AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Hellesdon? Don't Start It
Engine off, ignition off: that's where you begin if AdBlue has got into the diesel tank. AdBlue is urea mixed in water. Unlike fuel, it neither burns nor blends, and no harm happens till your motor pulls it through. If your motor has not run yet, AdBlue in a diesel tank is normally drained and thoroughly purged where the vehicle sits in Hellesdon. Ring 0333 366 0103 before you do anything else.
AdBlue in your diesel tank around Hellesdon: the first few minutes
Things to do:
- Keys out — then no one can power anything on.
- If you are at all near moving traffic, put your hazards on.
- Which fluid, and about how much amount? Hang on to the bottle or your receipt, and our technicians will know.
- Tell us a postcode starting NR6 5, or whichever street lies nearest, and the van finds you directly — so ring wherever you are.
Never do these:
- Moving your vehicle just a short way is no reason to start your motor.
- Your ignition remains off: on lots of diesels, turning it on is enough to run your pump.
- Adding extra diesel does not work: AdBlue settles out instead of thinning.
- Even a short stretch along Middletons Lane is too far to drive it.
- No draining it yourself, either, at the verge.
On a forecourt around Hellesdon, whether it is the JET or another one, ask the staff to help you roll the vehicle away from the pump. Stopped on your own driveway? Then it remains exactly where it is.
What does AdBlue do in a diesel tank?
Meant for the exhaust, AdBlue has no place in the engine. Stored in a separate tank, it is injected into the exhaust stream to clean the gases. Nothing in it is supposed to pass through a fuel pump, and nothing in a fuel pump is built to handle it.
Fuel mixes; AdBlue, once poured in, won't. Its behaviour is nothing like diesel's. Heavier than diesel, it sinks and collects below it — the very place the pickup sucks from. Once your system runs, the AdBlue is first to go through. Before then it sits beneath your diesel, which is why a vehicle filled in New Costessey yesterday and never started remains the straightforward one, provided nobody turns your key.
It does two kinds of damage from there. It eats at some metals used in fuel systems, working on any part it reaches until it's cleared completely. And once the water goes, the urea forms crystals that clog filters and lodge in tiny channels. Lines holding AdBlue spell harm overnight for a car sitting in Hellesdon. Only inside that tank, it stays stable. Diesel lubricates the injection pump and each injector as it passes; water gives none of that, and that is a separate form of damage.
Why AdBlue in a diesel is commonly more major than petrol
A fault of thin fuel is what you end up with from fuelling a diesel with petrol from the Asda. No damage is done as long as it sits unused, blended into the diesel — only when the engine works on it.
With AdBlue in a diesel, the liquid itself is simply the wrong one. Since it does not burn, running it through isn't an option. It does not stay mixed, so it can't be thinned. And crystals and corrosion do not wash out with the next tank of fuel. That's why the flush counts more with AdBlue than with petrol, and why starting the motor "to see" costs more here than almost anywhere else, whether your car is in Old Catton or the middle of Hellesdon.
With AdBlue, the good news is no distinct from petrol. Wherever in Norfolk your vehicle has come to rest, an unstarted engine means the AdBlue yet in the reservoir: the simplest part of a fuel system to clear.
How AdBlue ends up in a diesel tank around Hellesdon
In dim light, two caps side by side — the AdBlue one and the diesel cap, occasionally under one flap — may look the same. No one intends it; plenty of layouts invite it. Mostly it occurs with a bottle bought on the way home and poured in on the drive, not at the forecourt.
The ways it occurs are few and familiar. Hurrying, outside Kinsale Infant School, after a warning lamp came on during the school run, a parent tops up your car. Near Kinsale Avenue, someone pours a bottle in at home after work. Else, after dark by The Bull, the car is refilled by a driver using that flap for the first time.
It takes place most in the vehicles drivers know least: a hire car, a new car, a company car, or the second vehicle of a household with one diesel and one petrol. An identical mistake, an identical first step — leave it off — wherever you happen to be in Hellesdon or the rest of Norfolk.
Already started the motor with AdBlue in your diesel tank around Hellesdon?
The AdBlue has left your tank, then. The fuel filter and lines have had it pulled through, and some running takes it on to the injection pump and every injector.
Rough running, smoke from the exhaust, lost power, dashboard lights or cutting out: each may appear, maybe midway across Hellesdon or coming back from Hellesdon Recreation Ground. No restarting to test: pull over once safe, then switch everything off. More of it is pulled through with each start.
Leave the M11, over 50 miles from Hellesdon, at the next junction and park somewhere safe, not carrying on.
How far it went counts. A couple of hundred yards across Hellesdon to the car park by Hellesdon High Library is a very different job from a run towards Norwich, under 3 miles away, with the AdBlue reaching further into the system with every mile. Approximately how far had it come? Tell us.
Once the engine has run, the flush takes in more, and all of it is done where the vehicle has ended up. Very seldom does it leave lasting damage when it is noticed early.
Clearing AdBlue in a diesel around Hellesdon: what it takes
A road beside Hellesdon Community Centre, a drive, a lay-by or a filling station: wherever the car has come to rest around Hellesdon, our technicians travel to it. The work rests on three replies, and our technicians ask for first — which fluid got in, the amount, and if the motor has turned over.
Right there, that tank is then drained, and both the contaminated diesel and the urea come out at once. What remains from AdBlue won't wash away unaided, so the fuel system gets a full flush, which matters much more with urea than for petrol. A test of the vehicle comes at the end, once clean diesel goes in and the fuel filter gets cleaned or, where necessary, swapped. The majority of these jobs are a half-hour visit once we turn up, if the engine has not run. Low-noise enough for use outside a house at night, and fine on a busy forecourt, our pumps are explosion-proof.
The last step is to bleed your system on clean diesel. Firing it up comes next, and then you head off from where your car is parked, by Norwich or on a drive in Hellesdon. Before we leave, we make sure it's running properly with new diesel in. No workshop is required at any point, with the whole job done then and there. You receive a VAT invoice and an engineer report later on, which is what insurers want.
About Hellesdon, for a moment
Hellesdon is a suburban area located on the north-western outskirts of Norwich, situated in a relatively flat and low-lying part of Norfolk. Hellesdon sits at an elevation of around 26 metres, with its semi-detached housing stock reflecting the typical residential character of the area. Hellesdon is close to nearby places such as Catton Grove and Mile Cross, and is within easy reach of the city of Norwich. Hellesdon has a population of approximately 4632 people, according to recent estimates.
Hellesdon and Norfolk: AdBlue drains across the area
Over the NR postcode area, the teams answering AdBlue call-outs around Hellesdon serve most of Norfolk too, Catton Grove, Mile Cross and Upper Hellesdon among them. Ring and ask instead of guessing if you're by a border, or anywhere tricky to explain.
A van that comes to you suits Hellesdon, a residential suburb: there's no need to bring your car to us, because we drain it on the spot, on a drive, a side street, a car park or a forecourt.
AdBlue in a diesel tank in Hellesdon: the cost of fixing it
Not one flat price could be fair, since each job differs. The cost moves first with how long, if at all, the engine has been running, and next with the amount of AdBlue that got in. After that it rests on where the car is and whether a van can reach it safely, which is simpler on an open drive than in a tight gap behind Hellesdon Library.
That's why each call from Hellesdon starts with the same three queries, asked before giving a figure, not after: what was put in, how much, and if it has run. Given those replies, a range narrows to a single fixed number.
Quoted on the call before the engineer heads out, the job is paid for on the day — card or phone, no deposit. Misfuelling cover is part of many insurance policies, so it is worth looking at yours before the van gets there.
Beside your car in Hellesdon, right now?
Not touching the car is, then, the most useful move you can do. Engine off, keys out, ignition off. Tell us it was AdBlue, roughly what quantity, and if the engine ran, on 0333 366 0103. From there Petrol in Diesel takes over, in Hellesdon or wherever in Norfolk.