What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Flamstead End
One thing matters above all when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is if the motor has run since. Over in Bury Green or here in Flamstead End, an unstarted engine should remain unrun. Usually that means emptying and properly cleaning it right there around Flamstead End — and so leave your key and motor off then phone 0333 366 0103. Already run? Pull over once you safely can, then switch everything off. It's a bigger job, yet step one does not change.
Match what happened to a situation from the ones below, wherever in Hertfordshire you happen to be.
Flamstead End forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you just notice it while you're standing at the petrol pump, bottle or the nozzle in your hand. Be it Shell, BP or anywhere else in Flamstead End, the situation is the same.
In short: no better spot to be to spot it. Just your tank has AdBlue; no part past it has taken it in.
Next: resist the urge to fire it up only to move away from the pump. Have the attendants to help pushing it into a space, save the receipt, then ring us from there. If it cannot be moved, it can be emptied at the pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a busy forecourt.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Flamstead End drive?
For days the dash had been warning you. Only at the recycling bin, the empty container in hand, did you look back at the cap you had opened at the driveway. Right off Longfield Lane is not less likely from anywhere.
Meaning? Provided your vehicle has not been driven since, it's close to the pump case. Diesel and AdBlue keep apart: the AdBlue drops to the floor of your tank and remains put, however long it waits.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so nobody moves your car in the morning. Then call. Our technicians drain the car on your driveway, whether that is around Flamstead End or out in Rosedale. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in Flamstead End?
Filled up, drove away, and soon your engine was running unevenly, blowing smoke, losing power, or flashing up your dash. Anywhere along Park Lane or else on the road to St Albans — under 15 miles away.
The point: the system has pulled AdBlue in by now. Distance sets how deep it gets: filter and pipework first, then the injection pump and each injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Next: find a safe spot, stop, and switch your motor off. Leave by the next junction — not the services beyond — if you're on the M25, under 3 miles from Flamstead End. Starting it again to check achieves nothing — AdBlue doesn't clear itself. Let us hear the mileage driven when you ring.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
It is a vehicle you have had for a week. The AdBlue filler sits right next to the diesel one, which you did not know, since your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Across Hertfordshire, nobody is immune.
The point: just as above, split by if it ran, but with an added step. Plenty of rental and company agreements require the owner's sign-off for work.
Your move: rental firm or your fleet manager first, us second, because settling it beforehand cuts time. Hanging on for a reply at the car park outside Cheshunt, or near Flamstead End Hall? Leave the engine off meanwhile.
Flamstead End: unsure whether it was AdBlue in your diesel tank?
Truthfully, the only answer might be that you think it did. A faint ammonia-like smell lingers near the filler, the bottle seems too light, and which cap came off is hard to recall. The gates of St Paul's Catholic Primary School in a rush, say, or someone's driveway over in Hammond Street.
What it means: a little spilled round the filler does no harm to the motor. Once it is inside your diesel tank, though, that changes. If there is AdBlue in the tank, turning on the vehicle will draw it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either.
Take it that it went in, and never turn your engine. Inspecting a tank that turns out free of AdBlue is better than draining one after it's been run — so phone then describe to us what you noticed.
The common ground in every Flamstead End AdBlue drain
Every case has the same opening to the job. Wherever the vehicle is — The Plough's car park, a road by Rosedale Community Church, a drive, a forecourt — the van arrives and asks about the liquid, the quantity, plus whether your motor has turned over. Over the phone, before anything else, you hear our quote, and those answers decide the work too.
A thorough flush comes after this drain. With petrol it is routine; with AdBlue it's crucial, since deposits build up and some metals are attacked, and none of that rinses out unaided. Finally come the fuel filter, cleaned or replaced if necessary; fresh diesel; and a test of the vehicle. If the engine hasn't run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Firing it up comes at the end. We confirm it runs smoothly on fresh diesel before we go. When it's noticed quickly, the car very rarely has permanent damage, and the entire job takes place where it is. Nothing is taken upfront, payment is made on the day, and you get what your insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Dig out your insurance while we're en route: cover for misfuelling comes included in plenty of policies.
About Flamstead End and where it is
Flamstead End is a suburban area in Hertfordshire, situated near the River Lea at an elevation of 38 metres. Flamstead End lies within the commuter belt, approximately 14.6 miles from London and 12.6 miles from St Albans. Flamstead End is characterised by its terraced housing and proximity to nearby places such as Rosedale, Churchgate, and Cheshunt.
AdBlue drains across Hertfordshire, Flamstead End included
Churchgate and Cheshunt have the identical vans as Flamstead End, a residential suburb, plus other towns throughout EN postcodes. Your whereabouts is clearest from a postcode beginning EN7 6.
Centre of Flamstead End or a lay-by towards Cheshunt Park: either way it is, your vehicle doesn't need to shift at all for the drain. Our engineers drain the vehicle where it sits. Guessing doesn't help near Timeline Ampitheatre, on a border or somewhere awkward to describe; phone and ask.
The one-line version
Unstarted? Keep it that way then ring. Already run: stop, switch off and call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there in Flamstead End and anywhere across Hertfordshire on 0333 366 0103.