AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Feltham? Don't Start It
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Then leave your engine off — and your ignition too. AdBlue is urea dissolved in water. The trouble begins once it is pulled through the lines — it won't ignite, and it won't blend with diesel. A drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Feltham, is generally what AdBlue in a diesel tank needs — if it is caught before the engine has been run. First, call us on 0333 366 0103.
Feltham, AdBlue in your diesel tank: what to do at once
Do these:
- Keys out — that way no one can switch anything on.
- If you are at all near moving traffic, put the hazards on.
- Which product, and roughly what quantity? Hang on to the bottle or the receipt, and our engineers can see.
- Tell us a postcode starting TW13 4, or whichever street is nearest, and our van finds you directly — so call from wherever you stand.
Don't:
- Not even for a second, and not to shift the car: the engine remains off.
- Don't switch the ignition on. On plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump.
- Do not top up with diesel to dilute it. AdBlue doesn't mix in diesel; it separates out.
- Never drive the car anywhere, not even a short way down High Street.
- By the road, don't attempt draining it on your own.
On a forecourt in Feltham, whether it is the Tesco or another one, ask the staff to help you roll your car clear of the petrol pump. Stopped on your own driveway? Then it remains exactly as it is.
What does AdBlue do in a diesel tank?
Not your engine but your exhaust is where AdBlue belongs. From a dedicated tank it is fed straight to your exhaust, cleaning what the engine emits. Nothing in it is supposed to pass through a fuel pump, and nothing in a fuel pump is made to handle it.
Poured in with your diesel, it stays separate rather than blending — quite different from fuel. It is heavier than diesel, so it sinks and gathers at the bottom of the tank, which is where the pickup draws fuel from. Easiest of all: a vehicle that got AdBlue in Hounslow Heath last night and has not been started since. The AdBlue sits at the base of the tank, undrawn — though it would be first through if the motor runs, before any diesel at all.
It causes two kinds of damage from there. As its water goes, the urea left behind crystallises, and the crystals block filters and settle in fine passages. And it is corrosive to some of the metals a fuel system is made from, so it keeps running on the components it gets to for as long as it stays there. Pipes holding AdBlue spell damage overnight for a car sitting around Feltham. Just inside the tank, it stays the same. Then there is the water: it brings no protection to the components that need it the most — the injection pump and every injector.
Why is AdBlue in a diesel often the bigger fault?
A fault of thinned fuel is what you end up with after fuelling a diesel with petrol from the Gulf. It mixes with your diesel, and while it's inside that tank it causes no harm; the harm comes from running your engine on it.
With AdBlue in a diesel, the fluid itself is plainly the wrong one. It can't simply be run through, since it doesn't burn. Crystals and corrosion remain after the following tankful, and AdBlue splits again from your diesel, so watering it can't help. Hence the flush counts so much, and trying the engine "to see" costs more with AdBlue than nearly any other mistake — in East Bedfont or the heart of Feltham alike.
With AdBlue, the good news is no different from petrol. Anywhere across Greater London the vehicle has come to rest, an unstarted engine means the AdBlue still in the tank: the simplest part of any fuel system to clear.
How does AdBlue end up in a diesel tank around Feltham?
Nobody means to do it. The AdBlue filler on many vehicles waits right next to your diesel filler, at times under the same flap, and the two caps can look alike in poor light. A container picked up when heading home and tipped in outside the house, rather than at the filling station, is the usual route.
A few familiar ways cover most cases. A warning light comes on during the school run, and the top-up takes place in a hurry outside Cardinal Primary School. A bottle is poured in at the end of the day on a drive just off Bedfont Lane. Or the vehicle is topped up in the car park outside The Moon on the Square, in poor light, by somebody who has never opened that flap before.
It comes up the most in a hire car, a new car, a company vehicle, or the spare motor in a family with one of each fuels — the cars drivers know least. Wherever you're around Feltham or the remainder of Greater London, it is the same mistake and the same first answer: leave it off.
Feltham: started the engine with AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Then your tank is no longer where the AdBlue is. Your filter and lines have had it pulled along, and any running takes it on to the injection pump and each injector.
Watch for lumpy running, smoke, lost power, lights on the dash, or a stall — returning from Bridge House Park, say, or part way across Feltham. When safe, pull over and turn it off — without turning it on again to test. More of that is pulled through with each start.
On the M3, under 3 miles from Feltham, the next junction is where to leave, and somewhere sensible is where to stop — not carrying on.
Each mile carries the AdBlue deeper in. That's why crossing Feltham to park near Feltham Library and a drive of under 15 miles for Westminster are such separate jobs. Approximately how far had it come? Tell us.
Wherever your car came to a halt is where all of it gets done, even with more to clean out once the engine has been running. When it's noticed quickly, permanent damage is very rare.
What draining AdBlue from a diesel involves in Feltham
Our technicians come to your car, wherever it has stopped around Feltham: a side street close to Freddie Mercury memorial star, a drive, a lay-by or a forecourt. Three replies decide the work, so first we ask which fluid got in, about what quantity, plus if your engine has turned over.
Next, draining that tank on the spot takes out the contaminated diesel along with the AdBlue together. What remains from AdBlue will not flush out by itself, and so the whole system gets a careful flush, which counts far more here than with petrol. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the car is tested. The majority of these jobs are a half-hour job once our engineers arrive, provided the engine has not run. Our equipment is explosion-proof, and so a busy forecourt is no problem, and it is hushed enough for a residential street late at night.
The last step is to bleed the fuel system on new diesel. At that point our technicians fire it up and you drive off, whether from a parking space by the nearest station or a drive around Feltham. Before leaving, we check it's running correctly with fresh diesel in. The entire job is done where your car is, so it never needs to go to a garage. Insurers want a VAT invoice and an engineer report, and both come at the end.
About Feltham itself
Feltham is a locality in the London Borough of Hounslow, situated on the River Crane in southwest London. Feltham lies approximately 12.8 miles from central London, with nearby areas including North Feltham, Lower Feltham, and Hanworth. Feltham has a population of around 7957 people, predominantly residing in flats. Feltham's riverside setting and relatively low elevation of 24 metres contribute to its geographical character.
Feltham and Greater London: AdBlue drains across the area
North Feltham, Lower Feltham and Hanworth are among the towns around Feltham that the same vans serve, along with most of Greater London further out, over the TW postcode area. Phone and ask instead of guessing if you are close to a border, or anywhere tricky to explain.
A mobile service fits Feltham, a small village: you have no need to take the car to us, because we empty it there, in a drive, a residential street, a car park or a filling station.
AdBlue in a diesel tank around Feltham: the cost of fixing it
No flat figure would be honest, since each job is different. Three things shift the cost: whether your engine has run and for how long, how much AdBlue got in, and where the vehicle is. That last one turns on whether our van can get to it safely, and an open drive is easier than a tight spot behind Christ Church.
For that reason, each enquiry from Feltham opens with the identical trio — what was put in, what quantity, whether it ran — before any quote. Given them, a range shrinks to one fixed figure.
You get that quote on the phone, before anyone heads out, and you pay on the day, by card or over the phone, with nothing upfront. Check your policy while we're on the way: plenty include misfuelling cover.
Feltham: still alongside your car?
Right now, the best thing to do with your car is to leave it. Ignition off, motor off, keys out. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest, across Feltham or wherever within Greater London, once you call 0333 366 0103 saying it was AdBlue, about what quantity, and if the engine ran.