AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Ladywell, and What to Do Next
What to do about AdBlue in a diesel tank depends on one thing more than any other: whether the engine has been run since it was put in. Over in Honor Oak Park or right in Ladywell, an unstarted motor must stay that way. Keep nothing on, ring 0333 366 0103, and expect a thorough flush after a drain, carried out right where your vehicle stands around Ladywell. Already run? Pull over once you safely can, then turn everything off. Stage one stays the same, even if the job is bigger.
Anywhere around Greater London it took place, one of the situations below matches yours.
AdBlue in a diesel on a Ladywell forecourt
The cap you opened was the wrong one — and you just spot it as you're standing at the petrol pump, bottle or nozzle in hand. Be it Esso, Tesco or somewhere else around Ladywell, the situation is identical.
Meaning? Spotting it on the forecourt is the best it gets. The AdBlue is in your tank and nowhere else. Nothing has pulled it in.
Do this: keep out of the car, even if the queue wants clearing. Have the attendants to lend a hand pushing it to a space, save the receipt, then ring us from there. If it can't be shifted, it can be emptied at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a working forecourt.
AdBlue in the diesel tank at home in Ladywell
For days the dashboard had been warning you. A bottle from the garage, tipped in at the drive — and it was only by the bin that the cap caught your eye. It happens on drives just off Phoebeth Road as often as anywhere.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is almost as good as the forecourt. At the floor of your tank sits where AdBlue waits, since it won't blend with diesel — and a night passing makes no difference.
What to do: leave your keys inside the house so nobody moves the vehicle in the morning. Then ring. Our technicians drain the vehicle on your driveway, whether that's around Ladywell or out in Lewisham. Even at night, the pumps stay quiet enough for a residential street.
On the road around Ladywell with AdBlue in a diesel
You filled up, set off, and a mile or two later your engine began to run unevenly, smoke, lose power or light up the dashboard. Anywhere along Ladywell Road or else heading towards London — under 5 miles away.
In short: the AdBlue has been sucked into your fuel system. Mileage sets how deep it gets: filter and lines first, then the injection pump and each injector. Each mile and each restart takes it further.
What to do: pull over where it is safe to do so and switch off. On the M11, under 10 miles from Ladywell, that means the next junction, not the services further on. It won't have cleared, so there is no point restarting to find out. Call us and say how far you went.
AdBlue in the wrong tank of a hire, lease or company car
You've had this car hardly a week. Your own motor either does without AdBlue or keeps it somewhere different, so nothing warned you the AdBlue cap was right next to the diesel. It can happen to anyone, anywhere across Greater London.
Meaning? Whichever applies above counts here — run or unrun — plus one extra stage. The owner often has to approve any work, under many rental and fleet agreements.
What to do: ring the hire firm or your fleet manager first, then us. That's quicker settled before our engineers turn up than after. If you're stranded in the car park at the nearest station, or by Millennium Stone Circle, while you wait for an answer, leave the vehicle off.
Not sure it was AdBlue in your diesel tank, Ladywell?
Honestly, the only answer might be that you think so. The bottle is lighter than it should be, there's a faint smell of ammonia about your filler, and you can't remember which cap you took off. Maybe it happened in a hurry at the school gates at Gordonbrock Primary School, or on a friend's drive in Catford.
Meaning? Spills outside the filler never reach the motor at all. The diesel tank with AdBlue inside is a different story. If there is AdBlue in the tank, starting the car would draw it in, and it would not tell you which either.
What to do: treat it as if it went in. Don't crank it. Ring us and describe what you saw; we'd rather check a tank that turns out clean than drain one that has already been run.
Each AdBlue drain around Ladywell shares these stages
Whichever situation you are in, the job starts the same way. Forecourt, drive, Ladywell Tavern's car park or a road by Parish Church of Saint Mary the Virgin — the van comes to your vehicle, and three questions follow: which liquid, which amount, and if it has run. On the phone, before dispatch, you hear our quote, and those replies shape the job too.
AdBlue forms crystals and eats at some metals used in fuel systems, and so it won't wash out unaided; that is why the flush, after this drain, counts far more with AdBlue than with petrol. The fuel filter is flushed, or replaced where it needs to be; fresh diesel goes in; and your car is tested. Most unrun vehicles are a half-hour visit from the moment our engineers get there.
Our technicians fire it up at the end. Our technicians make sure it runs smoothly on fresh diesel before we go. The entire job is done where the car is, and when it's caught early, lasting damage is very uncommon. For your insurer: the engineer's report and the VAT invoice. For you: payment on the day, no money in advance. Dig out your insurance while we're en route: cover for misfuelling comes included in plenty of policies.
About Ladywell itself
Ladywell is a suburban area in southeast London, situated on the banks of the River Ravensbourne at an elevation of around 26 metres. Ladywell lies approximately 5.7 miles from central London and is close to nearby places such as Lewisham, Crofton Park, and Brockley. Ladywell has a population of around 10,129 people and is characterised by predominantly terraced housing.
Ladywell and Greater London: AdBlue drains across the area
Over SE postcodes, the teams covering Ladywell — a residential suburb — work nearby towns too, Crofton Park and Brockley included. Your location is clearest from a postcode beginning SE13 7.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to Hilly Fields Woods or in a car park in the middle of Ladywell, it doesn't need to shift. Our van empties it where it stands. Guessing won't help beside Ransom Church of God Universal Fellowship, close to a county line or anywhere hard to describe; ring and check.
In one line: your scenario
If it hasn't started, ring and keep it off. Run already? Pull over, switch off, phone. Petrol in Diesel handles the rest whatever it is, in Ladywell and Greater London, on 0333 366 0103.