AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Hawkwell: What Now?
One thing counts above all when AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and it is whether your engine has run since. Wherever the car stands — Ashingdon, Hawkwell — never start a motor that hasn't run yet. Usually that is emptying and properly rinsing it right there in Hawkwell — and so leave the key and motor off then call 0333 366 0103. Already started? Pull over when safe, then turn everything off. The job is bigger, yet the first step is the same.
Further down: the cases we see, anywhere around Essex. Choose the one that fits.
At the pump around Hawkwell: AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you just notice it while you are standing at the pump, bottle or nozzle in hand. Anywhere around Hawkwell, then — Esso, JET, or somewhere else close by.
Put simply: there is no better place to be to discover it. The AdBlue is inside that tank and nowhere else. Nothing has sucked it in.
What to do: don't get back in and start it to clear the pump. Ring us from the forecourt once your vehicle is in a bay — the staff will help roll it — then keep the receipt. Can't move the car beside the petrol pump? Explosion-proof kit keeps a live forecourt sensible, so we can drain the car where it is.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Hawkwell drive?
Several days had gone by with the warning light on. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look again at the cap. Just off Hill Lane is no less likely from any other place.
Put simply: if the car hasn't moved since, it is nearly equal to spotting it at the pump. As it is unable to blend, AdBlue settles to the base in the tank and stays. A night parked alters none of that.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so no one moves your car in the morning. Then call. We drain it on your drive, whether that's in Hawkwell or out in Mount Bovers. Even at night, our pumps are quiet enough for a driveway.
Hawkwell: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Filled up, pulled away, and soon your motor was turning roughly, smoking, losing power, or lighting up the dash. Perhaps it was on Park Gardens, perhaps on the way out towards Southend-on-Sea, under 5 miles away.
The point: your system has drawn AdBlue through already. Through the filter, through the lines, and — the more the mileage — on into the high-pressure pump and each injector. It travels deeper with every extra mile covered and each restart.
Next: find a sensible place, pull in, then turn the motor off. Service stations further on are too far: from the M2, under 25 miles out of Hawkwell, take the next junction. It will not have cleared, and so there is no point starting it again to check. Phone, and say how far the vehicle was driven.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You've had this car hardly a week. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is missing or elsewhere. On this one, its cap is right by the diesel inlet — news to you. Wherever you happen to be across Essex, any driver could be caught.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it has run, with one more stage. Any work on your car frequently requires the owner's approval under rental or fleet agreements.
Settling it before the van turn up is faster, and so phone the hire company or your fleet manager, and then us. Stuck by Hawkwell Village Hall or outside Hockley until the firm answers, your car stays switched off throughout.
Unsure about AdBlue in the diesel tank around Hawkwell?
At times, "I think so" is the most you can honestly say. Which cap was taken off, you can't say; meanwhile the bottle feels less than expected, and ammonia lingers by your filler. It might have been on a friend's drive in Eastwood, or rushing by Lift Westerings on the school run.
What it means: a little spilled about the filler does no damage to the motor. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. You cannot tell which by turning the key, and doing so will draw in any AdBlue that is in your tank.
Next: assume it went in, then keep the motor off. Tell us what you noticed on your phone. A clean tank looked at counts as a better result than a run one emptied.
What each AdBlue drain around Hawkwell has in common
Whatever the case, one start applies. Three questions are asked once our engineers arrive — on a forecourt, a drive, a street by Clements Hall Leisure Complex or the car park outside The White Hart: the liquid, the amount, and whether the motor has run. Your price comes on the call, ahead of anyone setting off, and those replies shape the job.
Draining that tank comes next, then a careful flush — more vital with urea than with petrol, since crystals and corrosion will not go on their own, however long it sits. Finally are the filter, flushed or replaced as needed; clean diesel; and a test of the car. Not started? Then about half an hour once we are there covers most jobs.
Lastly, we fire it up. Our technicians check it runs correctly on fresh diesel before leaving. Our engineers do the entire job where the car is, and permanent damage is very unusual when it has been spotted quickly. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, nothing in advance. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Hawkwell
Hawkwell is a village in Essex, situated approximately 4.4 miles northwest of Southend-on-Sea and 34.7 miles east of London. Hawkwell sits in a relatively low-lying area, with an elevation of around 30 metres, and is characterised by its semi-detached housing stock. Hawkwell is surrounded by other nearby places, including Mount Bovers, Hockley, and Stroud Green, and has a population of around 3010 residents.
AdBlue drains across Essex, Hawkwell included
As a rural village, Hawkwell has the same vans as the surrounding towns — Stroud Green, Hockley — right through SS postcodes. A postcode starting SS5 4 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to Clements Hall Leisure Complex Field or in a car park in the middle of Hawkwell, it doesn't need to shift. Wherever it sits, that's where it is drained. If you're somewhere hard to describe, near Emmanuel, Hawkwell or close to a boundary, ring and ask rather than assuming.
The one-line version
Engine not started: ring, and leave it alone. Started by now? Pull over, turn off, phone. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest whatever case, across Hawkwell and Essex, on 0333 366 0103.