AdBlue in the Diesel Tank in Leamouth, and What to Do Next
One fact matters most once AdBlue is in a diesel tank, and that is if your motor has been started since. Wherever your car is — Blackwall, Leamouth — don't start an engine that hasn't been started yet. Switch nothing on, phone 0333 366 0103, then count on a proper flush after a drain, carried out just where your car stands around Leamouth. Stop the moment it is safe and turn off, if it has already run. It is a bigger job, yet step one does not change.
Anywhere around Greater London it happened, one of the situations below matches yours.
On a Leamouth forecourt with AdBlue in a diesel
Imagine it: stood by the pump, holding the nozzle, you spot the filler you opened wasn't the right one. It might be the Texaco, or perhaps the BP, or a different station around Leamouth.
What it means: this is the ideal spot to find out. Only the tank holds AdBlue; not one component beyond it has drawn any in.
Next: resist the urge to start it only to free up the petrol pump. Get the attendants to lend a hand rolling it to a space, save the bottle, then ring us right there. If it can't be shifted, it can be cleared at the petrol pump: the equipment is explosion-proof and fine on a working forecourt.
AdBlue in the diesel tank on a Leamouth drive?
On your dash, a reminder had shown all week. A bottle bought at the shop, tipped in at the driveway — and it was only by the recycling that the cap caught a second look. Drives near City Island Way get it as much as anywhere.
What it means: if you have not driven since, this is nearly as good as the forecourt. At the bottom of your tank sits exactly where AdBlue stays, because it will not mix with diesel — and a night passing changes nothing of the difference.
What to do: leave the keys inside the house so nobody moves your car in the morning. Then call. In Trinity Buoy Wharf or right here around Leamouth, the drain is done at your driveway. The pumps are quiet enough to use outside a house after dark.
Leamouth: drove off with AdBlue in a diesel?
Filled up, pulled away, and before long your engine was running unevenly, blowing smoke, down on power, or flashing up the dash. Orchard Place, say, or the route towards London — a run of under 5 miles.
Meaning? The fuel pump has taken the AdBlue up. The injection pump and every injector see it too on a longer run, once the fuel filter and lines have had it. Each restart, like each mile, carries it on.
Do this: pull up anywhere safe, then turn the engine off. Exit by the first junction — not the services beyond — if you're on the M11, under 10 miles from Leamouth. It will not have cleared, and so there is no point starting it again to check. Phone, and say how far your vehicle was driven.
Hire, lease or company car with AdBlue in the wrong tank
You've had the car hardly a week. The AdBlue filler is right next to the diesel one, which you did not know, since your own motor either has no AdBlue or keeps it somewhere else. Across Greater London, no one is safe from it.
What it means: the same as the situations above, depending on whether it has run, with one more step. Work on the vehicle frequently needs the owner's approval under hire or company agreements.
Settling it before the van turn up is quicker, so ring the rental company or your fleet manager, then us. Keep the vehicle switched off while the reply comes, whether you're parked outside Custom House or close to arebyte Gallery.
Leamouth: unsure if it was AdBlue in the diesel tank?
Now and then, "I think so" is the most anyone can honestly say. A faint ammonia-like smell hangs near your filler, the bottle seems too light, and the cap you took off is a blur. The gates of St Luke's Primary School in a hurry, say, or someone's drive over in Docklands.
Meaning? Drips around the filler never touch the engine at all. A diesel tank with AdBlue inside is another matter. You cannot tell which by turning the key, and doing so will draw in any AdBlue that is in your tank.
Do this: act as though it got in, and never start your engine. Inspecting a tank that turns out clean beats draining one once it has been run — so ring then describe to us what you noticed.
Leamouth: what each AdBlue drain has in common
The work begins identically, whichever the situation. Forecourt, drive, Husk Brewery & Taproom's car park or a street by London City Island Pool — our van comes to the vehicle, and three answers come next: which fluid, which amount, and if it has run. Over the phone, ahead of dispatch, you are told the price, and those replies shape the work too.
Then that tank is drained and your system purged thoroughly, which matters more with AdBlue than with petrol: AdBlue crystallises and is corrosive to some of the metals in a fuel system, and so it does not rinse out on its own. Fresh diesel goes in once your filter is flushed or replaced, and the car is finally checked. If your engine hasn't run, the majority of jobs take about half an hour once we're there.
Our engineers fire it up last. Before our engineers go, it is checked to confirm it runs smoothly on fresh diesel. If it's spotted early, the vehicle very rarely has long-term damage, and the whole job happens where it is. Payment is that day, never in advance. For the insurer, you get a VAT invoice plus a report from the engineer. Plenty of insurance policies include misfuelling, and so check yours while the van travels.
About Leamouth
Leamouth is a suburban area in the London Borough of Newham, situated on the banks of the River Thames. Leamouth sits at a low elevation of around 3 metres, with its lakeside setting providing views across the river. Leamouth is located near Trinity Buoy Wharf and the Hallsville Quarter, and is part of the larger Canning Town area. Leamouth has a population of approximately 12,313 people, predominantly living in flat dwellings.
AdBlue drains about Leamouth and across Greater London
Throughout E postcodes, the vans covering Leamouth — a residential suburb — work nearby places as well, Hallsville Quarter and Canning Town among them. The location comes clearest from a postcode that starts E14 0.
Whether your car is on a lay-by on the way to Bow Creek Ecology Park or in a car park in the middle of Leamouth, it does not need to shift. Draining happens on the spot. Tricky to pin down? Close to London Lighthouse or a border? Asking is better than assuming, so ring.
In one line: your scenario
Not run yet: keep the vehicle off and call. Run by now: pull over, power down, phone 0333 366 0103. Petrol in Diesel takes over the rest, within Leamouth or wherever across Greater London.