AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Knebworth: What Now?
Everything turns on a single detail: whether your motor has been run since the AdBlue went in — far more than anything else. Not run so far? Then keep the vehicle like that, wherever your vehicle sits — Knebworth or Bragbury End. Leave the motor and the ignition off and call 0333 366 0103; it is usually a drain and a thorough flush, done where your car is around Knebworth. Already started? Stop when safe, then turn everything off. Step one remains unchanged, even though the job is bigger.
Compare your case to a situation from the ones below, wherever across Hertfordshire you happen to be.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Knebworth forecourt
The cap you unscrewed was the wrong one — and you just notice it as you are standing at the pump, bottle or the nozzle in your hand. Whether Tesco, Esso or anywhere else in Knebworth, the situation is the same.
Meaning? Finding out here is as good as it gets. Nothing has drawn it in, so the AdBlue sits only inside that tank.
Freeing the petrol pump is no reason to run it — so do not get back in. Ring us from the forecourt after the vehicle sits in a bay — the staff will lend a hand to push it — then keep the bottle. Our equipment is explosion-proof and safe on a live forecourt, and so a vehicle that can't be pushed clear gets drained where it is at the pump.
At home around Knebworth with AdBlue in the diesel tank
For days the dashboard had been warning you. A bottle bought at the shop, tipped in at the driveway — and it's only at the recycling that the cap got a second look. It occurs on drives just off Milestone Road as often as anywhere.
Meaning? Provided your car has not been driven since, it's close to the forecourt case. AdBlue does not mix with diesel; it sinks to the bottom of the tank and waits there. Overnight doesn't change that.
Put the keys indoors overnight — otherwise someone may take it away first thing — and phone us. Our technicians drain the vehicle on your driveway, whether that is around Knebworth or out in Woolmer Green. Our equipment runs quietly enough not to disturb the street at night.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel around Knebworth?
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later the motor began to run roughly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. It might have been heading to St Albans, under 15 miles away, or simply along London Road.
The point: the system has pulled AdBlue through already. It's been through your filter and your lines and, the further you went, into the high-pressure fuel pump and your injectors. Each restart, like each mile, carries it deeper.
What to do: pull over where it is safe to do so then switch off. Knebworth sits under a mile from the A1(M); on it, come off at the first junction instead of pushing on for the services. No trial starts: clearing is not something AdBlue will do. Phone, and say how far your vehicle went.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
Seven days back, the car was unknown to you. The AdBlue filler sits right next to the diesel filler, which you didn't know, because your own vehicle either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Anywhere you are in Hertfordshire, every driver could be caught.
In short: an extra stage on top of the situations above, and those depend on if it's run. Plenty of rental and company contracts require the owner's approval before work.
Sorting it before the van arrives is quicker, so phone the hire company or your fleet manager, and then us. Waiting for an answer in the car park outside the nearest station, or near St. Martins Church? Leave your car off throughout.
Knebworth: unsure whether it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Truthfully, the best answer may be that you think so. 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. It might have been on a friend's driveway in Old Knebworth, or in a rush outside Knebworth Primary and Nursery School at the school run.
Meaning? Drips around the filler never touch your engine at all. AdBlue inside the diesel tank does. You can't tell which by turning the key, and doing so will draw in any AdBlue that is in your tank.
Assume it was put in, and don't turn the key. Ring us and describe what you saw; we'd rather check a tank that turns out free of AdBlue than drain one that has already been run.
Each AdBlue drain in Knebworth shares these stages
Whichever situation you are in, this job starts the same way. Filling station, drive, The Red Lion's car park or a road beside Knebworth Library — the van reaches the vehicle, and three answers follow: what liquid, what amount, and whether it has run. On the phone, ahead of anything else, you hear the quote, and those answers decide the work too.
Then the tank is cleared and the fuel system flushed thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, so it doesn't rinse out on its own. The fuel filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; clean diesel goes in; and the car is tested. Where the motor has not run, expect roughly half an hour on site, for most cases.
The final step is starting the engine. Before we head off, it's tested to be sure it runs smoothly on fresh diesel. When it's noticed soon, the vehicle very rarely has permanent damage, and the whole job happens where it is. Nothing is taken upfront, settlement is made on the day, and you receive what the insurer wants: an engineer report and a VAT invoice. Many policies cover misfuelling, so look at yours while the van travels.
About Knebworth, for a moment
Knebworth is a village in Hertfordshire, situated approximately 24.9 miles north of London and 10.3 miles southeast of St Albans. Knebworth sits in a rural area at an elevation of around 92 metres, surrounded by nearby places such as Woolmer Green, Broadwater, and Rableyheath. Knebworth has a population of around 2362 people and is characterised by predominantly detached housing.
AdBlue drains in Knebworth, and across Hertfordshire too
Broadwater and Rableyheath have the identical vans as Knebworth, a rural village, plus further places over SG postcodes. A postcode starting SG3 6 is the quickest way to tell us where you are.
Centre of Knebworth or a lay-by near Baine's Spring: either way it sits, the vehicle never needs to shift at all for us. The van drains it in place. Awkward to pin down? By St. Thomas More R C Church or a border? Checking is better than assuming, so phone.
In one line: your scenario
Engine not started: ring, and leave it switched off. Whichever line fits, Petrol in Diesel takes over from there on 0333 366 0103, throughout Hertfordshire and within Knebworth — after you pull over, turn off and ring, if it's run.