AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Heathfield: What Now?
Has your engine turned over since the AdBlue got in? This one question settles nearly everything about what comes next. Wherever the vehicle stands — Broad Oak, Heathfield — don't start an engine that has not run yet. Usually that is emptying and thoroughly rinsing it on the spot around Heathfield — and so leave your key and engine off then call 0333 366 0103. Already run? Stop when you safely can, then turn everything off. Stage one remains unchanged, even though the work grows.
Compare what happened to a situation from the ones below, anywhere in East Sussex you are.
Heathfield forecourt: AdBlue in a diesel at the pump
You're 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. Whether Shell, Local Fuels or anywhere else in Heathfield, the situation is the same.
What it means: this is the best spot to find out. The AdBlue is inside the tank and nowhere else. Nothing has sucked it in.
Your move: keep out of the driver's seat, even if the pump wants freeing. Ask the staff to help you push the vehicle into a parking spot, keep the receipt or the bottle, then call us from the forecourt. Draining it there at the petrol pump is possible when it cannot be moved, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
Heathfield, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
Several days had gone by with the dash light on. Only by the recycling, the empty container in your hand, did you look back at the cap you had opened on the drive. Driveways close to Station Road get it as much as anywhere.
Meaning? As long as your vehicle hasn't been driven since, it is second to the pump case. As it is unable to mix, AdBlue settles to the base in the tank and waits. A night parked changes none of that.
Next: stop any early-morning move by keeping the keys indoors, then phone us. Our technicians drain it on your drive, whether that's in Heathfield or out in Mutton Hall. Late-night clears beside a house are fine: the pumps are low-noise.
AdBlue in a diesel and already driving around Heathfield?
Filled up, drove away, and before long the motor was turning roughly, blowing smoke, down on power, or lighting up the dash. It might have been driving for Brighton and Hove, under 25 miles away, or just down Cherwell Road.
The upshot: the system has pulled AdBlue through by now. It has been through your filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and the fuel injectors. It goes further with each mile covered and every restart.
What to do: pull over where it's safe then switch off. Leave by the first junction — not the services further along — if you are on the M23, under 25 miles from Heathfield. It won't have cleared, so there's no point restarting to check. Let us know the distance driven when you call.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
Seven days back, the car was unknown to you. The AdBlue filler is right beside the diesel filler, which you didn't know, because your own car either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Across East Sussex, nobody is safe from it.
Meaning? Whatever case above counts too — run or not — plus one further stage. The owner frequently has to sign off the work, under plenty of hire and fleet agreements.
Settling it before the van turn up is quicker, and so ring the rental company or your fleet manager, and then us. If you're stuck in the car park at Buxted, or by Union Church, whilst you wait for an answer, leave the car off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Heathfield?
"I think so" is often as honest as it gets. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia round the filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. A rushed top-up by the gates of Cross-in-Hand Church of England Primary School, or a call to a friend in Cade Street: both fit.
The upshot: the engine isn't harmed by some AdBlue spilled around the filler. A diesel tank with AdBlue in it is a different story. You can't tell which by turning the key, and doing so will pull in any AdBlue that is in your tank.
Assume it went in, and don't start the engine. Phone and give the details: we would sooner find a tank free of AdBlue than empty one once your motor has been run.
Heathfield: what every AdBlue drain has in common
Each case gets the same opening to the job. Our engineers come to the car, whether it's at a forecourt, a drive, the car park at Heathfield Tavern or a side street close to Heathfield Library, and ask three things: what got in, about how much, and whether your engine has been run. Answers shape the work; the quote follows on the call whilst no one has set off yet.
AdBlue forms crystals and is corrosive to some metals used in fuel systems, so it does not wash out unaided; that is why the flush, after this drain, counts much more here than with petrol. Fresh diesel goes in after the fuel filter is cleaned or changed, and the car is then checked. Most unstarted cars are a half-hour visit from the moment our technicians arrive.
Starting it comes last. With clean diesel in, it runs while our engineers confirm it is running correctly, and then we leave. The whole job is done where the vehicle is, and when it's caught early, permanent damage is very unusual. Paying is on the day, never upfront. For your insurer, there is a VAT invoice plus a written report from the engineer. Many policies include misfuelling, so check yours while the van travels.
About Heathfield itself
Heathfield is a town situated in the Weald of East Sussex, near the River Cuckmere and close to the villages of Mutton Hall and Old Heathfield. Heathfield sits at an elevation of 154 metres, with detached housing being the predominant type of accommodation. Heathfield is located approximately 40 miles from London and 20 miles from the city of Brighton and Hove. Heathfield has a population of around 7663 residents.
AdBlue drains around Heathfield, and across East Sussex too
Being a riverside town, Heathfield has the same vans as the surrounding towns — Old Heathfield, Tilsmore — all the way across TN postcodes. Giving us your TN21 8 postcode pins you fastest of all.
Centre of Heathfield or a layby near Heathfield & Waldron (Millennium Green): wherever it is, the car doesn't need to move at all for the drain. Our van drains it where it stands. Guessing doesn't help near Trading 4U, on a county line or anywhere hard to describe; ring and ask.
The one-line version
Motor not started: ring, and leave it switched off. Whichever line applies, Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest on 0333 366 0103, throughout East Sussex and in Heathfield — after you pull over, switch off and ring, if it has run.