AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Hawley, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank comes down to one thing more than any other: whether your motor has run since it went in. Out in Clement Street or here around Hawley, an unstarted motor should remain unrun. Switch nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, then count on a thorough flush plus a drain, done right where the vehicle sits in Hawley. Pull over the minute you safely can then switch off, if it has already run. The job is bigger, yet the first stage is the same.
Compare what happened to a situation from the ones below, wherever across Kent you are.
On a Hawley forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Just now, nozzle still in hand, you realise that the cap you opened was the wrong one, there at the petrol pump. Somewhere in Hawley, then — Shell, BP, or anywhere else close by.
Put simply: no better place exists to spot it. The AdBlue is inside that tank and nowhere else. Nothing has sucked it in.
What to do: do not get back in and crank it to clear the pump. A few jobs: a shove into a bay with the attendants helping, the receipt saved, and a call to us from where you stand. Draining it right at the petrol pump is fine if it cannot be shifted, because the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in the diesel tank at home in Hawley
The warning light had been on for days. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the driveway, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look once more at the cap. Driveways close to Shirehall Road see it as much as any other street.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. AdBlue doesn't mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of the tank and waits there. Overnight does not change that.
Put your keys indoors overnight — otherwise someone may drive it off at breakfast — and phone us. In Sutton at Hone or right here around Hawley, the draining happens at your driveway. Late-night clears outside a house are fine: the pumps are low-noise.
Drove off with AdBlue in a diesel in Hawley?
Rough running, smoke, falling power or a glowing dashboard started a short way after the top-up. Maybe driving for London, under 25 miles away, or simply down Alfred Road.
Put simply: the AdBlue has been pulled through the fuel system. It's been through the fuel filter and the fuel lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and the injectors. Each restart, like every mile, carries it deeper.
Your move: pull up somewhere safe, then turn your engine off. On the M25, under a mile from Hawley, that means the next junction, not the services further on. Do not restart the vehicle to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Let us know the mileage driven when you call.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You have only driven this car a week. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is absent or elsewhere. On this one, its inlet is right by the diesel cap — news to you. Across Kent, nobody is immune.
The point: just as above, divided by whether it ran, only with an added step. Any work on the car frequently requires the owner's approval under rental or fleet terms.
Sorting it before we turn up is faster, and so phone the rental company or your fleet manager, and then us. Waiting for a reply at the car park outside Farningham Road, or near Brethren's Meeting Room? Keep the car off throughout.
AdBlue in your diesel tank? Not sure, around Hawley
Truthfully, the best answer might be that you think so. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there is a faint smell of ammonia around the filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. It might have been at a friend's drive in Wilmington, or in a rush by Sutton-At-Hone Church of England Primary School on the school run.
The upshot: the engine isn't harmed by a little AdBlue spilled around the filler. A diesel tank with AdBlue in it is a different story. Any AdBlue in your tank will be pulled in by firing up the vehicle, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
What to do: treat it as if it got in. Don't fire it up. Checking a tank that proves clean beats draining one after it's been run — so ring then tell us what you noticed.
Hawley: what every AdBlue drain has in common
The work opens the same way, whatever your situation. Three questions are asked when we arrive — at a filling station, a drive, a road by Faithful Christian Assembly or the car park outside The Chequers: the liquid, the amount, and if the motor has been started. Those answers decide this work, and you get the quote on the phone, before anyone heads out.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to certain metals in fuel systems, so it won't rinse out on its own; that is why the flush, after this drain, matters far more here than with petrol. Fresh diesel goes in after the fuel filter is flushed or replaced, and the car is then tested. If the engine hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Our engineers start the engine last. With fresh diesel in, it runs while we confirm it is running smoothly, and then we go. Long-term damage is very unusual when it's caught early, and the whole job is done where the car is. Payment comes on the day, never upfront. For your insurer, there is a VAT invoice plus a written report from the engineer. It is worth knowing: lots of insurers include misfuelling cover, so a check of your policy as you wait pays.
About Hawley, for a moment
Hawley is a village situated on the riverside in Kent, with an elevation of 33 metres above sea level. Hawley lies approximately 16.3 miles from London and is near several other settlements, including Sutton at Hone, Darenth, and Brooklands. Hawley has a population of around 1059 people and is characterised by semi-detached housing. Hawley is located in a commuter belt, with London being the nearest major city, about 15.1 miles away.
Hawley and Kent: AdBlue drains across the area
Throughout DA postcodes, the teams serving Hawley — a village — reach surrounding towns too, Darenth and Brooklands included. Your location is quickest from a postcode that starts DA2 7.
Whether the vehicle is on a lay-by on the way to Hawley Clay Shooting Ground or in a car park in the middle of Hawley, it doesn't need to shift. Our engineers drain the vehicle where it stands. Awkward to pin down? Close to St John the Baptist Church or a border? Asking is better than assuming, so ring.
Your scenario, summed up
Not run yet: keep the vehicle off then ring. Already run: stop, switch off and call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there around Hawley and anywhere across Kent on 0333 366 0103.