Gosmore: AdBlue in the Diesel Tank? Find Your Situation
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: if the engine has run since it got in. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether the car is in Gosmore itself or out in Gosmore Hill. Phone 0333 366 0103 with your ignition and motor still off. Across Gosmore, that is typically emptied and cleaned where it stands. If it has run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. Step one stays the same, even if the work is bigger.
Find the scenario below that matches yours, wherever in Hertfordshire it happened.
Gosmore forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
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. Possibly you're at the BP, perhaps at the Esso, maybe somewhere else around Gosmore.
The point: of all places to find out, the forecourt is the best. The AdBlue is inside the tank and nowhere else. Nothing has sucked it in.
Clearing the petrol pump is no excuse to run it — so do not get back in. Ask the attendants to help you roll the car into a parking space, keep the receipt or the bottle, then call us from the forecourt. The equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a live forecourt, so a vehicle that can't be pushed clear gets drained right at the pump.
At home in Gosmore with AdBlue in your diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. Bought a bottle, poured it in at home, binned the empty — and at that point looked at the cap again, too late. Houses just off Waterdell Lane get caught out as much as everywhere else.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. At the floor of that tank sits exactly where AdBlue stays, because it won't blend with diesel — and a night passing makes no difference.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so no one moves the vehicle in the morning. Then call. St Ibbs or Gosmore: whichever your driveway sits, that is where it is cleared. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house at night.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around Gosmore?
Rough running, smoke, falling power or a glowing dashboard started a mile or two after the top-up. Anywhere on High Street or on the road to St Albans — under 15 miles away.
What it means: the fuel system has pulled the AdBlue in. Distance sets how deep it goes: filter and lines first, then the injection pump and each injector. More miles, more restarts: deeper it travels.
Do this: stop somewhere safe, then turn the engine off. Gosmore lies under 3 miles from the A1(M); on it, pull off at the next junction instead of pressing on for the services. No trial starts: clearing itself isn't something AdBlue does. Call, saying how far the vehicle went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
It is a motor you have had for a week. Your own vehicle either does without AdBlue or keeps it elsewhere, so nothing warned you the AdBlue inlet sits right beside your diesel. It can happen to anyone, anywhere around Hertfordshire.
In short: one extra step on top of the cases above, and those turn on whether it's run. Work on the vehicle often needs the owner's go-ahead under rental or company terms.
Your move: hire firm or your fleet manager to begin with, us second, because sorting it beforehand saves time. If you are stuck in the car park at Hitchin, or by St Ippolyts Church, while you wait for an answer, leave the car off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Gosmore?
Truthfully, the best answer might be that you think it did. A slight ammonia-like smell lingers around your filler, the bottle feels too light, and the cap you took off is a blur. Maybe at a friend's drive in Hitchin Hill, or in a rush by St Ippolyts Church of England Aided Primary School on the school run.
Meaning? Spills around the inlet don't reach the engine at all. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. You can't tell which by turning the key, and doing so will draw in any AdBlue that is in the tank.
What to do: treat it as if it was put in. Do not start the vehicle. Describe what you noticed on your phone. A clear tank looked at is a happier result than a run one emptied.
What every AdBlue drain in Gosmore has in common
Whatever the situation, a single opening is used. Three questions come when our technicians reach the car — at a filling station, a driveway, a road by St John's Community Centre or the car park at The Orange Tree: the fluid, the amount, and if the motor has been started. The price comes on the call, ahead of anyone setting off, and the replies shape the work.
AdBlue crystallises and eats at certain metals in fuel systems, and so it does not rinse out unaided; that is why the flush, after this drain, matters much more here than with petrol. Finally are the fuel filter, cleaned or renewed as needed; clean diesel; and a check of the vehicle. Most unrun vehicles are a half-hour visit from the moment our technicians get there.
Last, our engineers fire it up. Our technicians confirm it runs correctly on clean diesel before we leave. The whole job is done where the car is, and when it is caught quickly, lasting damage is very unusual. Paying is that day, never upfront. For the insurer, there is a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer. Dig out your insurance while we're en route: misfuelling cover comes included in plenty of policies.
About Gosmore and where it is
Gosmore is a small village in Hertfordshire, situated on the riverside at an elevation of around 85 metres. Gosmore lies near the towns of St Albans and the surrounding villages of St Ibbs and St Ippolyts. Gosmore has a population of approximately 619 residents, with a predominance of semi-detached housing. Gosmore is located about 29.8 miles from London, making it a commuter-friendly location.
AdBlue drains across Hertfordshire, Gosmore included
Gosmore is a village, and the same vans that cover it work the places near it too, St Ippolyts and Sperberry Hill among them, across the SG postcode area. The whereabouts is quickest from a postcode that starts SG4 7.
Whether the car is on a lay-by on the way to Hitchin Priory Gardens or in a car park in the middle of Gosmore, it does not need to move. Our van drains it in place. Assuming won't help near British schools museum, on a border or anywhere awkward to describe; ring and check.
In one line: your scenario
If it has not run, phone then leave it that way. Run by now: stop, switch down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel handles the remainder, in Gosmore or anywhere across Hertfordshire.