What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Homerton
Everything hinges on one fact: whether your motor has started since the AdBlue was added — far more than anything else. Over in Hackney or here in Homerton, an unstarted engine should remain that way. Normally that means draining and properly cleaning it on the spot around Homerton — so keep the key and motor off then call 0333 366 0103. Pull over the moment you safely can and switch off, if it has already run. A bigger job, yes, but the same opening move.
Wherever in Greater London it took place, one of the situations below matches yours.
On a Homerton forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Just at this point, nozzle still in hand, it dawns on you that the cap you opened was the wrong one, there at the pump. Whether Valero, Shell or anywhere else in Homerton, the situation is identical.
Meaning? Finding out here is the best it can be. Just the tank holds AdBlue; not one component past it has taken it in.
Next: resist the urge to start it just to free up the pump. Phone us from the forecourt after your car sits in a bay — the staff will help push it — and save the bottle. Emptying it right at the petrol pump is possible when it can't be moved, since the equipment is explosion-proof.
Homerton, at home: AdBlue in the diesel tank
The warning light had been on for days. Picked up a bottle, poured it in outside the house, recycled the empty — and at that point checked the cap a second time, too late. It occurs on driveways just off Hedgers Grove as regularly as anywhere.
Put simply: if the car hasn't moved since, it's nearly as good as spotting it at the pump. Diesel and AdBlue stay separate: the AdBlue drops to the base of your tank and remains there, however long the night.
Your move: keys indoors, and so no one drives the vehicle anywhere first thing. After that, ring. Your drive is where it is drained, whether in Homerton or South Hackney. Even at night, our pumps are quiet enough for a residential street.
On the road in Homerton with AdBlue in a diesel
Lumpy running, smoke, lost power or a glowing dashboard arrived a mile or two after the top-up. Maybe it was on Hartlake Road, maybe on the way out towards London, under 5 miles away.
Meaning? Your fuel pump has sucked the AdBlue up. Past the fuel filter, along the lines, and — the more the distance — on into the injection pump and each injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Stop somewhere safe — that's the first step — then switch everything off. On the M11, under 5 miles from Homerton, that means the next exit, not the services further on. Do not restart the vehicle to see if it has cleared; it will not have. Call, and say what distance the car went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You've only driven the car for days. Your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere different, and so nothing told you the AdBlue cap was just next to your diesel. Anywhere you happen to be across Greater London, every motorist could be caught.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it's run, with one more step. The owner frequently needs to sign off any work, under many hire and fleet contracts.
Next: ring the rental company or your fleet manager first, then us — sorting it before our arrival is quicker. If you're stuck in the car park outside the nearest station, or by Immaculate Heart of Mary and St Dominic, whilst you wait for an answer, leave the vehicle off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Homerton?
At times the fair answer is "I think so". A faint ammonia-like smell lingers near the filler, the bottle feels too light, and the cap you took off is hard to recall. Perhaps it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Berger Primary School, or on a friend's drive in Lower Clapton.
What it means: a little spilled round the filler does no damage to the motor. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. Any AdBlue in your tank would be pulled in by turning on your car, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
Take it that it was put in, and don't start the engine. Checking a tank that turns out clean beats emptying one once it's been run — so ring and tell us what you saw.
Homerton: what each AdBlue drain has in common
Whatever the situation, one opening is used. Anywhere the vehicle is — The Eagle's car park, a road beside Nisbet House Community Hall, a drive, a filling station — our van arrives and asks for the liquid, the amount, plus whether your motor has been run. Those answers decide the work, and you get the quote by phone, before anybody heads out.
Emptying the tank comes first, then a careful flush — more vital after urea than with petrol, since crystals and corrosion won't go by themselves, no matter how long it sits. Clean diesel is put in after the fuel filter has been cleaned or changed, and the car is finally tested. Where the motor has not run, expect roughly half an hour on site, for most cases.
Firing it up comes at the end. With clean diesel in, it runs while our technicians make sure it's running smoothly, and then we head off. Long-term damage is very rare when it's spotted soon, and the entire job is done where the car is. For your insurer: an engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, nothing upfront. Dig out your insurance while we arrive: misfuelling cover comes included in many policies.
About Homerton, briefly
Homerton is a suburban area in East London, situated approximately 4.7 miles from central London and 3.2 miles from the city centre. Homerton is characterized by its predominantly flat-type housing and is located near other areas such as South Hackney, Hackney Wick, and Clapton Park. Homerton has a population of around 17044 people and sits at an elevation of 13 metres above sea level.
AdBlue drains across Greater London, Homerton included
Over E postcodes, the vans serving Homerton — a residential suburb — work nearby towns too, Hackney Wick and Clapton Park among them. Giving us your E9 5 postcode pins you quickest of all.
No towing is required, be it stopped centrally in Homerton or on a lay-by en route to Gascoyne Estate Play Space, so keep it where it is. Where it sits, that is where it gets cleared. Phone and ask instead of guessing if you are close to HBC Community Centre, near a boundary, or somewhere tricky to pin down.
Your situation, in one line
If it has not run, ring and keep it that way. Run already? Stop, turn off, phone. Petrol in Diesel takes over the remainder whatever case, in Homerton and Greater London, on 0333 366 0103.