AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Harrow on the Hill, and What to Do Next
Has your motor turned over since the AdBlue went in? This one question settles almost everything else from here. If it hasn't, keep it that way, whether the vehicle is around Harrow on the Hill itself or out in Sudbury. Phone 0333 366 0103 with your ignition and motor both off. Across Harrow on the Hill, such a case is generally drained and flushed where it stands. Where your engine has been run, stop safely first, then turn it off. Stage one stays the same, even if the work grows.
Wherever around Greater London it happened, one of the situations below fits yours.
At the pump around Harrow on the Hill: AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you just notice it as you are stood at the pump, bottle or the nozzle in hand. Whether Shell, BP or somewhere else in Harrow on the Hill, the situation is the same.
The point: of every spot to notice, this is the best. Nothing has pulled it through, and so the AdBlue stays just inside that tank.
Next: avoid the temptation to fire it up only to move away from the pump. Get the attendants to lend a hand pushing it into a bay, hold on to the bottle, then ring us from there. If it can't be moved, it can be emptied at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a working forecourt.
Harrow on the Hill, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
On the dash, a warning had shown all week. A bottle from the garage, emptied in on the drive — and it's just at the recycling that the cap got a second look. Houses just off High Street get caught out as often as anywhere else.
Meaning? Provided the car has not moved since, it is close to the pump case. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of your tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so nobody moves your car in the morning. Then ring. We drain the vehicle on your driveway, whether that is around Harrow on the Hill or out in Harrow. Even at night, our pumps stay quiet enough for a residential street.
On the road around Harrow on the Hill with AdBlue in a diesel
Lumpy running, smoke, falling power or a lit dashboard started a mile or two after the fill. Anywhere along London Road or heading to Westminster — under 15 miles away.
Meaning? Your pump has sucked the AdBlue in. The high-pressure pump and each injector get it too on a bigger trip, after the fuel filter and lines have it. It travels further with every mile driven and every restart.
Pull in somewhere safe — that is the next step — then switch everything off. Exit at the first junction — not the services beyond — if you are on the M1, under 5 miles from Harrow on the Hill. Do not restart the car to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Phone, saying what distance the vehicle went.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You have only had the vehicle for days. The AdBlue filler is right beside the diesel one, which you did not know, since your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. It can happen to anyone, anywhere around Greater London.
In short: one extra stage on top of the situations above, which turn on whether it's run. The owner often needs to sign off the work, under plenty of hire and company contracts.
Settling it before we arrives is faster, so phone the rental company or your fleet manager, then us. Stranded near Christ Church Roxeth or at Harrow-on-the-Hill until the firm replies, your car remains switched off throughout.
Unsure about AdBlue in your diesel tank around Harrow on the Hill?
At times the honest answer is "I think so". The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia around your filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. A rushed stop by the gates of Roxeth Primary School, or a visit to a friend in Greenhill: either fits.
Meaning? Spills around the filler never reach your engine at all. Once it's inside your diesel tank, though, that changes. You can't tell which by turning the ignition, and doing so would pull in any AdBlue that is in the tank.
Take it that it went in, and don't turn the key. Checking a tank that turns out free of AdBlue beats emptying one once it has been run — so ring and tell us what you saw.
Every AdBlue drain around Harrow on the Hill shares these stages
Every situation gets the same start to the job. Three things are asked when we reach your car — at a filling station, a driveway, a street by The Ryan Theatre or the car park at The Castle: the liquid, the quantity, and if the motor has run. Those answers determine this work, and you get the price on the phone, before anybody sets off.
Then the tank is cleared and the system cleaned thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it does not rinse out on its own. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and your car is tested. Most unrun cars are a half-hour visit after the moment our engineers turn up.
We fire it up last. Our test that it runs smoothly on clean diesel comes before our engineers head off. Lasting damage is very unusual when it is spotted soon, and the whole job is done where your car is. Paying comes on the day, never upfront. For the insurer, there is a VAT invoice and a report from the engineer. It is worth knowing: many insurers include misfuelling cover, and so a check of your documents while you wait pays.
About Harrow on the Hill itself
Harrow on the Hill is a suburban area in northwest London, situated approximately 10 miles from central London and 113 metres above sea level. Harrow on the Hill is characterised by its predominantly flat-type housing and is located near the neighbouring areas of Harrow, Roxeth, and West Harrow. Harrow on the Hill has a population of around 6440 residents and is a distinct community within the larger London urban area.
AdBlue drains around Harrow on the Hill, and across Greater London too
Harrow on the Hill is a residential suburb, and the same teams that cover it work the places near it too, Roxeth and West Harrow among them, across the HA postcode area. Fastest of all: a HA1 3 postcode to show where you stand.
No moving is needed, be it stopped centrally in Harrow on the Hill or in a layby heading to The Green, and so keep it where it is. Our van drains it where it stands. Tricky to pin down? Close to St Dominic's College Chapel or a border? Asking beats guessing, so phone.
Your scenario, in one line
Still unrun? Leave the vehicle off and phone. Run already? Stop, switch off, phone. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder whichever case, in Harrow on the Hill and Greater London, on 0333 366 0103.