AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Hollingbury: What Now?
Has your motor run since the AdBlue went in? This one point decides almost everything else from here. Over in North Moulsecoomb or here around Hollingbury, an unrun motor must remain that way. Keep nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, and count on a thorough flush plus a drain, done right where the car stands in Hollingbury. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe then switch off. The job is bigger, yet the first stage is the same.
Wherever across East Sussex it took place, one of the cases below matches yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Hollingbury forecourt
Just now, nozzle yet in your hand, you realise that the cap you opened was the wrong one, there at the petrol pump. Somewhere around Hollingbury, then — Asda, Esso, or somewhere else close by.
The upshot: of every spot to find out, this is the best. Only your tank holds AdBlue; no part beyond it has taken it in.
Next: avoid the urge to fire it up just to free up the pump. A few jobs: a shove into a space with the attendants assisting, the receipt saved, and a ring to us from the forecourt. The equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a live forecourt, and so a car that cannot be pushed clear gets emptied right at the pump.
Hollingbury, at home: AdBlue in your diesel tank
Days had passed with the warning light on. You bought a bottle, poured it in on the drive, and only when you put the empty bottle in the recycling did you look again at the cap. Drives close to Fernhurst Crescent get it as much as any other street.
Meaning? Provided the car has not been driven since, it's close to the forecourt case. Being unable to blend, AdBlue settles to the base in your tank and waits. A night parked changes nothing.
Next: the keys in the house, and so nobody drives your vehicle anywhere first thing. After that, phone. Your driveway is where it is drained, whether in Hollingbury or Patcham. Even at night, the pumps stay quiet enough for a driveway.
Hollingbury: set off with AdBlue in a diesel?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later the engine began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Perhaps it was on Hartfield Avenue, perhaps on the way out towards Brighton and Hove, under 3 miles away.
Meaning? The pump has taken the AdBlue up. It has been through the fuel filter and the fuel lines and, the further you went, into your high-pressure pump and the fuel injectors. Each restart, like each mile, pushes it on.
What to do: pull over where it's safe to do so and switch off. Services further on can wait: on the M23, under 25 miles out of Hollingbury, use the first junction. No trial restarts: clearing isn't something AdBlue will do. Tell us know the mileage covered when you call.
A hire or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank?
You've only driven the car a week. The AdBlue filler sits right next to the diesel filler, which you didn't know, since your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Any driver, anywhere across East Sussex, could make the same.
Meaning? Whatever case above applies here — run or unrun — and one further step. Many rental and fleet contracts need the owner's sign-off before work.
Next: phone the hire company or the fleet manager first, and then us — settling it before our arrival is quicker. Hanging on for a reply at the car park at Moulsecoomb, or near Carden Library? Leave your car off throughout.
Not sure it was AdBlue in the diesel tank, Hollingbury?
Now and then, "I think so" is all you can honestly say. Too light, the bottle; a trace of ammonia near the filler; no clear memory of which cap. Look familiar? It might have been on a friend's drive in Moulsecoomb, or in a rush by Carden Nursery and Primary School at the school run.
In short: spillage round the filler does the motor unharmed. Inside the diesel tank, however, AdBlue damages it. Starting the car cannot tell you which, and if there is AdBlue in that tank it will suck it in.
Do this: behave as though it did, and never start the motor. Describe what you noticed on your phone. A clean tank looked at is a happier outcome than a run one drained.
What every AdBlue drain around Hollingbury has in common
Whichever situation you are in, the job starts the same way. We come to your car, whether it is at a forecourt, a drive, the car park at The County Oak or a side street close to T. S. Zealous, and ask three things: what was put in, about how much, and if your engine has been run. Those replies decide the work, and you hear the price on the phone, before anybody heads out.
AdBlue forms crystals and eats at some metals used in fuel systems, and so it won't wash out on its own; that is why a full flush, after the drain, matters much more with AdBlue than with petrol. Fresh diesel is put in once your filter is flushed or replaced, and the car is then checked. If the engine has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Our engineers start the engine last. Our check that it runs correctly on fresh diesel comes before we head off. The entire job is done where your car is, and when it is spotted early, long-term damage is very rare. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment that day, no money upfront. Check your insurance while we're en route: misfuelling cover comes included in plenty of policies.
About Hollingbury, for a moment
Hollingbury is a suburban area situated on the outskirts of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, with Hollingbury itself lying approximately 2.5 miles north of the city centre. Hollingbury occupies a position on the South Downs, with its elevation of around 123 metres providing views of the surrounding area. Hollingbury is characterised by its semi-detached housing stock and is close to nearby places such as Patcham and Coldean.
AdBlue drains across East Sussex, Hollingbury included
Hollingbury is a residential suburb, and the same vans that cover it work the towns around it too, Coldean and Hollingdean among them, across the BN postcode area. Quickest of all: a BN1 8 postcode for where you stand.
Stopped heading to Hollingbury Park Golf Course, or bang in the centre of Hollingbury, your car remains put — there is no need to shift it anywhere. The van empties it where it stands. Assuming doesn't help near Hollingbury Hill Fort, on a county line or somewhere hard to pin down; ring and check.
Your situation, summed up
Not run yet: keep the car off and ring. Already run: stop, switch off then ring. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there around Hollingbury and anywhere in East Sussex on 0333 366 0103.