AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Epsom, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: whether your engine has been run since it got in. If it has not, keep it that way, whether the car is in Epsom itself or out in Woodcote. Switch nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, and count on a proper flush after a drain, carried out just where the car sits around Epsom. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. The job is bigger, but the first step is the same.
Wherever in Surrey it happened, one of the situations below matches yours.
On a Epsom forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you only spot it as you are standing at the pump, bottle or the nozzle in hand. It could be the BP, or perhaps the Sainsbury's, or a different forecourt in Epsom.
What it means: this is the best place to find out. The AdBlue is in that tank and nowhere else. Nothing has pulled it in.
What to do: don't get back in and start the vehicle to clear the petrol pump. Ask the staff to help you push the vehicle into a parking space, keep your receipt or the bottle, then ring us from the forecourt. If it can't be moved, it can be emptied at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a busy forecourt.
Epsom, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
On the dash, a warning had shown all week. Only by the recycling, the empty container in hand, did you look back at the cap you had opened at the driveway. Right off Ashley Road is not less likely from any other place.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. Diesel and AdBlue stay apart: the AdBlue drops to the base of that tank and stays put, no matter how long it waits.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so no one moves your car in the morning. Then ring. Your drive is where it is drained, whether in Epsom or The Wells. Our pumping kit runs quiet enough that it won't wake the neighbours at night.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel around Epsom?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later your engine began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Perhaps it was on High Street, maybe on the way out towards Westminster, under 15 miles away.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been sucked into the system. Mileage decides how far it gets: filter and pipework to begin with, then the high-pressure pump and each injector. More miles, more starts: further it travels.
What to do: pull over where it's safe to do so and switch off. Services farther along are too far: from the M25, under 3 miles out of Epsom, use the next junction. No test starts: clearing itself is not something AdBlue does. Ring us and say how far you went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You have had this vehicle hardly a week. The AdBlue filler sits right beside the diesel one, which you did not know, because your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Wherever you are across Surrey, every motorist could be caught.
Meaning? Whatever applies above counts too — run or not — and one extra step. Many hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on the car.
Sorting it before the van arrives is quicker, and so ring the rental company or your fleet manager, then us. Stranded by Spread Eagle Walk or outside the nearest station until someone answers, the vehicle remains switched off throughout.
Epsom: unsure if it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Honestly, the best answer might be that you think so. What cap came off, you cannot say; but the bottle feels lighter than expected, and a whiff of ammonia lingers by the filler. The gates of St Joseph's Catholic Primary School in a rush, perhaps, or a friend's driveway over in Epsom Downs.
What it means: a little spilled round your filler does no damage to your engine. The diesel tank with AdBlue inside is a different story. You cannot tell which by turning the key, and doing so would pull in any AdBlue that is in that tank.
Take it that it went in, and never start the key. Phone with the details: we'd rather find a clean tank than empty one after the motor has been run.
The common ground in every Epsom AdBlue drain
The job begins the same way, whichever your case. Forecourt, driveway, Comrades Club's car park or a street by Epsom Clock Tower — our van comes to your vehicle, and three answers come next: what liquid, which amount, and if it ran. Those answers determine this work, and you hear our price by phone, before anyone sets off.
Emptying the tank comes first, then a careful flush — more vital after urea than with petrol, because crystals and corrosion will not clear by themselves, no matter how long it sits. Last are your filter, flushed or renewed if necessary; clean diesel; and a test of your vehicle. Not started? In that case roughly half an hour once we are there is most jobs.
The final step is firing it up. We confirm it runs properly on fresh diesel before we go. If it's caught early, the car very seldom has permanent damage, and the entire job takes place where it is. Nothing is paid upfront, payment is made on the day, and you get what the insurer asks for: an engineer report plus a VAT invoice. Check your insurance before we're en route: cover for misfuelling comes included in many policies.
About Epsom
Epsom is a town in Surrey, situated on the banks of the Hogsmill River, with a mix of residential and commercial areas. Epsom sits at an elevation of 51 metres, approximately 13 miles from central London, and is surrounded by nearby places such as The Wells, Livingstone Park, and Manor Park. Epsom has a population of around 26,742 people, predominantly living in flat-type housing. Epsom is well-connected to the nearby city of Westminster, which is about 13 miles away.
AdBlue drains around Epsom, and across Surrey too
As a spa town, Epsom has the same vans as the nearby towns — Manor Park, Livingstone Park — all the way through KT postcodes. The location is clearest from a postcode beginning KT19 8.
No moving is needed, whether stopped centrally in Epsom or on a lay-by en route to Dullshot Green Park, and so keep it where it is. The drain is done right there. If you are somewhere hard to describe, near Council Chambers or close to a boundary, ring and ask instead of guessing.
In one line: your scenario
Not run yet: keep the vehicle off then call. Run already: pull over, switch down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, within Epsom or wherever across Surrey.