AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Hillingdon? Don't Start It
If AdBlue has gone into the diesel tank, leave the motor off and leave the ignition off. Water with urea dissolved in it: that is AdBlue. It doesn't burn, it doesn't mix with diesel, and the harm it does starts when the fuel system draws it in. In Hillingdon, AdBlue in a diesel tank found before the engine runs normally comes down to a drain and a thorough flush, just where your car is. Call 0333 366 0103 before you do anything else.
Your next steps straight away, Hillingdon: AdBlue in your diesel tank
Do:
- Pull the keys out, so no one switches the ignition on.
- Put the hazard lights on if you're at all near moving traffic.
- Hold on to your receipt or the empty bottle, so you can tell us what went in and roughly how much.
- Ring us from where you are. A postcode starting UB10 9, or the name of the closest street, brings the van to you without a search.
Not to do:
- Shifting your car even a short way is no reason to fire up your engine.
- The ignition stays off: on lots of diesels, turning it on is enough to run your fuel pump.
- Adding extra diesel does not work: AdBlue separates out rather than thinning.
- Keep the car where it is instead of driving it anywhere, even a short way along Long Lane.
- Don't try to drain the vehicle yourself by the kerbside.
Moving your vehicle off the island is a job for attendants to help with, whichever Hillingdon forecourt you are on, the Esso included. If you are on your own drive, leave the vehicle exactly where it sits.
AdBlue in a diesel tank: what it does
AdBlue is made for your exhaust, not your motor. It goes into its own tank and is sprayed into the exhaust gas to clean it. A fuel pump isn't designed to cope with it, and AdBlue was never supposed to travel through one.
Inside a diesel tank it behaves very differently from fuel. It does not mix in. It is heavier than diesel, so it sinks and collects at the bottom of your tank, which is where the pickup pulls fuel from. The first thing the fuel system pulls through, once it runs, is the AdBlue. So a vehicle that had AdBlue poured in on a drive in West Ruislip last night, and has not been started since, is still the simple case: the AdBlue is lying at the bottom of your tank, and nothing has drawn it in.
Once it's drawn in, the harm takes two forms. What is left once the water goes is urea, which forms crystals: they lodge in tiny channels and block filters. Worse, it eats at some metals in the fuel system, and keeps going until it's flushed out. A car left standing in Hillingdon with AdBlue already in its lines is worse by the morning; one with AdBlue only in its tank is not. The water in it causes harm of its own: the high-pressure fuel pump and the fuel injectors depend on diesel to lubricate them, and water gives them nothing.
Why is AdBlue in a diesel often the bigger problem?
Petrol put into a diesel on Shell's forecourt makes your fuel thin — that is the whole issue. No damage comes as long as it stays put, blended into your diesel — only once your engine runs on it.
The issue with AdBlue in a diesel is a totally wrong substance. Not burning, it cannot just be run through. It doesn't stay mixed, and so it cannot be diluted. And crystals and corrosion don't wash out with the next tank of fuel. That's why the flush counts more with AdBlue than with petrol, and why starting your motor "to see" costs more here than almost anywhere else, whether your car is in Ruislip Gardens or the middle of Hillingdon.
As with petrol, there is good news. Wherever across Greater London your vehicle has stopped, an unstarted engine means the AdBlue still in the tank: the simplest part of any fuel system to clear.
How does AdBlue end up in a diesel tank around Hillingdon?
In dim light, two caps together — the AdBlue one and the diesel one, occasionally under a single flap — may look the same. Nobody means it; plenty of designs invite it. A bottle picked up while heading home and poured in at home, instead of at the filling station, is the usual story.
The ways it happens are few and familiar. A warning light comes on during the school run, and the top-up happens in a hurry outside Oak Farm Primary School. Close to Tudor Way, a driver pours a container in at home after work. Else, in dim light outside The Swallow, your vehicle is refilled by someone opening that flap the first time.
It crops up the most in a rental, a brand-new car, a company vehicle, or the other vehicle in a family with both fuels — the vehicles people know least. Wherever you're around Hillingdon or the remainder of Greater London, it is the same mistake and the same first answer: leave the car off.
Hillingdon: started the motor with AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Then that tank is no longer where the AdBlue is. With any running time, it travels to the injection pump and each injector, after passing via your filter and lines.
You may notice your motor running unevenly, smoking, losing power, showing warning lights or cutting out, perhaps on the way back from Hillingdon Court Park or halfway across Hillingdon. No restarting to check: stop when safe, then switch it off. Every start pulls more of that through.
Leave the M40, under 3 miles from Hillingdon, at the next junction and park somewhere safe, rather than carrying on.
A quick hop across Hillingdon to the car park by All Saints, Hillingdon is one thing; driving towards Westminster, under 15 miles away, is something else, because every mile carries the AdBlue further in. So mileage counts. Let us know about how far it had come.
There's more to clean out once the motor has been run, and our technicians do all of it where the car has stopped. Permanent damage is very unusual if it's spotted early.
What does an AdBlue drain on a diesel involve around Hillingdon?
Anywhere it has stopped in Hillingdon — a filling station, a lay-by, a drive, a street by Oak Farm Library — the van comes to your vehicle. The work rests on three answers, which our technicians ask for before all else — what was put in, the amount, and if your motor has turned over.
Next, draining your tank on the spot takes out the contaminated diesel and the AdBlue in one go. A full flush counts much more with AdBlue than with petrol, because residue will not wash away on its own. The filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and your car is tested. The majority of these jobs are a half-hour job once our technicians get there, if the engine hasn't run. Our equipment is explosion-proof, so a live filling station is no problem, and it is hushed enough for a residential street after dark.
Bleeding the system with fresh diesel comes at the end. Then we start the car and you set off, whether from a parking space by West Ruislip or a drive around Hillingdon. Our engineers check it runs properly on fresh diesel before leaving. Our engineers do it all wherever the vehicle has ended up, and it never has to be taken to a garage. Afterwards, there is paperwork for the insurer: a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer.
About Hillingdon
Hillingdon is a locality in northwest Greater London, situated on the banks of the River Colne at an elevation of around 39 metres. Hillingdon lies approximately 14 miles from central London and is close to nearby places such as North Hillingdon, Ickenham, and Uxbridge. Hillingdon has a population of around 3380 people and is characterised by predominantly terraced housing.
AdBlue drains across Hillingdon and Greater London
North Hillingdon, Ickenham and Uxbridge are among the towns near Hillingdon that the same teams serve, together with most of Greater London further out, over the UB postcode area. Close to a border, or anywhere awkward to explain? Checking beats assuming, so phone.
No moving is needed. In Hillingdon, a small village, a mobile service fits: your vehicle is emptied where it stands, be it in a driveway, a residential street, a car park or a filling station.
What does AdBlue in a diesel tank cost to sort out in Hillingdon?
No flat figure could be honest, since every job differs. The cost shifts first with how long, if at all, your engine has been running, and next with the quantity of AdBlue that got in. After that it rests on where the vehicle is and whether a van can reach it safely, which is easier on an open driveway than in a tight spot behind Uxbridge Lido.
With that in mind, each call from Hillingdon opens with the identical trio — what was put in, what quantity, whether it ran — before any quote. Those replies narrow a range down to a single figure.
The price is given during the call, before anyone leaves; settling up comes on the day, by card or by phone, with nothing upfront. Many insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it's worth checking yours whilst we are on the way.
Alongside the vehicle around Hillingdon, still?
Leaving your vehicle alone is, right now, the most useful thing open to you. Keys out, motor off, ignition off. Phone 0333 366 0103: AdBlue, the amount, and whether the engine ran are everything our technicians ask. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest throughout Greater London, Hillingdon included.