AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Forest Hill: What Now?
One fact counts most once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is if your motor has been started afterwards. Over in Sydenham Hill or right around Forest Hill, an unstarted engine must remain that way. Switch nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, and count on a thorough flush after a drain, carried out just where your vehicle sits in Forest Hill. When your engine has run, pull in somewhere safe straight away, then switch the vehicle off. The job is bigger, yet the first stage is the same.
Further down: the cases we meet, anywhere in Greater London. Pick the one that fits.
At the pump in Forest Hill: AdBlue in a diesel
Only now, nozzle still in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you took off was the wrong one, right at the pump. It might be the Esso, or the Texaco, or a different station around Forest Hill.
What it means: this is the best location to find out. Just that tank holds AdBlue; no component past it has drawn any in.
What to do: do not get back in and fire it up to clear the pump. Ask the staff to help you push the vehicle into a parking space, keep the receipt or the bottle, and phone us from the forecourt. Our equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a live forecourt, and so a vehicle that can't be pushed clear is drained where it is at the petrol pump.
At home in Forest Hill with AdBlue in your diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. Only by the recycling, the empty container in your hand, did you glance back at the cap you had opened on the drive. Driveways near Perry Vale see it as much as any other street.
In short: if your vehicle has not moved since, it is almost equal to spotting it at the forecourt. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of that tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Put your keys in the house tonight — or someone might take it off first thing — then phone us. We drain the car on your drive, whether that is around Forest Hill or out in Honor Oak. Even at night, our pumps are quiet enough for a driveway.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel in Forest Hill?
A mile or two after topping up, your engine began misbehaving: roughness, smoke, lost power, lights on your dash. Possibly it was on Waldram Place, perhaps on the way out towards Westminster, under 10 miles away.
What it means: the fuel system has drawn the AdBlue in. The high-pressure pump and each injector get it too on a longer trip, after your filter and pipework have had it. It goes further with every extra mile driven and every restart.
Next: pick a sensible spot, stop, then switch the motor off. Forest Hill lies under 15 miles from the M4; there, come off at the next junction instead of pressing on for the services. It won't have cleared, and so there is no sense restarting to check. Let us hear the distance covered as you ring.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You have had this car hardly a week. On your own car, AdBlue is missing or elsewhere. On this one, the inlet is right next to the diesel cap — a surprise to you. Across Greater London, nobody is immune.
The upshot: 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 your fleet manager first, and then us — settling it before our arrival is faster. Stuck by Living Springs International Church or outside the nearest station until someone replies, the vehicle stays turned off throughout.
AdBlue in the diesel tank? Not sure, in Forest Hill
Sometimes the honest answer is "I think so". Too light, that bottle; a hint of ammonia near your filler; no clear recollection of which cap. Sound familiar? The gates of St George's CofE Primary School in a rush, say, or a friend's driveway over in Honor Oak Park.
The upshot: your engine is not harmed by some AdBlue spilled on the outside. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. If there is AdBlue in your tank, turning on the car will suck it in, and it would not tell you which either.
What to do: treat it as if it was put in. Do not fire it up. Inspecting a tank that proves free of AdBlue beats draining one after it's been run — so ring then tell us what you noticed.
The common ground in every Forest Hill AdBlue drain
Every case has the same start to the work. Our engineers come to the car, whether it's at a forecourt, a driveway, the car park outside The Foresters Arms or a side street close to True Jesus Church, and ask three things: what got in, roughly how much, and if the motor has been run. Answers set the work; the quote follows on the call whilst nobody has left yet.
AdBlue forms crystals and eats at some metals used in fuel systems, so it won't rinse out on its own; that is why a full flush, after the drain, counts far more here than with petrol. Your filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. Where your motor has not run, expect about half an hour once we arrive, in most cases.
Finally, our technicians start it. Our check that it runs smoothly on fresh diesel comes before our technicians leave. Our engineers do the entire job where the vehicle is, and permanent damage is very unusual when it has been noticed quickly. Nothing is paid upfront, settlement happens on the day, and you get what your insurer wants: an engineer report plus a VAT invoice. Check your insurance while we're en route: misfuelling cover comes included in many policies.
About Forest Hill, for a moment
Forest Hill is a suburban area in south London, situated approximately 5.7 miles from central London and 46 metres above sea level. Forest Hill is characterised by its predominantly flat-based housing stock and is located near other suburban areas such as Honor Oak, Upper Sydenham, and Lower Sydenham. Forest Hill has a population of around 14194 residents and is close to Westminster, which is about 5.3 miles away.
AdBlue drains around Forest Hill and across Greater London
Throughout SE postcodes, the vans serving Forest Hill — a residential suburb — work surrounding towns too, Upper Sydenham and Lower Sydenham among them. A postcode starting SE23 2 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No towing is required, be it parked in the centre of Forest Hill or in a layby heading to Grassmount Roundabout, so keep it where it is. We drain the car where it is. If you're somewhere hard to explain, close to Forest Hill Pools or close to a boundary, ring and ask rather than assuming.
Your scenario, in one line
If it hasn't started, phone then keep it that way. Whichever line applies, Petrol in Diesel handles from there on 0333 366 0103, across Greater London and within Forest Hill — once you stop, turn off and ring, if it's run.