What Now? AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Knockhall
Has the engine turned over since the AdBlue was put in? That one question settles almost everything about what comes next. Out in Ebbsfleet Valley or here in Knockhall, an unstarted engine should stay unrun. Leave your engine and the ignition off and ring 0333 366 0103; it's generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the vehicle is around Knockhall. If it's run, stop as soon as it is safe and switch off. It is a larger job, though stage one doesn't change.
Further down: the cases we see, anywhere around Kent. Choose yours.
On a Knockhall forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
You are at the petrol pump, the nozzle or the bottle still in your hand, and you have just noticed the cap you opened was the wrong one. It might be the Esso, or the Asda, or a different station around Knockhall.
What it means: this is the best location to find out. Still inside your tank, with no fuel pulled onwards: that's where the AdBlue sits.
Clearing the pump is no excuse to start it — and so don't get back in. Ring us from the forecourt after your car sits in a space — the staff will help push it — then save the bottle. Our equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a live forecourt, so a vehicle that cannot be pushed away gets drained where it is at the pump.
AdBlue in your diesel tank on a Knockhall drive?
The warning light had been on for days. Only at the recycling bin, the empty bottle in your hand, did you glance back at the cap you had used at the driveway. Houses just off Eynsford Road are caught out as often as everywhere else.
What it means: if you haven't driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. At the bottom of your tank is where AdBlue stays, since it will not mix with diesel — and a night passing changes no difference.
Keep your keys indoors tonight — or a person might drive it away first thing — then call us. Our engineers drain the vehicle on your driveway, whether that's around Knockhall or out in Greenhithe. Even at night, the pumps stay quiet enough for a residential street.
Set off with AdBlue in a diesel in Knockhall?
A short way beyond topping up, the motor started playing up: roughness, smoke, lost power, warnings on the dash. Knockhall Road, say, or the way to London — a run of under 25 miles.
Meaning? The fuel pump has sucked the AdBlue in. The high-pressure pump and each injector see it too on a bigger trip, once the filter and lines have it. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
Next: find a sensible spot, stop, then turn the engine off. On the M25, under 3 miles from Knockhall, that means the next junction, not the services further on. Restarting it to test achieves nothing — AdBlue never clears itself. Call, saying what distance your car was driven.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
It's a vehicle you have had for a week. On your own car, AdBlue is missing or elsewhere. On this one, its cap is right by the diesel cap — a surprise to you. Anyone, anywhere in Kent, might make it.
The upshot: exactly as above, split by whether it ran, but with an added step. Many hire and company contracts want the owner to approve work on the vehicle.
Settling it before we arrives is quicker, and so phone the hire company or your fleet manager, and then us. If you're stuck in the car park at Greenhithe for Bluewater, or by Greenhithe Community Centre, whilst you wait for an answer, leave the car off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Knockhall?
Sometimes the fair answer is "I think so". Too light, the bottle; a trace of ammonia round the filler; a hazy recollection of which cap. Look familiar? Perhaps it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Knockhall Primary School, or on a friend's drive in Stone.
The point: your motor is not harmed by some AdBlue splashed on the outside. AdBlue inside your diesel tank does. Any AdBlue in your tank would be drawn in by turning on the vehicle, and the start would not settle which it is in any case.
Next: assume it got in, and keep your engine off. Checking a tank that turns out free of AdBlue is better than draining one once it has been run — so phone then tell us what you saw.
Each AdBlue drain in Knockhall shares these stages
Whatever the case, one opening is used. Anywhere your car is — Pier Hotel's car park, a road by Palaeolithic Remains, a drive, a filling station — our van gets there and we ask for the liquid, the quantity, and if the engine has been run. The price is given over the phone, ahead of anyone setting off, and those replies shape the job.
AdBlue forms crystals and eats at certain metals in fuel systems, so it won't wash out on its own; that's why a full flush, after this drain, matters far more here than with petrol. Your filter is cleaned, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and the vehicle is tested. If the engine has not run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Firing it up comes last. With new diesel in, it runs while our engineers make sure it is running properly, and then we head off. Our engineers do the entire job where the car is, and permanent damage is very uncommon if it has been noticed quickly. Payment comes on the day, never upfront. For the insurer, there is a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling cover, and so it is worth checking yours while we are on the way.
About Knockhall itself
Knockhall is a suburban area in Kent, situated inland at an elevation of 36 metres, approximately 17 miles from London. Knockhall is characterized by its predominantly terraced housing and is located near the towns of Greenhithe and Swanscombe. Knockhall is also close to the major shopping centre at Bluewater, which attracts visitors from the surrounding area. Knockhall has a population of around 4998 residents.
AdBlue drains in Knockhall, and across Kent too
Swanscombe and Bluewater get the identical vans as Knockhall, a residential suburb, plus other places over DA postcodes. Giving us a DA9 9 postcode finds you quickest of all.
Whether the car is on a lay-by on the way to Ingress Abbey Heritage Park or in a car park in the middle of Knockhall, it doesn't need to shift. Draining is done right there. Guessing won't help beside St Mary's Church, on a border or anywhere hard to pin down; phone and ask.
Your situation, in one line
Not run yet: keep the car off and ring. Already run: stop, switch off then call. Either way, Petrol in Diesel takes it from there around Knockhall and anywhere across Kent on 0333 366 0103.