--- title: Ford: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank, What Next canonical: https://www.petrolinadieselcar.co.uk/adblue-in-diesel/ford-west-sussex/ location: Ford county: West Sussex latitude: 50.821320 longitude: -0.580660 service: AdBlue in a Diesel Tank updated: 2026-10-12 --- # AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Ford, and What to Do Next One thing matters above all once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is whether your engine has run afterwards. Wherever your vehicle is — Tortington, Ford — don't start a motor that has not run yet. Switch nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, then count on a proper flush after a drain, carried out right where the vehicle sits in Ford. Pull over the moment you safely can then turn off, if it has already run. Step one stays the same, even if the work grows. Compare what happened to a situation from the list below, anywhere across West Sussex you happen to be. ## At the petrol pump in Ford: AdBlue in a diesel The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you only notice it while you are standing at the pump, bottle or nozzle in hand. Maybe you're at the Tesco, perhaps at the Morrisons, possibly somewhere else in Ford. Meaning? Spotting it on the forecourt is the best it gets. Still in your tank, with nothing pulled through: that's where the AdBlue sits. What to do: don't get back in and crank it to clear the petrol pump. A few things: a push into a space with the attendants helping, the receipt kept, and a call to us from where you stand. If it cannot be shifted, it can be drained at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a working forecourt. ## At home in Ford with AdBlue in your diesel tank For days the dash had been warning you. A bottle bought at the garage, tipped in at the driveway — and it was only at the recycling that the cap got your eye. Homes just off Nelson Row get caught out as often as everywhere else. Put simply: if your car has not been driven since, it is almost equal to spotting it at the pump. At the bottom of the tank is where AdBlue waits, because it won't mix with diesel — and a night going by makes no difference. Keep the keys in the house tonight — otherwise a person might drive it away at breakfast — then call us. Horsemere Green or Ford: wherever your driveway sits, that's where it gets emptied. Even at night, the pumps are quiet enough for a driveway. ## Ford: set off with AdBlue in a diesel? A mile or two after topping up, the motor started misbehaving: rough running, smoke, lost power, lights on your dash. Rodney Crescent, say, or the route to Chichester — a run of under 10 miles. Put simply: the AdBlue has been pulled through the system. Distance sets how deep it goes: filter and pipework first, then the injection pump and each injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further. What to do: pull over where it is safe to do so and switch off. Ford sits under 25 miles from the A3(M); there, pull off at the next junction instead of pushing on for the services. Don't restart the vehicle to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Phone us and say how far you went. ## AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car You've only had the vehicle for days. Your own motor either has no AdBlue or puts it somewhere different, so no one warned you the AdBlue inlet sits just beside your diesel. Wherever you happen to be in West Sussex, every motorist can be caught. The point: exactly as above, divided by whether it ran, only with one added stage. Many hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on the car. Next: phone the hire company or the fleet manager first, then us — sorting it before we arrive is quicker. If you're stranded in the car park outside the nearest station, or by Hawker Hunter, while you wait for an answer, leave your car off. ## Ford: unsure if it was AdBlue in the diesel tank? At times the fair answer is "I think so". A slight ammonia whiff lingers near the filler, the bottle feels too light, and the cap you took off is a blur. Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at St Mary's CofE Primary School, or on a friend's drive in Brookpits. In short: a spill round the filler leaves the engine no harm. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. If there is AdBlue in your tank, firing up your car would pull it in, and it wouldn't tell you which either. Take it that it went in, and don't turn your key. Checking a tank that proves clean beats emptying one after it has been run — so phone then describe to us what you saw. ## Ford: what each AdBlue drain has in common Every case has the same start to the work. Wherever the car stands — Ship & Anchor's car park, a road beside St Andrew by-the-Ford, a drive, a filling station — our van arrives and we ask for the fluid, the amount, plus if the motor has turned over. Your price is given on the call, before a van leaves, and those replies set the job. Then that tank is emptied and the fuel system flushed thoroughly, which matters more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it doesn't rinse out on its own. Your filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the car is tested. Where your motor hasn't been started, allow about half an hour on site, for most cases. Starting it comes last. Before our engineers leave, it is tested to be sure it runs smoothly on clean diesel. Lasting damage is very unusual if it is spotted quickly, and the entire job is done where your car is. You pay on the day, with nothing upfront, and get a VAT invoice and an engineer report for your insurer. It is worth remembering: lots of insurers offer misfuelling cover, and so a quick look at your policy as you wait is worthwhile. ## About Ford itself Ford is a small coastal village in West Sussex, situated near the mouth of the Arun River and close to the South Downs National Park. Ford sits at a low elevation of around 3 metres, with its semi-detached housing stock reflecting the area's 20th-century development. Ford is part of a network of villages and hamlets, including Horsemere Green, Climping, and Burndell, that make up the local community. Ford is located approximately 8.7 miles from Chichester and 51.3 miles from London. ## AdBlue drains around Ford and across West Sussex Ford is a coastal village, and the same teams that cover it work the towns around it too, Climping and Burndell among them, across the BN postcode area. Telling us a BN18 0 postcode pins you fastest of all. No moving is needed, whether parked in the centre of Ford or on a layby heading to Ford Airfield Commemorative Garden, so keep it put. Wherever it stands, that is where it gets emptied. Ring and ask rather than guess if you are close to Prison Chapel, on a border, or anywhere awkward to explain. ## In one line: your scenario Still unrun? Leave the vehicle that way and ring. Run by now? Pull over, turn off, phone. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder whichever case, in Ford and West Sussex, on 0333 366 0103.