AdBlue in a Diesel Tank in Laleham? Don't Start It
Motor off, ignition off: that's where you begin if AdBlue has got into the diesel tank. Water with urea dissolved in it: that's AdBlue. Being water-based, it will not burn and won't blend with diesel; damage only starts when your pump begins pulling it. Caught before your motor has run, AdBlue in a diesel tank is generally a drain and a thorough flush, done where the car is in Laleham. Call 0333 366 0103 before you do anything else.
AdBlue in the diesel tank in Laleham: the first few minutes
To do:
- So no one can switch the ignition on, pull the keys away.
- Put your hazards on if you're at all near moving traffic.
- Keep the till receipt or the empty bottle, so you can tell us what was put in and about how much.
- Call just where you are. Quote a TW18 1 postcode or the nearest street sign, and no one has to search for you.
Do not:
- Shifting your vehicle just a short way is no reason to fire up your motor.
- Do not switch the ignition on. On plenty of diesels that alone runs the fuel pump.
- No extra fuel added. The AdBlue won't mix, so it's wasted.
- Even a short distance along The Broadway is too far to drive the vehicle.
- Do not try to drain the car yourself by the roadside.
Moving the car away from the pumps is a job for staff to help with, whichever Laleham forecourt you're on, the Asda included. If you are on your own drive, leave it just where it sits.
AdBlue in a diesel tank: what it does
Not the engine but your exhaust is where AdBlue is meant to go. Kept in a separate tank, it is squirted into the exhaust stream to treat the fumes. Nothing in it is supposed to pass through a fuel pump, and nothing in a fuel pump is designed to handle it.
Inside a diesel tank it acts really differently from fuel. It doesn't mix in. Denser than diesel, it sinks and pools below it — the same place the intake sucks from. Simplest of all: a vehicle that got AdBlue in Chertsey last night and hasn't turned since. The AdBlue sits at the base of your tank, undrawn — though it will be the first thing through if your engine runs, ahead of any diesel at all.
It does two kinds of harm from there. What is left when the water evaporates is urea, which turns into crystals: they lodge in tiny channels and block filters. On top of that, it attacks some metals in the fuel system, and keeps going till it's flushed out. Overnight, a car sitting around Laleham with AdBlue through its pipework grows worse; where it's only inside that tank, nothing changes. Water protects nothing. The injection pump and each injector depend on diesel running past them, so the water content damages them in its own right.
Petrol or AdBlue in a diesel: why AdBlue is often worse
Petrol pumped into a diesel on BP's forecourt makes your fuel thin — that's the whole fault. It mixes with the diesel, and whilst it is in the tank it does no harm; the harm comes from running the motor on it.
AdBlue in a diesel is a different matter: not thin fuel, but no fuel at all. It cannot just be run through, since it doesn't burn. Whether the car sits in Shepperton Green or the heart of Laleham, firing it up "to see" does more harm with AdBlue than nearly any other mistake, and the flush counts more. Why: it will not remain mixed, so watering it down is impossible; and deposits and corrosion outlast the next tankful.
With AdBlue, the good news is no separate from petrol. Not run? Then the AdBlue sits just in the tank, the easiest bit of the entire system to clear, wherever the car has stopped across Surrey.
How does AdBlue end up in a diesel tank around Laleham?
Many cars put the AdBlue filler alongside the diesel one, occasionally under one flap, and after dark the two can look identical. Nobody means it. A bottle bought when heading home and poured in at home, rather than at the filling station, is the typical story.
It tends to happen in a few familiar ways. Hurrying, outside Laleham CofE VA Primary School, after a warning light came on during the school run, someone tops up the car. Someone tips the container in outside their house, just off Church Close, as the day ends. Otherwise, in dim light outside The Turks Head, your vehicle is topped up by someone opening that flap the first time.
It comes up most in a rental, a brand-new car, a fleet vehicle, or the spare motor of a home with both fuels — the vehicles people use least. Same mistake, same first response — leave it off — anywhere you happen to be around Laleham or the remainder of Surrey.
Already started the motor with AdBlue in the diesel tank around Laleham?
Then that tank is no longer where the AdBlue is. With any running, it goes on to the high-pressure pump and each injector, having passed through your filter and lines.
You may notice your motor running roughly, smoking, losing power, showing warning lights or cutting out, possibly on the way back from Laleham Park or halfway across Laleham. Stop as soon as it is safe, switch off, and do not restart the car to check. With each start, more of that is pulled through.
On the M3, under 3 miles from Laleham, the next junction is where to exit, and anywhere safe is where to stop — not carrying on.
A quick hop across Laleham to the car park by All Saints Church is one matter; heading for Westminster, under 25 miles away, is another, since every mile pushes the AdBlue deeper in. So distance counts. About how far it had come is worth telling us.
Once your engine has been run, the flush takes in more, and all of it is done where your car has stopped. Permanent damage is very unusual when it's caught soon.
Laleham: how AdBlue is drained from a diesel
The car stays put, whether that's a road beside Youth Club, a driveway, a layby or a filling station around Laleham, and the van travels to it. Before anything else our engineers ask what was put in, roughly how much, and if your engine has run, since those answers settle this work.
Then your tank is emptied where the car stands, so the polluted fuel and the AdBlue come out together. Your system is rinsed thoroughly, which counts more with AdBlue than with petrol, since what it leaves behind does not rinse out on its own. After that, the fuel filter: cleaned, or changed if it must be. After that fresh diesel, then a check of your car. If your engine has not run, most jobs take about half an hour once our engineers are there. Explosion-proof pumps mean a live forecourt safe to work on, and they're quiet enough not to disturb the neighbours at night.
Lastly, the system is bled with fresh diesel. Whether it is a parking space at Staines or a drive around Laleham, that is where we fire it up and you drive off. The test before our engineers go is that it runs correctly on clean diesel. The entire job is done where the car is, so it never has to go to a garage. Afterwards, you are given the paperwork for your insurer: a VAT invoice plus a written report from the engineer.
About Laleham
Laleham is a small village in Surrey, situated on the River Thames at an elevation of around 15 metres. Laleham lies on the southwestern outskirts of Greater London, approximately 17 miles from the city centre. Laleham has a mix of old and new housing, with detached homes being the predominant type, and is close to nearby places such as Penton Hook and Abbey Mead. Laleham is a relatively small community with a population of around 541 people.
AdBlue drains across Laleham and Surrey
Over the TW postcode area, the vans taking AdBlue call-outs in Laleham reach most of Surrey as well, Penton Hook, Abbey Mead and Littleton included. Phone and check instead of guessing when you are close to a county line, or anywhere tricky to explain.
No towing is needed. In Laleham, a village, a van that comes to you works: your vehicle is emptied on the spot, whether on a drive, a residential street, a car park or a filling station.
Laleham: what AdBlue in a diesel tank costs to fix
Because each callouts vary, a flat price would not be honest. The price changes first with how long, if at all, the motor has been running, and next with the amount of AdBlue that was put in. After that it turns on where the vehicle is and whether our van can reach it safely, which is simpler on an open driveway than in a tight space behind 1st Laleham Scout Group.
With that in mind, each call from Laleham begins by asking the same trio — what was put in, how much, whether it ran — ahead of any figure. The replies turn a range into a straight price.
Quoted on the call before the engineer heads out, it is settled on the day — card or phone, no deposit. Check your insurance while we are on the way: many carry misfuelling cover.
In Laleham and still alongside the vehicle?
Then, the most helpful thing to do with your car is to leave it. Ignition off, motor off, keys out. Call 0333 366 0103 and tell us it is AdBlue, roughly how much, and whether it's run. Petrol in Diesel takes it from there, in Laleham or anywhere around Surrey.