the Virgin? Leave your engine off throughout.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, East Wickham?
"I think so" is sometimes as honest answer there is. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia about your filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. Maybe at a friend's drive in Plumstead, or in a rush outside East Wickham Primary Academy at the school run.
Meaning? Drips around the inlet don't touch the engine at all. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. Any AdBlue in that tank will be pulled in by firing up your car, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
Assume it went in, and never start the key. Tell us what you saw on the phone. A clean tank checked counts as a better result than a run one emptied.
East Wickham: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Whichever scenario you are in, the job starts the same way. Wherever the car is — The Green Man's car park, a road by Welling Methodist Church, a drive, a forecourt — our van gets there and we ask for the liquid, the amount, and if the engine has been run. Answers set the job; the quote follows on the call while nobody has set off yet.
Draining the tank comes first, followed by a full flush — more vital after urea than with petrol, because crystals and corrosion will not clear on their own, however long you wait. Clean diesel is put in once the fuel filter is cleaned or replaced, and your car is then checked. Most unstarted cars are a half-hour visit after the moment our engineers arrive.
Lastly, our engineers fire it up. Our test that it runs correctly on new diesel comes before we go. The whole job is done where the car is, and when it's noticed soon, lasting damage is very unusual. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. Many policies include misfuelling, and so look at yours while the van travels.
About East Wickham
East Wickham is a suburban area in south-east London, situated near the River Thames at an elevation of around 52 metres. East Wickham lies close to several nearby places, including Welling, Falconwood, and Plumstead Common, and is approximately 8.8 miles from London. East Wickham has a population of around 7896 people and is characterised by semi-detached housing. East Wickham is also located near the outskirts of London, around 10.1 miles from the city centre.
AdBlue drains round East Wickham and across Greater London
Falconwood and Plumstead Common have the same teams as East Wickham, a residential suburb, plus further towns over DA postcodes. Telling us a DA16 3 postcode finds you quickest of all.
No towing is needed, whether parked in the centre of East Wickham or on a lay-by heading to Bourne Spring Wood, so keep it put. The van empties it in place. Awkward to pin down? Close to Welling Seventh-Day Adventist Church or a county line? Asking is better than assuming, and so phone.
Your situation, in one line
Not run yet: keep the car off and ring. Already run: stop, switch off and ring. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there in East Wickham and anywhere around Greater London on 0333 366 0103.