What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Highway
One fact matters above all once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is if your engine has been started since. Not started so far? Then leave the vehicle that way, whether the car is — Highway or Stubbings. Leave your engine and the ignition off and phone 0333 366 0103; it's generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Highway. Stop the moment you safely can then switch off, if it has already run. It's a bigger job, yet step one doesn't change.
Compare your case to a situation from the list below, anywhere in Berkshire you happen to be.
At the pump around Highway: AdBlue in a diesel
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you only spot it while you're stood at the petrol pump, bottle or nozzle in hand. It could be the Esso, or perhaps the BP, or a different forecourt around Highway.
Meaning? Finding out on the forecourt is the best it can be. Still inside that tank, with no fuel drawn through: that's where the AdBlue sits.
Clearing the petrol pump is no reason to run it — and so do not get back in. Three jobs: a push into a space with the attendants helping, the receipt kept, and a ring to us from the forecourt. Emptying it right at the pump is possible if it cannot be shifted, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
AdBlue in your diesel tank at home in Highway
For days the dash had been warning you. A bottle bought at the shop, tipped in on the drive — and it was only by the recycling that the cap got a second look. Right off Pinkneys Road is no different from any other place.
Put simply: if your vehicle has not been driven since, it's almost equal to spotting it at the pump. Diesel and AdBlue keep apart: the AdBlue drops to the floor of the tank and remains put, no matter how long the night.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so no one moves your car in the morning. Then ring. Your drive is where it is emptied, be it in Highway or Tittle Row. Even at night, the pumps are quiet enough for a driveway.
On the road in Highway with AdBlue in a diesel
Filled up, pulled away, and before long your engine was turning roughly, blowing smoke, losing power, or lighting up your dash. Anywhere on St Mark's Crescent or heading to St Albans — under 25 miles away.
In short: the AdBlue has been sucked through your fuel system. The high-pressure pump and every injector get it as well on a bigger run, once the fuel filter and pipework have it. Every restart, like every mile, pushes it deeper.
Next: pick a safe spot, stop, then turn the motor off. On the A404(M), under a mile from Highway, that means the next exit, not the services further on. No test restarts: clearing is not something AdBlue will do. Ring us and say how far you drove.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
It is a motor you have had for a week. On your own vehicle, AdBlue is missing or somewhere else. On this one, the inlet is just next to your diesel cap — a surprise to you. Anywhere you happen to be across Berkshire, any motorist could slip up.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it has run, with one more step. The owner often has to sign off any work, under plenty of hire and company contracts.
Settling it before the van turn up is faster, so ring the rental company or your fleet manager, and then us. If you're stuck in the car park at Furze Platt, or by Methodist Church, while you wait for an answer, leave the car off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Highway?
Honestly, the best answer might be that you think it did. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia around your filler, and you cannot remember which cap you took off. The gates of Courthouse Junior School in a rush, perhaps, or someone's driveway over in Cox Green.
What it means: a little spilled around the filler does no harm to the engine. Inside your diesel tank, however, AdBlue damages it. Firing up the car will not tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in the tank it will suck it in.
Your move: act as if it got in, and never start the engine. Describe what you saw on your phone. A clear tank looked at is a happier outcome than an already-run one drained.
Each AdBlue drain around Highway shares these stages
Each situation has the same start to the job. Filling station, drive, New Inn's car park or a road beside Saint Mark's Hospital Church — the van reaches the vehicle, and three questions follow: which liquid, which amount, and whether it has run. Replies shape the job; the quote follows by phone while no one has left yet.
Then your tank is emptied and the fuel system rinsed thoroughly, which matters more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not rinse out on its own. Finally come your filter, cleaned or replaced if necessary; clean diesel; and a test of your vehicle. If your motor hasn't run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Lastly, our technicians fire it up. With fresh diesel in, it runs while we make sure it's running smoothly, and then we head off. Our engineers do the whole job where the car is, and permanent damage is very rare when it has been noticed soon. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, nothing upfront. Dig out your insurance before we arrive: cover for misfuelling comes built into many policies.
About Highway
Highway is a suburban area in Berkshire, situated inland at an elevation of around 55 metres. Highway lies within the commuter belt, approximately 26.9 miles from London and 23.7 miles from St Albans, with nearby places including Tittle Row, Boyn Hill, and Pinkneys Green. Highway has a population of around 7355 people, predominantly living in semi-detached housing.
AdBlue drains across Berkshire, Highway included
Highway is a residential suburb, and the same vans that cover it work the towns near it too, Boyn Hill and Pinkneys Green among them, across the SL postcode area. A postcode starting SL6 5 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Parked heading to Boyne Hill Cricket Club, or bang in the heart of Highway, the car remains where it is — there's no need to shift it anywhere. Draining happens right there. Assuming doesn't help beside Boyn Grove Library, close to a county line or anywhere hard to pin down; phone and ask.
In one line: your scenario
Unstarted? Keep the vehicle off then phone. Started already? Pull over, switch off, phone. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder whatever case, across Highway and Berkshire, on 0333 366 0103.