AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Gallows Corner, and What to Do Next
One thing counts above all once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is if your engine has been started afterwards. Out in Harold Hill or right in Gallows Corner, an unrun engine must remain that way. Keep nothing on, call 0333 366 0103, and count on a proper flush after a drain, carried out right where the car stands around Gallows Corner. When the engine has been run, stop safely straight away, then turn the vehicle off. Step one stays unchanged, even though the job grows.
Below: the situations our engineers see, anywhere across Greater London. Pick yours.
At the pump around Gallows Corner: AdBlue in a diesel
You are at the petrol pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. It might be the Tesco, or perhaps the Esso, or another forecourt around Gallows Corner.
What it means: this is the ideal place to find out. The AdBlue is inside your tank and nowhere else. Nothing has sucked it in.
Next: avoid the temptation to start it just to free up the pump. Phone us from the forecourt after the car sits in a bay — the attendants will lend a hand to push it — then keep the bottle. If it cannot be shifted, it can be cleared at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a working forecourt.
At home around Gallows Corner with AdBlue in your diesel tank
For days the dashboard had been nagging you. Bought a bottle, poured it in outside the house, recycled the empty — and at that point looked at the cap again, after the fact. Just off Colchester Road is not different from any other place.
Put simply: if the car has not been driven since, it is nearly as good as finding out at the forecourt. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of the tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so no one moves the vehicle in the morning. Then call. Gidea Park or Gallows Corner: whichever your driveway sits, that's where it is cleared. The equipment runs quietly enough not to disturb the street at night.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in Gallows Corner?
Filled up, drove away, and soon your motor was running unevenly, smoking, losing power, or lighting up your dash. Maybe heading to London, under 15 miles away, or just down Gallows Corner Flyover.
Meaning? The fuel pump has taken the AdBlue up. Distance decides how far it goes: filter and lines first, then the injection pump and every injector. It travels deeper with every mile driven and each restart.
Next: find a sensible place, pull in, then turn the engine off. Service stations farther on can wait: on the M25, under 3 miles out of Gallows Corner, take the next junction. Starting it again to check achieves nothing — AdBlue never clears on its own. Tell us know the mileage driven when you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank: hire, lease and company motors
It's a car you have had for a week. Your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere different, so nothing warned you the AdBlue inlet was right next to your diesel. Any driver, anywhere in Greater London, could make it.
What it means: the same as the scenarios above, depending on whether it's run, with one more step. Many hire and company contracts require the owner's approval for repairs.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That is quicker settled before our engineers get there than after. Hanging on for an answer at the car park outside Gidea Park, or near Romford Hockey Club? Leave the engine off throughout.
Gallows Corner: unsure if it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
At times, "I think so" is all anyone can truthfully say. Lighter, that bottle; a trace of ammonia near the filler; a hazy recollection of the cap. Sound familiar? A hurried top-up by the gates of Ardleigh Green Junior School, or a visit to a friend in Emerson Park: either fits.
Meaning? Drips outside the filler never reach your motor at all. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. Any AdBlue in that tank would be drawn in by turning on your car, and the start wouldn't settle which it is in any case.
What to do: treat it as if it was put in. Don't start the car. Checking a tank that proves clean is better than draining one once it's been run — so ring and tell us what you noticed.
The common ground in each Gallows Corner AdBlue drain
Whatever the case, one opening is used. Three questions come once our engineers arrive — on a filling station, a drive, a street by David Lloyd Clubs or the car park at The Ardleigh: the liquid, the quantity, and if the motor has been started. Those answers decide this work, and you get our quote by phone, before anybody sets off.
Then that tank is cleared and the 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, so it doesn't rinse out on its own. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the car is tested. If your motor has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Lastly, our technicians start the car. With fresh diesel in, it runs while our technicians check it's running properly, and then we head off. The entire job is done where the vehicle is, and when it is caught quickly, long-term damage is very unusual. Payment comes that day, never upfront. For your insurer, there is a VAT invoice plus a written report from the engineer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
About Gallows Corner itself
Gallows Corner is a locality in the London Borough of Havering, situated near the River Thames at an elevation of around 35 metres. Gallows Corner lies on the eastern edge of London, approximately 15 miles from the city centre, and is surrounded by nearby places such as Gidea Park and Harold Wood. Gallows Corner is characterised by its semi-detached housing and a population of around 3183 residents. Gallows Corner benefits from its proximity to London while maintaining a distinct local identity.
AdBlue drains around Gallows Corner, and across Greater London too
Gallows Corner is a small village, and the same vans that cover it work the towns around it too, Harold Wood and Ardleigh Green among them, across the RM postcode area. A postcode starting RM3 0 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
No towing is needed, whether stopped centrally in Gallows Corner or on a layby heading to Gidea Park Sports Ground, and so leave it where it is. Draining happens on the spot. Awkward to pin down? By Picture Frame Gallery or a county line? Checking beats guessing, so phone.
Your scenario, in one line
Not run yet: keep it off and ring. Already run: stop, switch off and call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there around Gallows Corner and anywhere in Greater London on 0333 366 0103.